Three early-career physical therapists share their journeys navigating the first years of practice, discussing both the rewards and challenges they've encountered along the way. We explore how APTA Nebraska's Early Professional Special Interest Group (EPSIG) provides mentorship and community support for PTs and PTAs in their crucial first five years.
• Kirsten, Joel, and Cole reveal what attracted them to physical therapy, highlighting the biopsychosocial aspects of the profession
• Early-career therapists experience excitement seeing patients improve while also feeling challenged by the knowledge gap between school and practice
• Professional development strategies include seeking mentorship, utilizing clinical practice guidelines, and consuming targeted educational content via podcasts and social media
• EPSIG connects early-career professionals with experienced mentors beyond their workplace to provide fresh perspectives
• The group hosts networking events, educational opportunities, and creates community among practitioners facing similar challenges
• Early-career professionals bring valuable fresh perspectives while still developing their clinical expertise
• EPSIG welcomes any PT or PTA in their first five years of practice, with mentorship opportunities for any APTA member beyond five years of experience
If you're interested in connecting with EPSIG, visit the APTA Nebraska website or email the EPSIG team to join their mailing list for upcoming events and mentorship opportunities.
NE APTA EPSIG page:
https://aptanebraska.org/Early_Professional_SIG [aptanebraska.org]
Membership Form:
https://forms.gle/qYqX7YyaLMsFyKSi8 [forms.gle]
Mentor Form:
https://forms.gle/zvjoQbcpd6mtm8c48 [forms.gle]
Email:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the APTA Nebraska podcast, where we dive
into the stories, challenges andinnovations shaping physical
therapy in our state.
We're here to advance, promoteand protect the practice of
physical therapy, optimizing thehealth and quality of life for
all Nebraskans.
Join us as we connect withexperts, share insights and
(00:22):
build community throughout ourprofession.
With experts, share insightsand build communities throughout
our profession.
Hey, welcome back to the APTANebraska podcast.
My name is Brad Dexter, I'm thehost of the podcast and I'm
excited to sit down with thisgroup and have a conversation.
Today we are talking with ourmembers of the Early
Professional Special InterestGroup with APTA Nebraska, and
(00:45):
I'm really kind of eager to hearsome of their experiences and
what they're trying toaccomplish with EPSIG right now.
So, guys, I'm going to turn thefloor over to you and let you
introduce yourselves, joel.
Maybe we can start with you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, I'm Joel Schroeder.
I live in Gretna, nebraska, andI practice currently in Lincoln
, nebraska, at CHI HealthPhysical Therapy, powered by Go
Physical Therapy is our parentcompany.
But I will be transitioning,actually in June, to Nebraska
Methodist Outpatient Clinic.
You know, life happens a coupleyears into practice.
(01:16):
I'm getting married in June, solife changes and that's okay.
But that's where I practice.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, I'm Kirsten Wagner.
I am practicing here in Omaha,nebraska, with Bellevue Physical
Therapy at our Papillionlocation.
So yeah, I've been there abouta year.
I did just complete theorthopedic residency at UNMC
this past year as well.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Congrats and Cole, we'll kick it over to you.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Yeah, I'm Cole Meadows.
I'm a physical therapist atRock Valley Physical Therapy
here in Omaha as well.
So I've been practicing forabout two years at our 108th and
Maple location, but I'm alsostarting to move down slowly
transition to our clinic down inthe Midtown area to potentially
start taking over and runningthe clinic here before too long
(02:30):
no-transcript job and it soundslike even locationally it's a
little bit better fit drive timefor you right, absolutely,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I know this would be, you know, good for family too
and, like I said, understandingthat you know life changes and I
love where I'm at.
I don't want to leave and butyou know, moving forward.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I built good patient rapport, but I'm excited to
start the new chapter, soAbsolutely, and, and Cole,
you've been at the same placefor the last couple of years,
right?
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Yes, I've been there for two years and absolutely
loved it.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Awesome.
All right, so you guys got thisquestion.
What, like five years ago whenyou were interviewing for
physical therapy school?
Crazy that it was that long agoalready.
But what led you into PT?
Why do you want to be a PT?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I can jump in with this one first.
So I was exposed to PT prettyearly.
My mom went back to school whenI was in elementary school to
be a PT assistant.
So seeing her go through schooland then getting to hang around
at work and a few very mildsports injuries.
Thankfully I got to do some PT.
But yeah, I was like, wow, thisis pretty cool.
(03:44):
They get to talk to people allday, take them through exercises
, you meet cool people, they dobetter, they feel better, they
get to do things that they enjoyin life.
And from then on I wanted to doPT.
And here we are.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So it was about, like the connections with people for
you.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, connections with people and just the human
body is amazing, so that'scenterpiece so connections with
people and then just kind offascination with human body.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Okay, joel, how about you?
Um for me, you know I eversince I was little I always
wanted to do something in healthcare, um, but I never could
quite put my finger on what itwas.
You know, I thought pediatric,being a pediatrician, at one
point.
But then I really stopped and,like, looked at my personality
and kind of interests I had andwent and shadowed a bunch and
(04:34):
found that, you know, pt was thebest fit, just because it
allowed you know, allowed andnow does allow you to be part of
people's success, helping tomaximize their function and meet
people where they are, to helpget back to their good quality
of life.
And just seeing that inpractice when I would shadow
(04:56):
really stood out to me and again, kind of like Kirsten said, the
human body is just fascinatingin how it works and that drew me
into pt all right, so I'm I'mgonna try to give like a one
word summary of that, like, sorestoration is kind of like your
thing, like seeing seeingpeople, uh, being restored in
(05:18):
some way.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Okay, all right, cole , how about you?
Speaker 4 (05:22):
yeah.
So in my case it started, likemany, you know, I was exposed
through a sports injury myselfand ended up going to pt um
which, I'll be honest, at thetime, I I loathed that.
You know, I really had a, youknow, a hating relationship with
my physical therapist and notbecause, you know, there was
anything to do with with himhonestly had more to do with
myself.
You know, I was taken away froma sport I loved you.
I was forced to be on thesidelines and felt very isolated
(05:44):
from it.
Um, so when I talked to a lot ofpeople about why I got into it,
it was more about what myphysical therapist did for me,
um, mentally more thanphysically.
