How my physio made me the physio I am today

Growing up, hockey was everything. I spent my Saturdays playing ball hockey in my grandfather's garage in front of an imaginary crowd made up of all the tools and knick knacks on the shelves. Saturday nights were Hockey Night in Canada bringing along all kinds of heartbreak with each disappointing Leafs season.

It wasn't long into playing contact hockey that I started to get hurt. From age twelve to twenty-one I dislocated my left shoulder six times, my right shoulder once, and separated my left AC joint once. For anyone who hasn't had a shoulder dislocation; they hurt a LOT and the likelihood of recurrence in young, athletic males is high after the initial injury. The typical return to play timeline for this type is injury is in the six to eight week ballpark. It takes a lot of physiotherapy and strength work to get back to a sport like hockey after a major injury like that.

It goes without saying that I spent countless hours in a physiotherapy clinic. I didn't realize it at the time, I was too busy working my butt off to get back on the ice, but all that time spent in clinic was when I found my calling as a physiotherapist. I mean, my NHL pipe dream had to crash and burn first but we'll save that story for another day!

My therapist ran an open concept clinic with a mostly athletic population. I was always amazed watching him interact with his patients while I was working on my exercises. Not only would he know what each patient should be working on next, he also knew how each team did in their game last night, and the details to an obscure story that some patient had told him from their last session. He would be in clinic from sun up to sun down, running to various rinks and fields each day to tape and support anyone who needed it. To this day I have no idea how he did it all. He connected with his patients in a way that I aspire to every single day. He is #physiogoals and if I grow to become half the therapist he was I'll be a very successful one.

I always find it interesting that thinking back to that time period in my life I can picture one or two manual techniques that he used with me and a handful of exercises, but what truly stands out to me is the way he connected with and cared about every single person that walked through that door. He helped me Find my Fix by tapping into the fact that I would do whatever it took to get back on that ice as fast as possible. Hockey was my life and he kept me playing far longer than I would have without him. I'd end up spending hours in the clinic working on exercises while he coached me along the way.

My physiotherapist, Ralph, passed away the year that I was accepted to physio school. It was the busiest funeral I've been to in my life. The scope of his practice was awe inspiring. The entire community mourned the loss of one of their most cherished members. I have a funny feeling people weren't there to pay their respects to his manual skills. I keep Ralph in mind when I visualize the type of therapist I dream of becoming. Here's to hoping that I'm well on my way.

Oh, and if you're wondering--I'm the one in the white jersey about to fly into the boards in this photo.

. All that physio work kept the shoulder in place though!

#patientperspective