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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.
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Have a great week and stay Healthy Wealthy and Smart!
Xo Karen
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