Thanks for tuning into the Healthy Wealthy and Smart Podcast! I had the pleasure of chatting with Mike Connors about advocacy in physical therapy. Mike is a private practice physical therapy owner, an outside consultant for a professional ballet company in Fort Worth and an adjunct professor in orthopaedic physical therapy for the DPT program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. In addition, Mike is the current President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association advocating regularly for the PT profession in Austin and DC on regulatory and payment policy issues impacting PT.
In this episode, we discuss:
-Levels of advocacy and ways to demonstrate the efficacy of physical therapy
-Mike’s pitch for APTA membership
-Mike’s initial wellness consultation and his focus on preventative care
-Advice to new professionals on empathy and preventing burnout
-And so much more!
Mike stresses the need for PT advocacy which can take many forms including calling an insurance company, talking to medical colleagues, and increasing awareness in the community in addition to legislative change. He states, “What did you do today that was in the patient’s best interest that the patient couldn’t do for themselves or didn't have the knowledge or the resources to do for themselves? We treat patients. We manage their complex presentations, but we do a lot more than I think we give ourselves credit for. That's a big part of why it is we don't have the widespread knowledge base about what we do because we don’t talk enough about what we do. PT has become the new fight club and the #1 rule of PT is not to talk about PT.”
Mike believes there are untapped candidates for physical therapy services due to public unawareness of the healthcare benefits. “Ironically, in private practice, we are sitting here all competing against one another for 20% of the pie and what we’re not seeing is another 75+% that’s out there that’s doing everything but physical therapy.”
Mike encourages entrepreneurship within physical therapy and recommends to continually strive for excellence. Mike advices, “Entrepreneurs are going to continually learn and evolve over time. Count your successes as much as you count your failures as long as you learn from them and you evolve then it was a worthwhile endeavor.”
For more about Mike:
Mike has a BS in Biology from Stockton College with a minor in Psychology (2001). His entry level degree in physical therapy is a Master of Physical Therapy from University of Medicine & Dentistry of NJ-Rutgers University (2003). Mike has a post professional Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Temple University (2008). He became a board certified specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy from the American Board of PT Specialties in 2011. Mike is currently finishing (ABD) the remaining requirements for completion of a PhD degree in Physical Therapy with an emphasis in applied biomechanics from Texas Woman's University (Anticipated completion 2016).
Mike began working with GTC in October 2004. He most recently rejoined the GTC family in June 2015 as the Director of the Fort Worth Clinic.
Mike's focus and specialization in orthopaedic physical therapy makes him an efficient clinician in managing patients with orthopedic dysfunction. He utilizes a multimodal approach to meet the needs of his patients and clients that include spinal manipulation, dry needling, KT taping, and various other interventions. Mike is certified in functional dry needling from Kinetacore. He has experience working with patients of all ages, from kids to adults and from the weekend warrior to the elite athlete. He is an outside consultant for a professional ballet company in Fort Worth and is an adjunct professor in orthopaedic physical therapy for the DPT program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. In addition, Mike is the current President of the Texas Physical Therapy Association advocating regularly for the PT profession in Austin and DC on regulatory and payment policy issues impacting PT.
Mike is happily married to his wife Shannon. He enjoys spending time with his family, that includes two beautiful daughters. Mike enjoys staying active, running, traveling, exercising, biking, golfing and staying active in his faith community.
Personal statement: It's ALWAYS all about the patient. We exist as PTs to help patients move better with less pain. It's my pleasure to help patients achieve this goal on a day to day basis.
Social Media:
Thanks for listening and subscribing to the podcast! Make sure to connect with me on twitter and facebook to stay updated on all of the latest! Show your support for the show by leaving a rating and review on iTunes!
Have a great week and stay Healthy Wealthy and Smart!
Xo Karen
P.S. Do you want to be a stand out podcast guest? Make sure to grab the tools from the FREE eBook on the home page! Check out my latest blog post on The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media!
P.S.S. Check out the inaugural Women in PT Summit here! Sign up now as space is limited!
On this week’s episode, I share the first part of my talk with Dr. Bronnie Thompson from one year ago on chronic pain management which will change the way you practice. Dr. Thompson has worked in the field of chronic pain management, helping people develop ‘self management’ skills for 20 years and has a passion to help people experiencing chronic health problems achieve their potential.
In this episode, we discuss:
-How to learn to live well despite chronic pain and her research on the 3 phases to reoccupy your self-concept
-How to incorporate values based pain management into your practice
-The value of motivational interviewing, the specifics of implementation, and why it’s not always about pain
-Why patience is key to a person-centered practice
-And so much more!
