Why We Chose to be Physical Therapists

Our physical therapists at OrthoCarolina play a big role in rehabilitation, and PT is an important part of the work we do to help our patients maximize long-term health benefits. It’s is a way for patients to improve movement, manage pain and prevent or recover from injuries or other physical conditions.

Therapists examine each patient, and with them create a treatment plan that over time can help them experience less pain, move more freely, and restore proper function. By teaching individuals how manage their own conditions and injuries, PTs are able to give them more flexibility to continue healing outside of the clinic. Therapists also work on range of motion, balance and posture, strength and coordination, mobility, fitness and obesity, sports injury prevention, enhancing and improving sports performance, manual therapy and body mechanics.

In celebration of October as National Physical Therapy Month, here’s what OrthoCarolina PTs say about why they chose physical therapy as their career:

I love being a PT for those wonderful but rare moments when you relieve a person of a pain or a problem that has been plaguing them for a long time.
Maria Zenaida Abanilla

I love being a PT because as the patient undergoes the rehabilitation and recovery process, I get to witness a level of perseverance and will power rarely seen in everyday life. There is great personal reward and joy in knowing that I had a role in seeing the patient’s quality of life and function restored.
Susan C. Aiken

I’m a PTA, and I love what I do. This job gives me the ability to educate and empower people about how to be physically aware of their bodies, and in turn improve their overall quality of life.
Kathryn Ashworth

I am a PT to see the pure joy on an athlete’s face when they return to their sport for the first time after an injury. Also, the collaboration between different disciplines in efforts to provide the best care for our patients makes teamwork for a common goal very meaningful.
Ken Breath

I like the fact that PTs have direct access to patients, allowing us to be independent providers of patient care.
Jeffery Cayo

Growing up, I dealt with a fractured spine which could have caused me a lot of limitation with sports and other activities. I was able to work through this to be able to participate in all sports. Because of my experiences, I wanted to be in a field that allowed me to help others overcome adversities, learn, adapt and achieve their goals. Physical Therapy was exactly the field for me. I love working with our team and people to help others overcome and achieve their goals!
John DeLucchi

I was very active in sports growing up. I have always been interested in how the human body works, and enjoyed figuring out what I could do to help me get through injuries and improve performance - so PT seemed like a great fit.
Chris Gabriel

Physical therapy provides a variety of opportunities in this field to help people recover to their normal or better than normal condition. That makes it all worthwhile.
Carol Green

I chose to become a PT to improve the quality of the lives of my patients.
Maggie Hanna

I get to spend at least 30 minutes per appointment and see the patient multiple times a week, which allows me time to understand the patient and their condition.
Jenni Freie

The human body is like a puzzle and PT’ have to figure out how to get it back together with the pieces being the patients’ needs and expectations, functional limitations, and evidence-based therapy. We are basically engineers without the math.
Albert Kaplan

I'm livin' the Dream!
Mark Miele

I love being a Physical therapist because I can best use the gifts I have been to increase patients' quality of life and function while glorifying God.
Tony Mirovsky

I had always wanted to work in health care. I grew up enjoying a variety of sports and loved outdoor activities such as walking, hiking and gardening. Physical Therapy allows me to help others stay active, participating in the activities that they enjoy.
Elizabeth Nichols

My mom was in a car accident when I was 16. I had to drive her to her PT appointments & went back with her. I was so intrigued by what they were doing for my mom that I decided to become a PT.
Marie Sardler

The reasons why I chose to become a PT are different than the reason why I love being a PT. I chose to become a PT due to my interest in human anatomy and physiology, exercise and helping people. I love being a PT because it is a platform to glorify the Lord through making an impact in peoples’ lives which brings great joy and satisfaction.
Kevin Van Voorhis

I enjoy being a PT because of the variety of patient care settings that you can do therapy.
Carolyn E. Wray