Why I Became a Physical Therapist

Here’s me competing in my first collegiate golf tournament.

While growing up, school was always secondary to athletics. I loved and played many sports including baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and golf. I did quite poorly academically in high school—especially in my freshmen and sophomore years.

Not much changed when I went off to college. I chose a school where I was able to get a scholarship to play golf. But, early on in my collegiate golfing career, I injured my back. I experienced debilitating pain which prevented me from being able to tie my shoes, walk a mile, and even attend class at times.

The school sports physician at the time referred me to get an MRI and to visit a pain management clinic. At first, I didn’t think much of it, I just wanted to get better. But looking back on it now, I realize that this is poor quality of care. Sending an 18-year-old to a pain management clinic before doing a bout of physical therapy is a terrible practice.

Once I got to the pain clinic, the doctors wanted to perform a nerve ablation procedure. This procedure entails burning the nerves to stop sending painful signals to the brain. I thought this seemed a bit extreme for a young and otherwise healthy person so I did a bit more research and found that physical therapy is a common and effective treatment for low back pain.

Luckily, I found a great orthopedic physical therapist who primarily treated the spine. Within 2 months of starting physical therapy, I noticed significant improvements in my functioning and a decrease in pain. I became more aware of the position of my spine, learned how to separate my hip and low back movement, and strengthened the muscle groups responsible for protecting the spine.

Science was one of the few subjects that I always enjoyed learning about in school, and while I was undergoing my own physical therapy, I became fascinated with how the body can heal with exercise. While rehabilitating my back, I decided to take an anatomy and physiology class. This was when I knew I wanted to become a physical therapist. This was the first time I enjoyed attending class and studying. It no longer felt like a chore. But once I learned how competitive PT school is to get into, I had to put in more effort in the classroom.

From then on, I changed my study habits, took school seriously, and kept a 4.0 GPA for the remaining 6 semesters to get into physical therapy school.

Now that I am a physical therapist, I am grateful for the opportunity to help people get out of the debilitating pain that I once experienced. I’m still learning about the human body each day and how we can minimize pain, maximize performance, and cultivate a body that allows us to do our favorite activities throughout our lives.

Although the injury I sustained derailed my collegiate golfing career, it opened up a new door to help others suffer less and enjoy life more.