I mean, I went through a prettyrough six months of physical
therapy, pretty rigorous, and itgot me back to the sport I love
, but more mentally, what it did, um, my therapist was very
(06:09):
uplifting, willing to carry methrough the highs and lows of
every day, um, you know, andthat takes a lot of grace and a
lot of patience.
And so, walking out of that,you know, my final day, getting
back to the sport I love, Irealized how important it was
for me to be in a career where Icould develop relationships, I
could uplift others, um andcontribute towards their success
and just overall quality oflife.
Um, and going forward from that, I was able to see a physical
therapist work with mygrandfather when he had had
Parkinson's and dementia and seehow many years that really
(06:30):
bought him, and then from there,the same thing.
I just fell in love with howunique, how amazing the human
body is and how transformativeit really can be in such a short
duration to be in this field.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Well, well said, without even prompting you guys,
you basically hit thebiopsychosocial model right, hit
all of those aspects of it inyour answers and I resonate with
everything that you guys said.
I feel very similarly got intoit to help people in some
(07:07):
capacity, right.
And then when you get throughschool and you're actually
practicing on the other sidelike, you start to understand
the depth to which you'reactually helping people, right.
It's not just the physicalcomponent and it's not just a
physical, mental component.
There's a community aspect tothat as well and the social
aspect to that as well.
So I appreciate everything thatyou guys just said.
So early on first couple ofyears of your career here, what
(07:31):
have you guys found has been themost exciting so far and what's
been challenging to you guys?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I would say for me you know, I'll take a stab at
this first One of the mostexciting things is is really
seeing the um, the reactions orthe changes that people go
through and and like, especially, you know if it's a easier fix.
You know the sudden changesthat you can have with people
and just seeing them like, oh,you know, there is hope for me
(08:00):
and in my.
You know, I'm not going to havechronic pain or whatever
because we took care of xyzissue, um, but just helping.
You know I'm not going to havechronic pain or whatever because
we took care of XYZ issue, butjust helping them, you know, be
part of that success kind of asI mentioned earlier really just
seeing that transform theiroutlook on their everyday life
too and then they're able to domore out in the community, at
home with their families,anything like that.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
I thought really early on what excited me.
Getting on the field was like,wow, you know we've really
touched, you know, the tip ofthe iceberg with school, with
what we've learned.
There's so much more out thereand I think that ties into
really what's been challengingtoo.
But you know, the most excitingpart to me has been the
opportunity to grow, to learn.
I feel like I walk out of theclinic every day and I've
(08:40):
learned something new frompatients.
They teach me so muchno-transcript.
(09:10):
So I'd say you know, what'sbeen exciting has just been the
opportunity to grow both as aperson, as a professional,
through this career.
But you know the draw side tothat as well as just what that.
You know what that takes, howmuch work, how much effort that
can take and making sure thatyou're keeping that separate.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, I have to echo both Joel and Cole with my
exciting part, like getting intothe clinic and having patients
get better.
The way you learn they will inschool is always exciting.
You see that in clinicals.
But being in a place longerthan that 10-week, 12-week,
however many week longestclinical is is is really
incredible.
And to have patients come backto I mean hopefully not for the
(09:50):
same injury, of course, but youdevelop that rapport and they're
like oh, I got so much betterhere and got back to doing what
I love, so they return is pretty, pretty exciting to see.
As far as challenging, I wouldsay, you know insurance is
always going to be my biggestlike challenge and finding the
(10:11):
battling against insurance alittle bit as well as just
figuring out insurance is achallenge for me personally.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I kind of skipped out on the challenge part too
and kind of, after hearing Cole,I had a similar thought in the
sense of, you know, it'sexciting to be able to grow and
to know, okay, here's my limits,here's where I can continue to,
to expand upon.
But I feel like that's achallenge at times too, because
I feel like, um, you know,people are coming to me because
(10:40):
they trust me as a professionaland I as a challenge.
You know, sometimes it feel badbecause, like, I have to know
the answer, every answer, toevery patient.
But I think that's theimportance of realizing your,
your personal limits, and whymentorship is so important.
Um, no matter where you're at,um, because you can, you're
always learning.
That's why they call it apractice.
You're always learning and um,so kind of taking that too is
(11:02):
making it as an excitement, isto grow.
But it's a challenge to, youknow, feel like you're, you know
, being fulfilling to patientsand not having every answer that
they ask you, I guess is that.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So so, just yeah, just just to be clear, you guys
didn't graduate.
Go on to the clinic and thenhave everything figured out
right away.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Not at all.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Good, good.
I'm Kind of eager to know, likeyou guys are two years in, what
other types of like earlycareer aspirations do you have?
How are you trying to grow ordevelop right now and how have
you been pursuing those things?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
little bit more mentorship, more didactic type
work, but it also opened up theeducation piece to me as well.
I thought teaching in lab wasreally fun and exciting, so
that's something I'd like tocontinue doing, whether that's
having students come to myclinic where I could be a CI, or
maybe in the future continuingto help with labs and classes.
That's something I'm lookingforward to.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I think for me, one of the things I knew coming out
is that I really enjoyed workingwith athletes of all kinds and
as I got out I realized that wastrue.
But I've seen my horizons beenbrought in a little bit, so to
speak.
So, currently, doing through alot of con ed, I've been able to
pursue a couple differentcertifications and working with
overhead athletes, and that'sbeen something very enjoyable
(12:35):
for me.
I've had a lot of opportunities, a lot of support from where I
work to pursue that heavily.
So that's been wonderful.
But I've also realized how muchmore I enjoy different aspects
that in school we touched on andI maybe didn't understand the
full realization or I didn't getthat full exposure in clinical
rotations.
So it's been really nice for meto say that I maybe wasn't
exposed to as much vestibular orTMD in clinical rotations in
(12:59):
school.
And now I'm out in practice andI get the opportunity to ask
people hey, tell me more aboutthis, how do I do this?
You know, help me out with thispatient, and that's been a
phenomenal experience for me,you know.
In addition, getting theopportunity to grow too and, you
know, having aspirationstowards clinical management and
being on the administrative sideof things.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Um, that's been something that I'm really
looking forward to growing intoover the next couple of years as
well I would say, for mepersonally it's been, um, you
know, I'm kind of I don't wantto say an outlier in there.
