Jacqueline Shakar, DPT MS PT LAT OCS
Physical Therapist Assistant Program Director
978-630-9287
j_shakar@mwcc.mass.edu
Teaches: PTA 104, 111, 113 and 118
Jacqueline J. Shakar, DPT MS ATC CMT, has over 22 years of teaching and 29 years of clinical experience as a physical therapist. Shakar earned her Masters Degree in Physical Therapy (PT) from Boston University in 1983. She recently completed her DPT at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Health Professions, May 2010. She is licensed as a PT and Athletic Trainer in the state of Massachusetts (MA PT licensure since 1983). Her clinical experience includes acute care, home health, and sports medicine but her primary focus has been in education, orthopedics, biomechanics and private practice administration. She became certified as a massage therapist in 2001 from the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy, Worcester MA.
Shakar’s teaching experience has primarily been in anatomy and kinesiology, orthopedics and clinical management. She has taught at the associate degree level for the past 22 years. She has taken extensive continuing education coursework to foster her development in these areas. Shakar has developed and served as a course instructor for several workshops including Extremity Joint Mobilization, Strain/Counterstrain, the Pelvic Girdle and, Functional Footwear.
Prior to her teaching career, Shakar successfully started and managed a private practice with seven employees and has served as a physical therapist assistant (PTA) program director at two institutions of higher education. Shakar is a member of the American Physical Therapist Association, its Massachusetts Chapter and Orthopedic Section.
Jennifer Gentile, PTA, BA
Physical Therapist Assistant Program ACCE
978-630-9577
jgentile3@mwcc.mass.edu
Teaches: PTA 120, PTA 121, PTA 116, PTA 119
Ms. Gentile is an alumnus of the Mount Wachusett Community College PTA Program, graduating in 2012. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Framingham State University in 2004. Since becoming a licensed Physical Therapist Assistant in 2012, she has practiced as a PTA in Skilled Nursing Facilities treating a variety of patients and long-term care residents with varying diagnoses, including post-operative, cardiac, pulmonary, post-amputee, CVA, TBI, Parkinson’s and high fall risk patients to name a few.
In 2016, Ms. Gentile became a Clinical Instructor and was able to mentor PTA students from MWCC. Her appreciation for teaching and guiding the PTA students in the clinic led her to becoming a Lab Assistant for the PTA Program at MWCC in 2017 and eventually her current ACCE position in 2019. As the MWCC PTA Program’s ACCE, she oversees the PTA students Clinical Education, from the classroom and Integrated Clinical Experiences during their first year, to providing support and expertise when they are on their clinical practicums to help them become entry level practitioners. Ms. Gentile completed the APTA Credentialed Clinical Instructor Program and became a Credential Clinical Instructor in March 2021.