Shining Star Award Recipients

2026 Recipient: Cara Smith

Cara Smith, PT, DPT, CHT, MSHA graduated from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center with a Master of Physical Therapy in 2007. She completed the Evelyn J. Mackin Hand Therapy Fellowship in 2010 and became a Certified Hand Therapist in 2013. The majority of her clinical practice has been in pediatric orthopedics, working alongside surgeons in multidisciplinary clinics taking care of children with congenital and acquired hand conditions as well as traumatic injuries. In 2020, she earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy from Arcadia University. Cara is the Hand Therapy Program Coordinator at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. She also serves as an adjunct faculty at Tufts University and regularly lectures at UT Southwestern.

Cara served on the TSHT Board of Directors from 2019 to 2025 as Vice President, President, and co-chair of the 2025 Annual Education Conference. Cara is also involved with the American Society of Hand Therapists where she has been a member of the Education Division since 2019, Outreach Division since 2023, and served as the 2025 Annual Meeting Chair. She is currently serving a two-year term as the Education Division Director. You may have also heard her voice on the ASHT podcast, “Hands in Motion”, of which she is a co-host.