I don't have like one specificarea yet, um, in practice that I
want to directly hit.
Like you know, orthopedics hasdefinitely become more of my
strong suit, but I also thinkthat I've taken a lot of those
(13:38):
areas where I, you know, as I'mgoing through a patient case,
I'm like, wow, this, I'm alittle bit weaker in this area
Like I've used that as achallenge to just strengthen my
kind of like fill in the gapswith TMD.
You know it's not super commonthat you see that, but I've kind
of taken that as a challengeand done quite a few continuing
education courses with that,another one being oncology rehab
(13:59):
.
You know, when I first started,I worked part-time at an
oncology rehab clinic and justgetting to learn more about the
avenues that that can presentitself on top of, obviously,
orthopedic care.
But I don't have one specificarea where it's like and I want
to pursue this yet.
But that's part of learning andI'm just kind of still feeling
my putting my feelers out therewhere I want to go.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah.
So you guys, you guys mentioned, just like this, this sense of
almost every day you're in theclinic and there's, there's so
much more that you feel like youneed to know or could know,
just from the patients thatyou're working with.
How do you guys go about pacingyourself for lack of better
(14:42):
terms, right, how do you goabout pacing yourself with some
of your ongoing learning andeven just getting used to that
feeling of being uncomfortableat times.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Honestly, one thing I can jump in on that that I've
found that patients care aboutthe most is they want someone
who's honest, and so you knowyou want to give your best, you
know, educated answer that youcan to your patient.
But I think it's important tojust to say I don't know right
now, but I will look that up.
I know I'll try to find ananswer out.
Um, and I've had so manypatients that have been like you
(15:15):
know I appreciate your honestyof like you know, not trying to
just give me some some podocanswer, you know giving them the
best I can but say here youknow I'll continue to research
that and I think that that'simportant.
Um, along with you know,working alongside your teammates
just in your clinic.
You know they're good mentorstoo.
Just ask them kind of quickquestions.
That's on the spot, and thenyou can, you know, pace that
(15:40):
finding continuing educationclasses to dive deeper.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, I was going to jump in with kind of reaching
out to my coworkers in that way.
So I take it more as like whatpatients am I seeing now?
And so I take off a little morelike bite-sized pieces, like,
oh, I have some questions aboutmy Achilles tendinopathy patient
or XYZ patient, and then I'lltalk to my coworkers about that.
And mentorship too which littlecaveat for EPSIG.
(16:05):
There we do have mentorship.
So if you don't have greatmentorship at your clinic, maybe
that's just because there'sonly two therapists there, maybe
you don't have many people togo to there.
It doesn't have to be badmentorship, you maybe just don't
have the access to it.
We have those opportunities too.
So shameless plug there forEPSIG.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'll let you plug that again in a little bit too
All right, great Thanks, I meangreat.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I will say, brad, when you mentioned the word
pacing, that is not in myvocabulary at all, especially in
these first two years.
I feel like I talk with mymentor a lot, who I also have
utilized through EPSIG andthat's how I got connected into
that.
I'm constantly texting back andforth so I almost feel a little
bad for my mentor and the facthow much I contact them.
But I think that's where I'vegotten a lot of really great
feedback from my mentor and say,hey, it is okay to pump the
(16:57):
brakes on these things.
You have, you know, many, manyyears in this career to unfold
all these questions and answers.
So take it one thing at a time.
You know, when those patientspop up and you have questions,
that's the best time to go andapproach those questions that
you may have, because it's goingto have the most immediate
benefit to them.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
So I've heard mentorship through EPSIG.
I've certainly heard continuingeducation.
Do you guys have any just likelife hacks that you've used to
get information in quickly?
And I'm even thinking about,like are you using AI for
anything right now?
Do you have podcasts that youlisten to?
What, like?
What do you like to do?
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I am a big podcast guy, um, so I had a lot of time
when I been running more andstarting to train, get, actually
get ready for this halfmarathon that's coming up this
weekend.
Gosh, that's really.
That's coming to attention, myattention now hopefully.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Anyway, that's where you've built up the mileage that
you need to have.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yes, thankfully, I've adhered to good progressive
overload protocols, like any ptwould recommend, and have not
missed a single day and there'sa lot of sarcasm in that, but,
um no, in that time I foundpodcasts has been a great way
for me to learn.
I learned during school.
I'm very much an auditorylearner, so I've taken that into
the clinic and out of theclinic as well.
Um so, finding finding podcaststhat I thoroughly enjoy but
(18:15):
also can squeeze into myschedule and time, that works
for me I like to read so thecpgs that that gets that get put
out.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I I like to look at those.
I'm not so much a auditorylearner but of course I will
listen to all of the APTApodcasts, you know.
But CPGs Instagram Reels oh,those are my go-to Instagram.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Reels CPGs and Instagram Reels Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Maybe not for like real factual stuff, but exercise
ideas.
Of course you've got to reallylook through those and think
what is this actually working?
But some of them are good.
Some of them are good.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I would say for me, too, it's um podcasts, the same
thing, but I I'm a big fan ofthe Mike Reynolds show.
Um, learned a lot from them.
Um, I have a two hours in thecar every day to Lincoln, so I
have lots of, lots of listeningtime, so that's been encouraging
.
And then, yeah, instagramlistening time, so that's been
encouraging.
(19:11):
And then, yeah, instagram reelsis another good one I agree
with that Well, okay, we'vegathered a lot of information
about you guys.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I really wanted to kind of like peel back what the
first couple of years out ofschool been like for you.
What's that experience beenlike?
But I really want to kind oftouch on why we're here, and
that's because you're allinvolved with EPSIG.
So can you start off with justtelling our audience why are you
involved with EPSIG, how longhas it been around and what are
(19:38):
you guys trying to accomplishwith EPSIG?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
All right, so I'll jump in here.
I wanted to join EPSIG becauseyou know APTA advocacy, being
involved, is just so important,especially in our field, as well
as the community of it who youknow.
Those connections are going toreally help you go far.
And also you can refer peopleout to my classmates.
(20:06):
I can reach out to myclassmates.
But even more than that, myclassmates is 65 people.
You know 66 of us graduating.
So when you can connect to aneven bigger network than that,
you can get a lot done, not justin the clinic for our patients,
but with advocacy andlegislature as well.
