After first serving as an adjunct faculty member while still a practicing clinician, Dr. Hazle was appointed to a full-time faculty position in 2003. He has a history of clinical practice largely based in the out-patient setting having established and been Director at Physical Therapy Winchester for nine years. He has other institutional experience serving as Director of Physical Therapy at Central Baptist Hospital. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Physical Therapy Association, completing two terms as Treasurer. 

He has a Bachelor's Degree from Indiana State University in Environmental Health and a Bachelor's and an advanced clinical Master's Degree from the University of Kentucky in Physical Therapy. He completed his Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Rehabilitation Sciences studying the performance of students and clinicians with manual therapy skills.

He is co-author of the textbooks Imaging in Rehabilitation (2008) and Imaging for the Health Care Practitioner (2016) and has presented locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally on imaging for physical therapists. He has also published on manual therapy topics, including techniques for out-sized clinicians, clinical reasoning in manual therapy decision-making, and a novel alternate diagnostic category for sacroiliac disorders.  He has also been principal author on two key policy documents in education and clinical practice for musculoskeletal imaging as a part of physical therapy. In 2024, Dr. Hazle was recognized by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists as an Honorary Fellow.

In April 2017, he was recognized for excellence in teaching by the College of Health Sciences with the Kingston Award.  Dr. Hazle has also twice been recognized as a "Teacher Who Made A Difference."  In the spring of 2019, he was recognized by the UK Alumni Association as a "Great Teacher"--one of only six across the University for the year and only the third such recipient in the more than 50 year history of the College of Health Sciences.

On three recent occasions, his advisees have received formal recognition for their research projects and publications in major peer-reviewed journals having resulted.

Research / Scholarship

• Evaluation and treatment of spinal and peripheral joint disorders
• Manual therapy education
• Imaging in physical therapist practice

Educational Focus
Doctor of Physical Therapy

• Normal Functional Anatomy
• Pathomechanics
• Peripheral Joint Dysfunction
• Vertebral Joint Dysfunction
• Advanced Manual Interventions
• Advanced Diagnostic Imaging, Screening, and Instrumentation
• Research: Analysis and Outcomes
• Advanced Elective: Out-Think Being Out-Sized--Manual Therapy for the Not-So-Large Clinician

Personal
Away from the academic setting, he has multiple interests including cooking, fitness, music and travel with his wife.