Jerry-Thomas Monaco, PT, PhD, DPT, OCS

Instructor, Program Director of Interprofessional Health Studies
Department of Physical Therapy

I have served on the DPT program as an adjunct faculty member since 2014 and began my full-time position in 2020. I began my career as a physical therapist in 2006 with a passion for orthopedics and sports medicine. Most of my clinical experience has been in hospital-based outpatient rehabilitation centers where I am able to collaborate with multiple healthcare clinicians. I am orthopedic residency trained and a board-certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist (OCS), with a strong concentration in movement science and human performance. As a former faculty member of the Select Medical/Kessler Orthopedic Residency Program and clinical instructor, I developed a passion and enthusiasm for teaching. My goal as an educator is to influence the education of healthcare providers by guiding them to collaborate with other health disciplines for the betterment of their patients as well as preparing them for real-world experiences to achieve professional success.I recently completed a PhD in Sport and Human Performance at Rocky Mountain University where my dissertation involved the effects of exercise on surfing performance.

At SHMS, I teach and develop clinical courses in the physical therapy program; advise DPT students and Graduate Assistants; and perform interdisciplinary research with Seton Hall faculty and the athletic department. I continue to engage my clinical skills as a surf therapist for developmentally delayed pediatrics and currently leading a research project on the qualitative effects of surf therapy for the current population I work with.

My research interests include rehabilitation science (surf therapy and return to play protocols), sports and exercise science (particularly running and surfing), exercise programming, sport and physical assessments, and mentoring in health care. Specifically, I am interested in the biomechanics and training methodologies of both running and surfing, age-related changes in biomechanics with runners and surfers, and outcomes of career path decisions after mentoring graduate assistants.  I have published three articles in 2023: Return to Sport After an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice in the Strength and Conditioning Journal, The Effects of a Land-Based Home Exercise Program on Surfing Performance in Recreational Surfers in the Journal of Sport Sciences, and A Comprehensive Needs Analysis on Surfing Performance Factors and Training Methodologies in the Strength and Conditioning Journal. 

I have been involved with A Walk on Water (AWOW), an organization that provides surf therapy to developmentally delayed children, and Hammer Surf School as a Surf Therapist and Surf Instructor. I am a former Division 1 athlete where I competed in Cross-County and Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field for Quinnipiac University. In my spare time, I enjoy running, surfing year-round, and hiking in nearby parks. I currently live in the Highlands, NJ with my wife Jill and our dog, Sidney.