So that's really why I wanted toget involved, as well as to
(20:27):
work on some of my leadershipskills and just be able to
progress that way a little bitand give back to the profession.
So as far as oh, let's see whatall did you list EPSIG's kind
of goal here is to help get thatcommunity, especially as early
clinicians.
You know we learn a lot inschool.
So to be able to connect uswith other newer PTs and PTAs
(20:53):
will be really helpful as wellas connecting to that mentorship
piece that I kind of touched onearlier.
So EPSIG is for PTs and PTAs intheir first five years of
practice.
So that's actually a prettylarge group of us, and so
mentors can be anybody past thatfive years, and I think there's
a lot of mentors that want togive back, too, to their early
(21:14):
clinicians.
So being able to bridge thattogether as well as just develop
the community of earlyprofessionals is kind of our
goal.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
I hear you saying, hey, we have mentors for F-CIG
and the only requirement thatI'm hearing is you need to be in
practice for greater than fiveyears.
Is that accurate?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
And an APTA member.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And an APTA member.
Okay, if someone wants to be amentor, maybe a little more
formally through EPSIG, howwould they get connected to do
that?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yes, great question.
We have an email that we'd haveyou reach out to.
We also have a Google form.
I don't know what can be linkedor shared.
Hopefully we can get that formshared.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Kirsten, we'll get that into the show notes so that
it's just easily accessible.
Okay, Perfect, is there like amatching process, like how do
you guys do that for earlycareer folks that want a mentor?
Joel, is there a sorting hat?
That's what I should ask.
Is there a sorting hat like inHarry Potter?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
No, no, so no, copy Coulton kind of.
Our vision for the mentorshipprogram is, kind of, you know,
as people request thatmentorship or need a mentor, one
vision we have is you know,okay, you know, I have this,
this specific patient with thisdiagnosis who I'm struggling
(22:38):
with, this patient who, on thementor list kind of, is someone
who sees this population, whocan I reach out to to say, hey,
what else can I do for thispatient?
You know, oncology rehab beingone of them, or neuro or any
orthopedic condition, whateverthat may be, having that as a
resource to say, hey, I'm goingto reach out to this person and
then meeting up with that mentor, kind of as needed, or what you
(23:01):
know, what they're able tocommunicate, whatever that looks
like between their conversation, what they need at the time.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
And if that's something that we need to help
facilitate, we sure can.
But that new clinician willjust reach out to us and we can
help match them up with somebody, but that won't be the hard and
fast rule necessarily.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Got it.
I appreciate what you saidabout the fact that, hey, you
might have some great mentorsaround you and, I think, across
the board, like you may end upin a location where you have
some really fantastic coworkersthat can be mentors right there,
which is awesome.
(23:42):
But I think another benefit togetting connected to someone
outside of your organization asa mentor is just expanding that
network a little bit more andgetting outside input.
I experienced that myself alittle bit earlier in my career
as well, and I had loads ofknowledge around me and great
mentoring and I wouldn't tradethat for anything.
(24:03):
But I also really appreciated amentor that I had that was in a
different state, that I gotconnected to through another
organization right, and hehelped me understand things from
an entirely differentperspective.
That benefited the patientsthat I was working with.
That benefited the company andthe people that I was working
(24:25):
with and for as well, and so Iresonated with how you put that.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think a fresh set of eyes is really important too.
Just saying you know, like youwere saying, I have this group
that I've talked with about, butsomeone who's kind of an
outside party of.
What other ideas could I do forinterventions or things like
that is always beneficial, orwhat am I missing?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Okay, so beyond the mentorship piece within EPSIG,
what else are you guys doing totry to connect early
professionals?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So we've hosted a few different activities over the
last year, some of which includea pub night.
We've done kind of a Zoomget-together.
Cole actually gave us apresentation on some like
shoulder return to baseball typeactivities.
So we've just put together kindof these different meetups and
(25:19):
activities, as well as the Zoomoption too for those people that
are not in the location.
So pretty easy to just show up.
We don't ask anything from you,you can just show up and hang
out and talk with fellow othernew PT and PTAs.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And most of the time we have some fun handouts to
some prizes that we usually giveaway.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Or snacks fun handouts to some prizes that we
usually give away, or snacks.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Um, so how?
How do people get connectedinto that?
Yes, so we also have a form forthis as well which we could
link in the show notes, probably, uh, or or the okay, perfect,
or the EPSIG email, um, also,you can find any of our emails
on the EPSIG webpage through theAPTA, and you could absolutely
reach out to any of us here onthis podcast as well.
(26:14):
But the form would be theeasiest way to get on our email
list for those reminders and tolet you know what events are
coming up.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Fantastic.
Was there anything else, guys,that I'm missing, that you're
dying to talk about?
Speaker 2 (26:28):
It's important in the first five years of practice
just to understand that you'regrowing.
You're growing as aprofessional and it's okay to
make mistakes and it's okay toreach out to people.
That's why we are here, asEPSIG is to provide you with
those mentors to help you grow.
Grow as a, a professional.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
That's what you're going to be doing your whole
career, so that's why we're hereyeah, and the community for
like, not just what you can getfrom other people, but you might
have some great insights toshare with your fellow newer
colleagues.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
So yeah, I think krista makes a great point, as
as you get out into yourpractice and start, you're gonna
have a lot, a lot to learn, alot to catch up on, but at the
same time you have a lot tooffer to the people around you
and to your patients.
So just because you're gettingstarted doesn't mean that you
can't come in and have a newidea, try to go about things in
(27:20):
a different way, in a differentway.
I think as we get out intopractice, we kind of get stuck
in our ways a little bit andsometimes having new ideas
thrown around can just be thatone thing that can really help
our patients get that one stepfarther towards their goals.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I also just really love the idea that when you're
in PT school, you're all kind ofgoing through the same thing at
the same time, right, you'reexperiencing some of the same
highs and the same lows, um, andand then you launch out, you go
to different communities, yougo to different jobs and, uh,
(27:55):
you might be the only new personthere, so you have people that
are ahead of you that rememberwhat that's like.
But to have people that aregoing through the same, some of
the same things that you'regoing through, and to be able to
, like, talk about that, betransparent about it, understand
how other people are, arehandling some of those
challenges, um, that's a uniqueopportunity for uh, for early
(28:16):
career PTs to be a part of too.
