Masters in Motion

Growing up in Adelaide in South Australia, Margaret Anderson worked in various other jobs before ending up in physical therapy school. Right away, she noticed that she couldn't quite get the outcomes as higher-levels physical therapists and ended up seeking those skills in Geoff Maitland's program. As she says herself, she struggled more with the clinical reasoning concept than some of the other students and continued to work at mastering it even after graduation.

Fast-forward to today, and Margaret Anderson is perhaps one of the best teachers of orthopedic and manual therapy that there is. She attributes her ability to get through to students to the struggles that she experienced herself. Margaret has been awarded for her teaching and continues to teach in Kaiser's Fellowship program - which she joined in the early years over 35 years ago.

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Growing up in a rural town in California, Dennis Morgan, PT, DC always saw himself as an "average guy" that had to work harder just to keep up. His efforts to do so sent him across the world, spending time with some of the legends of physical therapy: Maggie Knott, Freddie Kaltenborn, and Olaf Evjenth. The primary lesson he learned from these individuals was simple: focus on the patient.

This unfailing focus on the patient, along with his varied learning opportunities, led to the creativity Dennis is known for in the clinic. In the early days, Dennis had to import exercise balls from outside the country, developed the Morgan Traction Harness to exercise spinal patients earlier in the rehabilitation process, and says he challenged those around him to "do something every day that you've never done before."

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When you think about the development of orthopedic physical therapy in the United States, and our movement toward residency and fellowship training, you're thinking about the work of Barb Stevens.

While attending a conference in Vail, Colorado, Barb saw Geoff Maitland treating a patient - and it prompted her to move across the country to begin training in his clinic in Australia. She would eventually come back to the United States and would soon be at the center of sweeping advances in the profession that are still ongoing today.

In this episode, Barb talks about her career journey, the challenges she faced in her personal and professional life, and what perspectives she has on the current and future state of physical therapy.
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Growing up  in Alabama, John always saw himself as an achiever. His dream to become a doctor, however, came crashing down when he didn't get accepted into medical school. John instead found himself traveling to Texas, where he would begin school to become a physical therapist.

Just 18 years after graduating, John would become the youngest physical therapist to ever be named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the APTA. Today, John is Founder and CEO of Evidence in Motion along with his roles at numerous other companies. He sparked a movement toward hybrid physical therapy education and has been involved in some of the most influential physical therapy research of the 21st century.

In this episode, we review John's journey through physical therapy - and the work ethic that led to his success.

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In the middle of an existential crisis, with her parents halfway around the world, Vicky Johnson, PT, FFMT, FAAOMPT stumbled upon a physical therapy program in the back of a magazine and applied. As luck would have it, this program in Georgia happened to have rare access to a woman in high demand: Maggie Knott. One of the early architects of PNF, Maggie's program in California had a 12 year wait list. Vicky moved to California and managed to find a way into the program. Barely out of physical therapy school, Vicky would soon launch both a private practice and a continuing education company teaching PNF across the country that they would name "The Institute of Physical Art."

Today, The IPA teaches around the world and IPA-branded clinics are popping up across the country. In this episode, Vicky describes the learning strategies and life perspectives that led to her rapid success - and provides insights into what physical therapists should do moving into the future.

IPA's website: https://www.ipa.physio

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The story of Mary McMillan is perhaps the greatest of any physical therapist you will hear. Mary was the first Reconstruction Aide sworn into the U.S. Army and the first President of the APTA (back when it had another name). She served in two world wars, became the world's first international physical therapist, and was a prisoner in an internment camp for 3 years in Manila. Unfortunately, Mary passed away in 1959. On the 100th Anniversary of the APTA's founding, something Mary had a chief role in, this episode is a tribute to Mary's life with excerpts read by actors or taken from direct sources. Enjoy!

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Check out book "Mary McMillan - The Mother of Physical Therapy" one of the chief sources for this episode, on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Mary-McMillan-Mother-Physical-Therapy/dp/B085HLJ7JD

When he graduated physical therapy school, Tim Fearon DPT, FAAOMPT felt lost in his new profession. He was able to memorize his way through school, but found himself ill-equipped to handle the complex patients he encountered in clinical practice. Frustrated and confused, Tim's chance encounter with a few clinicians showed him that the problem was not the profession, but himself. Over 40 years later, Tim has founded a continuing education company, started a practice, and taught in multiple residency and fellowship programs - all while continuing to treat patients full-time in his clinic. In this episode, Tim describes his journey and how he uses consistent self-reflection and intellectual honesty to keep driving him forward today.

Check out Phoenix Manual Therapy at: http://www.phoenixmanualtherapy.com