Healthcare providers should address the nature of chronic pain and the goal of treatment should be to educate patients on how to understand and manage their pain. Dr. Thompson found that for patients with chronic pain, “Hearing that this pain is likely to remain was a really important turning point for all the participants. So they stopped that search for the cure.”
Dr. Thompson promotes a psychosocial approach to learning to live well with chronic pain and making new sense of your self-concept. Dr. Thompson states, “When pain comes on, life becomes incoherent—it doesn’t make sense anymore. Your self-concept, the person that you think you are, suddenly goes. You can't rely on yourself to do the things that you used to be able to do and the expectations you have of yourself disappear. For a long time, people are sustained on this search to go back to the person they used to be. But 5, 10, 15 years later, they are never going to be that person. It’s about saying, ‘Who can I be now?’ The process of learning to live well is about recognizing, ‘I do need to let go of that desire to go back to my old self and look to build this new person.’”
One of the key aspects of learning to live with chronic pain is to find a sense of community and begin building new meaning in your life. Dr. Thompson states, “Carrying that invisible sort of separation, ‘I’m not who I used to be, I feel like I’m not who I used to be and yet nobody can see that’ is so isolating. It’s unbelievably isolating. To be able to say, ‘I can connect,’—what you do connects you with other people, the way you dress, the way you happen to tidy your house or not, the way that you drive—you’re going to look at other people and you’re going to say I'm like them or I'm different from them and that’s how we find our way.”
For more about Dr. Thompson:
I trained as an occupational therapist, and graduated in 1984. Since then I’ve continued study at postgraduate level and my papers have included business skills, ergonomics, mental health therapies, and psychology. I completed by Masters in Psychology in 1999, and started my PhD in 2007. I’ve now finished my thesis (yay!) and can call myself Dr, or as my kids call me, Dr Mum.
I have a passion to help people experiencing chronic health problems achieve their potential. I have worked in the field of chronic pain management, helping people develop ‘self management’ skills for 20 years. Many of the skills are directly applicable to people with other health conditions.
My way of working: collaboratively – all people have limitations and vulnerabilities – as well as strengths and potential. I use a cognitive and behavioural approach – therapy isn’t helpful unless there are visible changes! I don’t use this approach exclusively, because it is necessary to ‘borrow’ at times from other approaches, but I encourage ongoing evaluation of everything that is put forward as ‘therapy’. I’m especially drawn to what’s known as third wave CBT, things like mindfulness, ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and occupation.
I’m also an educator. I take this role very seriously – it is as important to health care as research and clinical skill. I offer an active knowledge of the latest research, integrated with current clinical practice, and communicated to clinicians working directly with people experiencing chronic ill health. I’m a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Orthopaedic surgery & Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Otago Christchurch Health Sciences.
I also offer courses, training and supervision for therapists working with people experiencing chronic ill health.
Check out her blog HealthSkills for more great resources and follow Dr. Thompson on twitter, facebook, and LinkedIn.
Thanks for listening and subscribing to the podcast! Make sure to connect with me on twitter and facebook to stay updated on all of the latest! Show your support for the show by leaving a rating and review on iTunes!
Have a great week and stay Healthy Wealthy and Smart!
Xo Karen
P.S. Do you want to be a stand out podcast guest? Make sure to grab the tools from the FREE eBook on the home page! Check out my latest blog post on The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media!
P.S.S. Check out the inaugural Women in PT Summit here! Sign up now as space is limited!
On today’s episode of the Healthy, Wealthy and Smart Podcast, Dr. Rachna Patel joins me to discuss common misconceptions of medical marijuana. Dr. Patel has been practicing in the area of Medical Marijuana since 2012 and step-by-step walks patients through how to use medical marijuana for their specific medical condition.
In this episode, we discuss:
-How medical marijuana functions in the body
-Conditions that can be treated with medical marijuana and surprising outcomes
-What the side effects of medical marijuana are and how to avoid them
- Alternatives to smoking medical marijuana
-Why lab-tested medical grade marijuana is very different from what’s found on the streets
-And so much more!
The therapeutic range for medical marijuana varies from patient to patient. A practitioner can help find the optimal ratio of the THC and CBD components of the plant which work best for the patient. Dr. Patel states, “You can adjust the effect that the medication will have on you based on the proportions of these different chemicals.”
One of the practical benefits of medical marijuana is the fact that, “These chemicals are fat soluble… Patients don’t have to take this medication every day. Once you take it, you have stores of it in your body.”