So, uh, I think that's a greatoffering that you guys have,
just by trying to connect peopletogether.
Okay, guys, thank you for theconversation.
I appreciate you and audience.
If you have any follow upquestions, we're going to have
(28:37):
contact information for thesethree in the show notes.
We'll also link to APTANebraska's website, to the EPSIG
page, and we'll make sure thatyou can find ways to get
connected, if you are a new gradinto the EPSIG community, with
(29:00):
us for more conversations thatelevate our profession and
improve the lives of Nebraskans.
Don't forget to subscribe,share and join the discussion
because together we're drivingthe future of physical therapy
forward.
Welcome to the APTA Nebraska podcast, where we dive
into the stories, challenges andinnovations shaping physical
therapy in our state.
We're here to advance, promoteand protect the practice of
physical therapy, optimizing thehealth and quality of life for
all Nebraskans.
Join us as we connect withexperts, share insights and
(00:22):
build community throughout ourprofession.
With experts, share insightsand build communities throughout
our profession.
Hey, welcome back to the APTANebraska podcast.
My name is Brad Dexter, I'm thehost of the podcast and I'm
excited to sit down with thisgroup and have a conversation.
Today we are talking with ourmembers of the Early
Professional Special InterestGroup with APTA Nebraska, and
(00:45):
I'm really kind of eager to hearsome of their experiences and
what they're trying toaccomplish with EPSIG right now.
So, guys, I'm going to turn thefloor over to you and let you
introduce yourselves, joel.
Maybe we can start with you.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Yeah, I'm Joel Schroeder.
I live in Gretna, nebraska, andI practice currently in Lincoln
, nebraska, at CHI HealthPhysical Therapy, powered by Go
Physical Therapy is our parentcompany.
But I will be transitioning,actually in June, to Nebraska
Methodist Outpatient Clinic.
You know, life happens a coupleyears into practice.
(01:16):
I'm getting married in June, solife changes and that's okay.
But that's where I practice.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, I'm Kirsten Wagner.
I am practicing here in Omaha,nebraska, with Bellevue Physical
Therapy at our Papillionlocation.
So yeah, I've been there abouta year.
I did just complete theorthopedic residency at UNMC
this past year as well.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Congrats and Cole, we'll kick it over to you.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Yeah, I'm Cole Meadows.
I'm a physical therapist atRock Valley Physical Therapy
here in Omaha as well.
So I've been practicing forabout two years at our 108th and
Maple location, but I'm alsostarting to move down slowly
transition to our clinic down inthe Midtown area to potentially
start taking over and runningthe clinic here before too long
(02:30):
no-transcript job and it soundslike even locationally it's a
little bit better fit drive timefor you right, absolutely,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
I know this would be, you know, good for family too
and, like I said, understandingthat you know life changes and I
love where I'm at.
I don't want to leave and butyou know, moving forward.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
I built good patient rapport, but I'm excited to
start the new chapter, soAbsolutely, and, and Cole,
you've been at the same placefor the last couple of years,
right?
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Yes, I've been there for two years and absolutely
loved it.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Awesome.
All right, so you guys got thisquestion.
What, like five years ago whenyou were interviewing for
physical therapy school?
Crazy that it was that long agoalready.
But what led you into PT?
Why do you want to be a PT?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
I can jump in with this one first.
So I was exposed to PT prettyearly.
My mom went back to school whenI was in elementary school to
be a PT assistant.
So seeing her go through schooland then getting to hang around
at work and a few very mildsports injuries.
Thankfully I got to do some PT.
But yeah, I was like, wow, thisis pretty cool.
(03:44):
They get to talk to people allday, take them through exercises
, you meet cool people, they dobetter, they feel better, they
get to do things that they enjoyin life.
And from then on I wanted to doPT.
And here we are.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So it was about, like the connections with people for
you.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, connections with people and just the human
body is amazing, so that'scenterpiece so connections with
people and then just kind offascination with human body.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Okay, joel, how about you?
Um for me, you know I eversince I was little I always
wanted to do something in healthcare, um, but I never could
quite put my finger on what itwas.
You know, I thought pediatric,being a pediatrician, at one
point.
But then I really stopped and,like, looked at my personality
and kind of interests I had andwent and shadowed a bunch and
(04:34):
found that, you know, pt was thebest fit, just because it
allowed you know, allowed andnow does allow you to be part of
people's success, helping tomaximize their function and meet
people where they are, to helpget back to their good quality
of life.
And just seeing that inpractice when I would shadow
(04:56):
really stood out to me and again, kind of like Kirsten said, the
human body is just fascinatingin how it works and that drew me
into pt all right, so I'm I'mgonna try to give like a one
word summary of that, like, sorestoration is kind of like your
thing, like seeing seeingpeople, uh, being restored in
(05:18):
some way.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Okay, all right, cole , how about you?
Speaker 4 (05:22):
yeah.
So in my case it started, likemany, you know, I was exposed
through a sports injury myselfand ended up going to pt um
which, I'll be honest, at thetime, I I loathed that.
You know, I really had a, youknow, a hating relationship with
my physical therapist and notbecause, you know, there was
anything to do with with himhonestly had more to do with
myself.
You know, I was taken away froma sport I loved you.
I was forced to be on thesidelines and felt very isolated
(05:44):
from it.
Um, so when I talked to a lot ofpeople about why I got into it,
it was more about what myphysical therapist did for me,
um, mentally more thanphysically.
I mean, I went through a prettyrough six months of physical
therapy, pretty rigorous, and itgot me back to the sport I love
, but more mentally, what it did, um, my therapist was very
(06:09):
uplifting, willing to carry methrough the highs and lows of
every day, um, you know, andthat takes a lot of grace and a
lot of patience.
And so, walking out of that,you know, my final day, getting
back to the sport I love, Irealized how important it was
for me to be in a career where Icould develop relationships, I
could uplift others, um andcontribute towards their success
and just overall quality oflife.
Um, and going forward from that, I was able to see a physical
therapist work with mygrandfather when he had had
Parkinson's and dementia and seehow many years that really
(06:30):
bought him, and then from there,the same thing.
I just fell in love with howunique, how amazing the human
body is and how transformativeit really can be in such a short
duration to be in this field.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Well, well said, without even prompting you guys,
you basically hit thebiopsychosocial model right, hit
all of those aspects of it inyour answers and I resonate with
everything that you guys said.
