Hey everyone! My name is Colin Freeman and I have been serving for this past year as the Texas Student Physical Therapy Association secretary. I am a third-year student in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. I have loved the opportunities that this position has offered me and I am proud to say I have been a member of the TPTA since I have started school. I want to talk to you about the upcoming Texas Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference. Hear me out. It’s worth a read.

“What is the Texas Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference?” If you don’t have an answer you are not alone, but if you don’t find out for yourself you will be missing out on a highlight of your school career.

This year, our annual conference will be held in beautiful Corpus Christi from October 26-29. I mean, just look at this place!

The conference is an excellent place to learn, to share and to network. It is four days full of countless opportunities to be educated by experts from across Texas in many practice settings as well as meetings and events with fellow students from across the state as well. “Greeeeaaaaat…..I can hardly keep my interest in all of the lectures I already have to go to anyway….” I’ll just pause here, because I know some of you may be thinking that. Not going to lie to you, the courses you can attend are in lecture format, but you aren’t tested on the material. Don’t stress. Pick what you like. Avoid what you don’t like and enjoy the crazy amount of knowledge that is available for the taking if you just sign up and go.

You also have the opportunity to attend the annual student conclave which is a great way to network with other students, learn from recent grads and participate in some fun competitions because who doesn’t like competition?! There are other things you could be doing during this time, but seriously don’t miss it! It is awesome. Want to prove your program is the best in Texas with competition and trivia? Come to conclave!

Every year, we design and sell a T-shirt for the Texas Student Physical Therapy association. This is what this year’s shirt looks like and It is frankly the best shirt on the market for a student physical therapy organization. I may be biased because I designed them but hey they only cost $15! Also, there will be a drawing for a Yeti cup and a free year of TPTA membership dues.

“I am a poor student. I cant afford this.” I know. We all know this feeling, but do everything you can to get here. Plan with classmates. Carpool together so its cheaper. Pack 10 of your classmates into one hotel room. Eat rice and beans for a month to save up extra money.

Early bird registration is open on the TPTA website at the price of $125 for registration. That will end on 9/8/17 when the price goes up to $175. Don’t miss out.  It is seriously worth it! Come find me at conference. I’ll be there! Will you?

5 Pearls from APTA-CSM 2017

Well, it’s been a whirlwind two weeks since sunny San Antonio hosted the Annual Combined Sections Meeting for the American Physical Therapy Association.  I feel like I’m finally settling back into the daily grind and processing all that I learned from my second CSM experience.  With that said, there’s no way I can fit all my new knowledge and perspectives into this one blog post, so I’ll stick with these 5 pearls:

1.     Everyone is doing her (his) best. 

What a perfect way to start CSM 2017 – while this talk was directed specifically toward current/new/future moms and those who employ moms, I loved the application to everybody we encounter.  From a student perspective, it’s easy for me to get caught up in how I would do blah-blah differently when interacting with my colleagues.  However, each of my classmates brings a unique perspective to the table, from how they interact with patients, to how they structure their treatment, and so on.  I have so much to learn from the people I meet and even treat, and this mantra is exactly what I needed to shift my focus on to what’s really “best.”  Speaking of what’s really “best”…

2.     Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough.

Let me offer a disclaimer: this is not saying stop doing your best or that you should only give half your effort when treating your patients, etc.  I heard this phrase throughout CSM, and it absolutely gave me pause for thought: last fall when I completed a clinical rotation in our school’s PT clinic, I put so much pressure on myself to create the perfect treatment with the perfect outcomes for my patients.  This obviously didn’t work out like I planned: my interventions to improve shoulder ROM in my patient post-stroke fell short of my ideal goals, but I successfully treated his BPPV, which made his mornings much more pleasant and functional.   After reflection, I know these imperfect gains didn’t live up to my standards, but I did my best to get my patient to where he wanted to be, and I really can’t ask any more of myself. 

3.     Comfort zones at conferences need to go.

Attention reader: interacting with so many people at lightning speed absolutely drains me.  HOWEVER, there are so many amazing people at CSM, that I couldn’t help but get swept up in the excitement of meeting so many people.  I had the amazing opportunity to talk with the Core Ambassadors from North Dakota and Washington D.C. – it was so interesting to hear all about what’s happening in our respective districts and discuss some issues we each face as Core Ambassadors in very different states.  Don’t be discouraged if you didn’t meet or interact with as many people you wanted – for the sheer number of people who attend CSM, we’ve only just begun to dip our toes into this professional pool, and there will be more chances throughout your career to make connections and friendships…and you can always take an annual post-CSM nap before classes begin again on Monday!