Medical marijuana has proven to be less addictive and have fewer side effects. From Dr. Patel’s clinical experience, there is growing evidence that medical marijuana could serve as a potential alternative to opioids. “When I was reading the research studies, a couple studies I came across said that when medical marijuana is used in conjunction with opioids, the marijuana helps to reduce the dose of the opioids that you have to use. What I found surprisingly, patients were able to come off of a lot of these pain medications and just use medical marijuana in its place.“
There are potentially many patient populations that could benefit from the use of medical marijuana. For some conditions like fibromyalgia, medical marijuana has revolutionized patient treatment plans. “I expected [medical marijuana] to be a part of the arsenal, I didn't expect it to be the only tool in the arsenal that these patients were using.”
For more information on Dr. Patel:
Dr. Rachna Patel has been practicing in the area of Medical Marijuana since 2012. She step-by-step walks patients through how to use medical marijuana for their specific medical condition. She completed her medical studies at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine and her undergraduate studies at Northwestern University. You can learn more about the work she does at www.DrRachnaPatel.com
Resources discussed on this show:
How to Choose a Medical Marijuana Doctor.
Facebook Page: Listeners are welcome to ask questions on the page for Ask Me Anything on Wednesdays every week.
Thanks for listening and subscribing to the podcast! Make sure to connect with me on twitter and facebook to stay updated on all of the latest! Show your support for the show by leaving a rating and review on iTunes!
Have a great week and stay Healthy Wealthy and Smart!
Xo Karen
P.S. Do you want to be a stand out podcast guest? Make sure to grab the tools from the FREE eBook on the home page! Check out my latest blog post on The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media!
P.S.S. Check out the inaugural Women in PT Summit here! Sign up now as space is limited!
On this week’s episode, I had the pleasure of discussing financial strategies for Doctor of Physical Therapy student loans with Joseph Reinke. Joseph Reinke is the CEO and founder of FitBUX, Inc which is introducing innovative finance products and technology to the student lending industry with a specific focus on physical therapists.
In this episode, we discuss:
-Why FitBUX is in the business of aiding human capital development
-Helpful and actionable strategies to manage student loan debt
-Options for new graduates in debt that want to start their own business
-Why student debt should not get in the way of a worry-free retirement
-And so much more!
Joe recommends starting as early as possible on the road to entrepreneurship if that is your long-term goal. “Even if you're a student and you know you're going to be an entrepreneur, start networking at all these events with people who have podcasts or have private practices. Get into that setting so all that human capital that you are developing is geared toward being that business owner because the more you do of that the higher probability you will be successful.”
Joe has found that finance is more about discipline and delaying gratification. Developing strategies to tackle financial obstacles can help provide the extra discipline needed. Joe states, “The other thing you’re doing that is even more important is you’re developing discipline. That’s one of the hardest things to do in finance. We want instant gratification on everything. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing in finance, it can be paying off your loan, saving for retirement, buying a house and paying that off—there is no instant gratification...”
Joe cautions his clients to consider the downside. The more prepared people are for unexpected shocks, the less they will struggle with financial obstacles. He recommends, “Keep it simple and strategize… The stress a lot of people get financially will be gone or it will be a lot less because you'll be prepared. That’s when I see a lot of people get into financial stresses. They just get hit with a tsunami at some time and they are not ready for it and that’s when you start seeing people stress out about money.”
For more about Joe:
Joseph Reinke is the CEO and founder of Fitbux, Inc. FitBUX is introducing innovative finance products and technology to the student lending industry with a specific focus on physical therapists. Thus far in FitBUX’s beta test, they have helped PTs develop financial strategies on over $11mn in student loans. Joe has been in the finance industry for over a decade and is one of the few CFA Charterholders in the world who has experience in both wealth management and business valuation (globally, there are only 120,000 CFA Charterholders). He has hosted numerous live chats about student loans with SPTs across the country, presented at the California Student Conclave, appeared on podcasts, and written numerous financial blogs.
Resources:
FitBUX: Sign-up for the beta test that is testing FitBUX technology to help answer SPTs and DPTs questions about student loans such as “do I invest or prepay my loans?”, “do I pay down my loans or go onto a Federal Income Driven repayment plan?”, “what are my refinancing options and should I refinance?”…And the beta test is FREE!
FitBUX Blog for Physical Therapists
FitBUX videos on student loans
NewGradPT: How Physical Therapy Careers are Changing
Social Media:
Thanks for listening and subscribing to the podcast! Make sure to connect with me on twitter and facebook to stay updated on all of the latest! Show your support for the show by leaving a rating and review on iTunes!
Have a great week and stay Healthy Wealthy and Smart!
Xo Karen
P.S. Do you want to be a stand out podcast guest? Make sure to grab the tools from the FREE eBook on the home page! Check out my latest blog post on The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media!
P.S.S. Check out the inaugural Women in PT Summit here! Sign up now as space is limited!