I feel very similarly got intoit to help people in some
(07:07):
capacity, right.
And then when you get throughschool and you're actually
practicing on the other sidelike, you start to understand
the depth to which you'reactually helping people, right.
It's not just the physicalcomponent and it's not just a
physical, mental component.
There's a community aspect tothat as well and the social
aspect to that as well.
So I appreciate everything thatyou guys just said.
So early on first couple ofyears of your career here, what
(07:31):
have you guys found has been themost exciting so far and what's
been challenging to you guys?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I would say for me you know, I'll take a stab at
this first One of the mostexciting things is is really
seeing the um, the reactions orthe changes that people go
through and and like, especially, you know if it's a easier fix.
You know the sudden changesthat you can have with people
and just seeing them like, oh,you know, there is hope for me
(08:00):
and in my.
You know, I'm not going to havechronic pain or whatever
because we took care of xyzissue, um, but just helping.
You know I'm not going to havechronic pain or whatever because
we took care of XYZ issue, butjust helping them, you know, be
part of that success kind of asI mentioned earlier really just
seeing that transform theiroutlook on their everyday life
too and then they're able to domore out in the community, at
home with their families,anything like that.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
I thought really early on what excited me.
Getting on the field was like,wow, you know we've really
touched, you know, the tip ofthe iceberg with school, with
what we've learned.
There's so much more out thereand I think that ties into
really what's been challengingtoo.
But you know, the most excitingpart to me has been the
opportunity to grow, to learn.
I feel like I walk out of theclinic every day and I've
(08:40):
learned something new frompatients.
They teach me so muchno-transcript.
(09:10):
So I'd say you know, what'sbeen exciting has just been the
opportunity to grow both as aperson, as a professional,
through this career.
But you know the draw side tothat as well as just what that.
You know what that takes, howmuch work, how much effort that
can take and making sure thatyou're keeping that separate.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, I have to echo both Joel and Cole with my
exciting part, like getting intothe clinic and having patients
get better.
The way you learn they will inschool is always exciting.
You see that in clinicals.
But being in a place longerthan that 10-week, 12-week,
however many week longestclinical is is is really
incredible.
And to have patients come backto I mean hopefully not for the
(09:50):
same injury, of course, but youdevelop that rapport and they're
like oh, I got so much betterhere and got back to doing what
I love, so they return is pretty, pretty exciting to see.
As far as challenging, I wouldsay, you know insurance is
always going to be my biggestlike challenge and finding the
(10:11):
battling against insurance alittle bit as well as just
figuring out insurance is achallenge for me personally.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I kind of skipped out on the challenge part too
and kind of, after hearing Cole,I had a similar thought in the
sense of, you know, it'sexciting to be able to grow and
to know, okay, here's my limits,here's where I can continue to,
to expand upon.
But I feel like that's achallenge at times too, because
I feel like, um, you know,people are coming to me because
(10:40):
they trust me as a professionaland I as a challenge.
You know, sometimes it feel badbecause, like, I have to know
the answer, every answer, toevery patient.
But I think that's theimportance of realizing your,
your personal limits, and whymentorship is so important.
Um, no matter where you're at,um, because you can, you're
always learning.
That's why they call it apractice.
You're always learning and um,so kind of taking that too is
(11:02):
making it as an excitement, isto grow.
But it's a challenge to, youknow, feel like you're, you know
, being fulfilling to patientsand not having every answer that
they ask you, I guess is that.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
So so, just yeah, just just to be clear, you guys
didn't graduate.
Go on to the clinic and thenhave everything figured out
right away.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
Not at all.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Good, good.
I'm Kind of eager to know, likeyou guys are two years in, what
other types of like earlycareer aspirations do you have?
How are you trying to grow ordevelop right now and how have
you been pursuing those things?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
little bit more mentorship, more didactic type
work, but it also opened up theeducation piece to me as well.
I thought teaching in lab wasreally fun and exciting, so
that's something I'd like tocontinue doing, whether that's
having students come to myclinic where I could be a CI, or
maybe in the future continuingto help with labs and classes.
That's something I'm lookingforward to.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
I think for me, one of the things I knew coming out
is that I really enjoyed workingwith athletes of all kinds and
as I got out I realized that wastrue.
But I've seen my horizons beenbrought in a little bit, so to
speak.
So, currently, doing through alot of con ed, I've been able to
pursue a couple differentcertifications and working with
overhead athletes, and that'sbeen something very enjoyable
(12:35):
for me.
I've had a lot of opportunities, a lot of support from where I
work to pursue that heavily.
So that's been wonderful.
But I've also realized how muchmore I enjoy different aspects
that in school we touched on andI maybe didn't understand the
full realization or I didn't getthat full exposure in clinical
rotations.
So it's been really nice for meto say that I maybe wasn't
exposed to as much vestibular orTMD in clinical rotations in
(12:59):
school.
And now I'm out in practice andI get the opportunity to ask
people hey, tell me more aboutthis, how do I do this?
You know, help me out with thispatient, and that's been a
phenomenal experience for me,you know.
In addition, getting theopportunity to grow too and, you
know, having aspirationstowards clinical management and
being on the administrative sideof things.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Um, that's been something that I'm really
looking forward to growing intoover the next couple of years as
well I would say, for mepersonally it's been, um, you
know, I'm kind of I don't wantto say an outlier in there.
I don't have like one specificarea yet, um, in practice that I
want to directly hit.
Like you know, orthopedics hasdefinitely become more of my
strong suit, but I also thinkthat I've taken a lot of those
(13:38):
areas where I, you know, as I'mgoing through a patient case,
I'm like, wow, this, I'm alittle bit weaker in this area
Like I've used that as achallenge to just strengthen my
kind of like fill in the gapswith TMD.
You know it's not super commonthat you see that, but I've kind
of taken that as a challengeand done quite a few continuing
education courses with that,another one being oncology rehab
(13:59):
.
You know, when I first started,I worked part-time at an
oncology rehab clinic and justgetting to learn more about the
avenues that that can presentitself on top of, obviously,
orthopedic care.
But I don't have one specificarea where it's like and I want
to pursue this yet.
But that's part of learning andI'm just kind of still feeling
my putting my feelers out therewhere I want to go.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Yeah.
