I found my way into PT in the way most people do, through being in therapy myself! My injury didn’t come from sports, it came from being a teenage girl who wasn’t very active, thus lacking the strong hips and mobile quads that generally prevent knee cap pain. I was dead set on becoming a pediatrician my sophomore year of high school, but my PT was insistent, telling me frequently, you should be a PT, you’d be really good at it. I told him let’s see how anatomy goes.

Took anatomy my junior year. I think I managed a 105% in the class and if I recall correctly, I got an award for it. I loved it. The human body continues to be fascinating, even to this day. I asked my PT if I could shadow him for my school’s junior job shadow day. I spent 8 hrs with him that day and was absolutely taken. My chatty, helper self could see how PT could work as a career.

That summer I toured a number of small schools that had 3+3 programs, allowing me to finish my undergrad and doctoral degree in 6 years instead of 7. I landed at a beautiful school in Rochester NY, my 2nd choice, but now I can’t imagine how life could have been any other way. I studied health sciences (which consisted of at least 1, if not 2 science courses per semester) and minored in psychology (required) and religious studies (not required). I felt strongly that if I was going to take care of people, it was important for me to understand how to converse with people about tough topics. I cannot stress enough how much my religious studies coursework changed me. I didn’t just learn about the world’s religions, the lessons I learned were really how to ask uncomfortable questions and really listen to people.

The start of my first year of PT school was a tumultuous time. Lots of big changes happened the semester before that made the first summer of school difficult (for reasons that are not mine to share). Despite those difficulties, I learned so much that summer. I will not ever forget my first day walking into cadaver lab and feeling the weight and immense gratitude for the 6 people who choose to donate their bodies to our studies. And the learning only continued at a break neck pace. Up until that point in my life, I had gotten away with studying very lightly. Even in undergrad, getting Bs was enough. My lab grades would help me overcome my mediocre lecture grades.

Not anymore. There were only 60 of us and the professors maintained a close eye on everything. Neurology was the hardest for me (don’t show me a brain stem slide. It’s still traumatizing) and I had a few tests that I really had to work hard to get at least an 80 on. Finally in the spring of first year I found my rhythm.

Second year lectures were much more practical than first year, so the content came a little more easily. Don’t get me wrong – things were still tough, but they were more manageable.

The 3 things that saved me through these academic years were:

1. Clinic – treating my own, real, live patients 1-2x/week really kept me going while I was going through school. Seeing the practical application of what I was learning in real time really helped.
2. My boyfriend (now husband) – Peter came up every other weekend for 2 years and talked to me on the phone every night.
3. My best friend – Julie and I were going through the same thing at the same time and lived in the same house! On top of that, she and I were good at different things, so having each other there to explain concepts the other didn’t understand really helped when stress levels were high.

Third year I really decided to take the bull by the horns and get married between my second and third rotation. My schedule was some combination of 6 weeks of school (in Rochester, driving home on the weekends) and 10 weeks of clinical time (in Maryland). I learned what clinic settings I liked and what I would only do if I absolutely had to. I learned the finesse of my craft and found mentors who I wanted to emulate. I wrapped up school the following spring and passed boards on the first go.

Talking with friends in the profession, I truly feel that if I hadn’t had the school experience I did at Nazareth, I would not be in the field I am today. I have previously said (and will continue to say forever) that I would not be who I am as a therapist without the people who taught me. I also really learned that compromise doesn’t fit easily into my life. Things can be “fine”, but I’m always going to pick the better option (like getting married in the middle of school). In this back to school season, I am forever grateful for the education I had and the path that led me to helping people get back to what they love <3.

Want to hear about how I got into pelvic health? Drop a heart in the comments!

-Naomi