4.     #Mamacapemafia & Daddies on duty!

This particular point isn’t really related to one course or section in general, but rather my young SPT observations of how many parents with babies and even families I saw at CSM 2017 compared with last year in Anaheim.  I know PT is the greatest profession ever, but this totally blew me away – what an amazing culture we work in that embraces the working parent’s involvement and encourages participation in all stages of a PT/PTA’s life and career!  There’s still plenty of work to be done to make this a widespread reality, but it’s a start for sure.   

5.     It’s okay to fangirl at conferences.

So this wasn’t Comic Con or even a chance celebrity encounter at the airport, but there were still plenty of opportunities to snag a selfie with your professional role model or ogle over someone whose name you recognize from the gazillion publications they’ve authored.  And for those of you saying, “But Elise, I’ll look like a fool/goober/insert-phrase-of-choice-here and embarrass myself”: I’ve already done it for you, so let me comfort you with a quick personal experience.  I attended an oncology course that was just amazing, and after about 45 minutes of wide-mouth staring in wonder at this author, I finally realized that I did a presentation last semester over one of her articles.  Not giving myself the time to even get nervous, I marched right up to her after the presentation, introduced myself, and told her how much I loved her article.  She was incredibly gracious and thanked me for introducing myself – maybe I’ll never see her again, maybe I’ll co-author an article with her someday; the point is I made the effort to interact with the people I admire and want to learn more from, and I think that’s a huge part of what CSM is all about. 

I’d love to hear your own pearls of wisdom from CSM, so please feel free to reach out to me, and don’t forget to follow TSPTA on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

Elise K. Decker is a second-year DPT student at Texas State University and serves as the Core Ambassador for TSPTA.  She enjoys learning the art of hashtags and watching mystery shows on Netflix. 

Navigating the Legislative Process for Physical Therapy Students

On February 21, physical therapists and students from all over Texas are going to descend on the capitol building in Austin for TPTA’s Legislative Day. We’ll be talking to Senators and Representatives about sunset provisions, direct access, and other legislation that affects our profession. Getting legislation passed and signed into law is a long and often frustrating process, partly because most of us don’t understand how it really works. After years of working in the public policy arena in Washington and Austin, here’s an easy way to break it down.

     

        Getting a bill passed through the Texas Legislature is like a taking a road trip – your car needs an engine, enough gas to get you from A to B, and some luggage to take with you.

            The engine is politics. Without the engine, the road trip is over before it begins. It’s easy to think of politics as the absurd sniping you see on CNN or Twitter; it’s not, it’s constituent work. Simply put, there’s nothing elected officials care more about than their voters. These officials may not care about the latest research on the efficacy of orthopedic manual therapy, but they care about their voters’ health care access and costs. And, they care when students get their degree in Texas, only to leave for a different state because the jobs there are more appealing. They care about their constituents because that’s who votes.

            Ok, now you need gas – a full tank cause this is gonna be a long ride. The gas in your tank is the process. Take a deep breath, here we go…A bill is introduced, referenced to a committee, chairperson decides to hear the bill, testimony is heard, cost is determined, the committee votes, bill goes to the calendars committee, calendar committee chair decides to hear the bill, calendar committee passes the bill, goes to house or senate to vote, amendments are voted on, bill is passed house or senate, oh and the other chamber has to do all this at the same time, if the two bills from the house and senate are different, they negotiate which they go with and then vote again, bill passes, the governor then signs and it becomes law. Yes, that was a run-on sentence. And yes, things can and usually do go wrong at any step along the way.

            And last and absolutely least, what’s most important to us is the policy content. Think about it, on a road trip, you’re not going anywhere without gas and an engine, but if you leave your toothbrush at home, eh. That jacket that’s supposed to keep you warm – nope. Point is, the content of the bill, the luggage, is the least important part of making law. You only get to take what a majority of the house and senate say you can take. Have you ever tried packing with the input of 180 people? You’re not taking everything you wanted, but maybe you take one thing, maybe two, if you’re lucky.

    

        On February 21, we’re gonna check the engine, fill the tank, and pack our bags. It’s not simple, but it’s important and not just for us, for our patients. We fight for them in the clinic. We must fight for them at the capitol as well.

Ari Witkin is a first year DPT student at Texas State University and serves as the PT Delegate for TSPTA. He was formerly on the professional staff with, then, Senator Joseph Biden, a senior associate with the Brookings Institution, and a researcher for the Texas House of Representatives.