So you guys, you guys mentioned, just like this, this sense of
almost every day you're in theclinic and there's, there's so
much more that you feel like youneed to know or could know,
just from the patients thatyou're working with.
How do you guys go about pacingyourself for lack of better
(14:42):
terms, right, how do you goabout pacing yourself with some
of your ongoing learning andeven just getting used to that
feeling of being uncomfortableat times.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Honestly, one thing I can jump in on that that I've
found that patients care aboutthe most is they want someone
who's honest, and so you knowyou want to give your best, you
know, educated answer that youcan to your patient.
But I think it's important tojust to say I don't know right
now, but I will look that up.
I know I'll try to find ananswer out.
Um, and I've had so manypatients that have been like you
(15:15):
know I appreciate your honestyof like you know, not trying to
just give me some some podocanswer, you know giving them the
best I can but say here youknow I'll continue to research
that and I think that that'simportant.
Um, along with you know,working alongside your teammates
just in your clinic.
You know they're good mentorstoo.
Just ask them kind of quickquestions.
That's on the spot, and thenyou can, you know, pace that
(15:40):
finding continuing educationclasses to dive deeper.
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Yeah, I was going to jump in with kind of reaching
out to my coworkers in that way.
So I take it more as like whatpatients am I seeing now?
And so I take off a little morelike bite-sized pieces, like,
oh, I have some questions aboutmy Achilles tendinopathy patient
or XYZ patient, and then I'lltalk to my coworkers about that.
And mentorship too which littlecaveat for EPSIG.
(16:05):
There we do have mentorship.
So if you don't have greatmentorship at your clinic, maybe
that's just because there'sonly two therapists there, maybe
you don't have many people togo to there.
It doesn't have to be badmentorship, you maybe just don't
have the access to it.
We have those opportunities too.
So shameless plug there forEPSIG.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
I'll let you plug that again in a little bit too
All right, great Thanks, I meangreat.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
I will say, brad, when you mentioned the word
pacing, that is not in myvocabulary at all, especially in
these first two years.
I feel like I talk with mymentor a lot, who I also have
utilized through EPSIG andthat's how I got connected into
that.
I'm constantly texting back andforth so I almost feel a little
bad for my mentor and the facthow much I contact them.
But I think that's where I'vegotten a lot of really great
feedback from my mentor and say,hey, it is okay to pump the
(16:57):
brakes on these things.
You have, you know, many, manyyears in this career to unfold
all these questions and answers.
So take it one thing at a time.
You know, when those patientspop up and you have questions,
that's the best time to go andapproach those questions that
you may have, because it's goingto have the most immediate
benefit to them.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
So I've heard mentorship through EPSIG.
I've certainly heard continuingeducation.
Do you guys have any just likelife hacks that you've used to
get information in quickly?
And I'm even thinking about,like are you using AI for
anything right now?
Do you have podcasts that youlisten to?
What, like?
What do you like to do?
Speaker 4 (17:35):
I am a big podcast guy, um, so I had a lot of time
when I been running more andstarting to train, get, actually
get ready for this halfmarathon that's coming up this
weekend.
Gosh, that's really.
That's coming to attention, myattention now hopefully.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Anyway, that's where you've built up the mileage that
you need to have.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Yes, thankfully, I've adhered to good progressive
overload protocols, like any ptwould recommend, and have not
missed a single day and there'sa lot of sarcasm in that, but,
um no, in that time I foundpodcasts has been a great way
for me to learn.
I learned during school.
I'm very much an auditorylearner, so I've taken that into
the clinic and out of theclinic as well.
Um so, finding finding podcaststhat I thoroughly enjoy but
(18:15):
also can squeeze into myschedule and time, that works
for me I like to read so thecpgs that that gets that get put
out.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I I like to look at those.
I'm not so much a auditorylearner but of course I will
listen to all of the APTApodcasts, you know.
But CPGs Instagram Reels oh,those are my go-to Instagram.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
Reels CPGs and Instagram Reels Okay.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Maybe not for like real factual stuff, but exercise
ideas.
Of course you've got to reallylook through those and think
what is this actually working?
But some of them are good.
Some of them are good.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
I would say for me, too, it's um podcasts, the same
thing, but I I'm a big fan ofthe Mike Reynolds show.
Um, learned a lot from them.
Um, I have a two hours in thecar every day to Lincoln, so I
have lots of, lots of listeningtime, so that's been encouraging
.
And then, yeah, instagramlistening time, so that's been
encouraging.
(19:11):
And then, yeah, instagram reelsis another good one I agree
with that Well, okay, we'vegathered a lot of information
about you guys.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
I really wanted to kind of like peel back what the
first couple of years out ofschool been like for you.
What's that experience beenlike?
But I really want to kind oftouch on why we're here, and
that's because you're allinvolved with EPSIG.
So can you start off with justtelling our audience why are you
involved with EPSIG, how longhas it been around and what are
(19:38):
you guys trying to accomplishwith EPSIG?
Speaker 3 (19:42):
All right, so I'll jump in here.
I wanted to join EPSIG becauseyou know APTA advocacy, being
involved, is just so important,especially in our field, as well
as the community of it who youknow.
Those connections are going toreally help you go far.
And also you can refer peopleout to my classmates.
(20:06):
I can reach out to myclassmates.
But even more than that, myclassmates is 65 people.
You know 66 of us graduating.
So when you can connect to aneven bigger network than that,
you can get a lot done, not justin the clinic for our patients,
but with advocacy andlegislature as well.
So that's really why I wanted toget involved, as well as to
(20:27):
work on some of my leadershipskills and just be able to
progress that way a little bitand give back to the profession.
So as far as oh, let's see whatall did you list EPSIG's kind
of goal here is to help get thatcommunity, especially as early
clinicians.
You know we learn a lot inschool.
So to be able to connect uswith other newer PTs and PTAs
(20:53):
will be really helpful as wellas connecting to that mentorship
piece that I kind of touched onearlier.
So EPSIG is for PTs and PTAs intheir first five years of
practice.
So that's actually a prettylarge group of us, and so
mentors can be anybody past thatfive years, and I think there's
a lot of mentors that want togive back, too, to their early
(21:14):
clinicians.
