Hey Classmates,
I’m getting really excited for class to start up, Rockhurst starts June 3rd! That excitement has really been channeled into asking absurd amounts of questions to all the PTs, business people, random people in coffee shops and the occasional inanimate object around me. And I have gotten some KILLER responses but none have been as good as what Dr. Kyle Ridgeway (@Dr_Ridge_DPT). In an effort to stay on topic, I’ll keep his bio short. The dude is a stud..He is a PT in Denver that works primarily in the inpatient acute while also working in a private practice orthopedic clinic. He is a researcher, a contributor at www.ptthinktank.com (fantastic resource) and a general evangelist for right thinking in physical therapy. He was kind enough to take time out of all of those things to send me some incredible advice for starting school. I am literally going to copy and paste what he sent me because it is so thorough and awesome. (The bold question on the top is what I asked him, the rest is his response.)
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One question that I have been trying to ask as much as possible to current DPTs is this, if you had one (or many!) piece of advice for someone who is about to go into school what would it be?
1. Involvement
Find a club, organization, or cause to join. This could be student special interest groups of the state chapter were your school is located, student special interest groups of larger organizations like the America Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (
http://www.aaompt.org/education/student_sig.cfm).
I was a part of the Marquette Challenge Team at my school as well as the AAOMPT sSIG. Those connections and experiences were HUGE.
2. Open Minded…
Explore new topic areas and practice populations. Take a chance on a rotation that seems different or out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to explore classes and ideas and concepts that intrique you. Study the hardest in classes and topics that you like the least (if you want to be an orthopaedic PT, study hardest in neuro and cardiopulm. You will automatically engage in ortho, because you are interested in it).
3. But, not a garbage can…
Question, question, question, and reflect. Be critical of information, ideas, and approaches. Ask why.
Learn how to:
Argue and disagree > Learn about logical fallacies:
4. Get to know your professors
Go to office hours. Ask questions. Listent to their professional stories
5. Connect!
Via social media and other mediums with students and professionals from around the world
6. Find a mentor
Clinical and academic. May be within your program, may not. This will change over time. Before you graduate, and as you are nearing the end of school, attempt to set up a formal mentor relationship with someone
7. Read
Read outside the PT literature. Read business, psychology, neuroscience, etc. Read blogs, books, and research.The most profound information on how to conceptualize PT is not even in the PT literature.
The fact that you are this engaged already is an awesome thing. You will rock!
Cheers,
Kyle
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Hope that is helpful!
F3 Physical Therapy 
So Cool! I am a huge fan of what he is doing in the PT community and hope to do the same with architecture and design. Great advice for ANY student for sure! Thanks for sharing.
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