So being able to bridge thattogether as well as just develop
the community of earlyprofessionals is kind of our
goal.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
I hear you saying, hey, we have mentors for F-CIG
and the only requirement thatI'm hearing is you need to be in
practice for greater than fiveyears.
Is that accurate?
Speaker 3 (21:35):
And an APTA member.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
And an APTA member.
Okay, if someone wants to be amentor, maybe a little more
formally through EPSIG, howwould they get connected to do
that?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Yes, great question.
We have an email that we'd haveyou reach out to.
We also have a Google form.
I don't know what can be linkedor shared.
Hopefully we can get that formshared.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Kirsten, we'll get that into the show notes so that
it's just easily accessible.
Okay, Perfect, is there like amatching process, like how do
you guys do that for earlycareer folks that want a mentor?
Joel, is there a sorting hat?
That's what I should ask.
Is there a sorting hat like inHarry Potter?
Speaker 2 (22:17):
No, no, so no, copy Coulton kind of.
Our vision for the mentorshipprogram is, kind of, you know,
as people request thatmentorship or need a mentor, one
vision we have is you know,okay, you know, I have this,
this specific patient with thisdiagnosis who I'm struggling
(22:38):
with, this patient who, on thementor list kind of, is someone
who sees this population, whocan I reach out to to say, hey,
what else can I do for thispatient?
You know, oncology rehab beingone of them, or neuro or any
orthopedic condition, whateverthat may be, having that as a
resource to say, hey, I'm goingto reach out to this person and
then meeting up with that mentor, kind of as needed, or what you
(23:01):
know, what they're able tocommunicate, whatever that looks
like between their conversation, what they need at the time.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
And if that's something that we need to help
facilitate, we sure can.
But that new clinician willjust reach out to us and we can
help match them up with somebody, but that won't be the hard and
fast rule necessarily.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
Got it.
I appreciate what you saidabout the fact that, hey, you
might have some great mentorsaround you and, I think, across
the board, like you may end upin a location where you have
some really fantastic coworkersthat can be mentors right there,
which is awesome.
(23:42):
But I think another benefit togetting connected to someone
outside of your organization asa mentor is just expanding that
network a little bit more andgetting outside input.
I experienced that myself alittle bit earlier in my career
as well, and I had loads ofknowledge around me and great
mentoring and I wouldn't tradethat for anything.
(24:03):
But I also really appreciated amentor that I had that was in a
different state, that I gotconnected to through another
organization right, and hehelped me understand things from
an entirely differentperspective.
That benefited the patientsthat I was working with.
That benefited the company andthe people that I was working
(24:25):
with and for as well, and so Iresonated with how you put that.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think a fresh set of eyes is really important too.
Just saying you know, like youwere saying, I have this group
that I've talked with about, butsomeone who's kind of an
outside party of.
What other ideas could I do forinterventions or things like
that is always beneficial, orwhat am I missing?
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Okay, so beyond the mentorship piece within EPSIG,
what else are you guys doing totry to connect early
professionals?
Speaker 3 (24:56):
So we've hosted a few different activities over the
last year, some of which includea pub night.
We've done kind of a Zoomget-together.
Cole actually gave us apresentation on some like
shoulder return to baseball typeactivities.
So we've just put together kindof these different meetups and
(25:19):
activities, as well as the Zoomoption too for those people that
are not in the location.
So pretty easy to just show up.
We don't ask anything from you,you can just show up and hang
out and talk with fellow othernew PT and PTAs.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
And most of the time we have some fun handouts to
some prizes that we usually giveaway.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Or snacks fun handouts to some prizes that we
usually give away, or snacks.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
Um, so how?
How do people get connectedinto that?
Yes, so we also have a form forthis as well which we could
link in the show notes, probably, uh, or or the okay, perfect,
or the EPSIG email, um, also,you can find any of our emails
on the EPSIG webpage through theAPTA, and you could absolutely
reach out to any of us here onthis podcast as well.
(26:14):
But the form would be theeasiest way to get on our email
list for those reminders and tolet you know what events are
coming up.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Fantastic.
Was there anything else, guys,that I'm missing, that you're
dying to talk about?
Speaker 2 (26:28):
It's important in the first five years of practice
just to understand that you'regrowing.
You're growing as aprofessional and it's okay to
make mistakes and it's okay toreach out to people.
That's why we are here, asEPSIG is to provide you with
those mentors to help you grow.
Grow as a, a professional.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
That's what you're going to be doing your whole
career, so that's why we're hereyeah, and the community for
like, not just what you can getfrom other people, but you might
have some great insights toshare with your fellow newer
colleagues.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
So yeah, I think krista makes a great point, as
as you get out into yourpractice and start, you're gonna
have a lot, a lot to learn, alot to catch up on, but at the
same time you have a lot tooffer to the people around you
and to your patients.
So just because you're gettingstarted doesn't mean that you
can't come in and have a newidea, try to go about things in
(27:20):
a different way, in a differentway.
I think as we get out intopractice, we kind of get stuck
in our ways a little bit andsometimes having new ideas
thrown around can just be thatone thing that can really help
our patients get that one stepfarther towards their goals.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
I also just really love the idea that when you're
in PT school, you're all kind ofgoing through the same thing at
the same time, right, you'reexperiencing some of the same
highs and the same lows, um, andand then you launch out, you go
to different communities, yougo to different jobs and, uh,
(27:55):
you might be the only new personthere, so you have people that
are ahead of you that rememberwhat that's like.
But to have people that aregoing through the same, some of
the same things that you'regoing through, and to be able to
, like, talk about that, betransparent about it, understand
how other people are, arehandling some of those
challenges, um, that's a uniqueopportunity for uh, for early
(28:16):
career PTs to be a part of too.
So, uh, I think that's a greatoffering that you guys have,
just by trying to connect peopletogether.
Okay, guys, thank you for theconversation.
I appreciate you and audience.
If you have any follow upquestions, we're going to have
(28:37):
contact information for thesethree in the show notes.
We'll also link to APTANebraska's website, to the EPSIG
page, and we'll make sure thatyou can find ways to get
connected, if you are a new gradinto the EPSIG community, with
(29:00):
us for more conversations thatelevate our profession and
improve the lives of Nebraskans.
Don't forget to subscribe,share and join the discussion
because together we're drivingthe future of physical therapy
forward.
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