Education is all a matter of building bridges.
– Ralph Ellison
Formal clinical education is a crucial part of every Physical Therapist’s professional journey. Since October of 2018, Performance in Motion (PIM) has enjoyed being a part of Gavin Weir’s journey toward earning his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree this coming May. Coming to us for his final 12-week clinical rotation from one of the nation’s top Physical Therapy programs at Washington University in St. Louis, Gavin’s passion for our profession and to optimize the Movement System has been evident.
“Working with the team at Performance in Motion I’ve had the pleasure of enhancing my practice as a clinician with the guidance of a highly skilled group of individuals who not only perform to the best of their ability at all times, but also actively explain the reason for each of their clinical decisions,” says Gavin. “From both a personal and professional perspective, it has truly been an environment that will prepare me to graduate as the best clinician I can be.”
Gavin’s clinical instructor, Jacob Brueck PT, DPT, ATC, CSCS, serves as PIM’s Center Coordinator for Clinical Education (CCCE) and has developed a clinical education program that teaches DPT students the PIM methodology and immerses them in a practice model that is ideal for further developing their clinical skills. However, the students are not the only ones who benefit from this opportunity.
“Having doctoral candidate students such as Gavin challenges me to enable future PTs to be expert clinicians as well as affords us the opportunity to learn and grow in our own clinical practice,” says Jacob. “Facilitating Gavin’s transition from the classroom to the clinical setting, learning with him, and now co-treating along side him has enhanced our goal of helping each of our patients to move and feel better.”
Taking an active role in the education of the Physical Therapy and Performance training community both in the classroom and the clinic is highly valued amongst the team at PIM. “Embedded within our team’s principles is the commitment to strive to be experts in the Movement System,” states Jacob. “This encourages us to be lifelong learners.” The positive energy received from students like Gavin is infectious, and the ability to share the PIM methodology and unique culture is truly a pleasure.
“As a soon-to-be Doctor of Physical Therapy, Team PIM has also reinforced the ideology that our profession performs best when we recognize the patient as a part of our team–an equal contributor to their own recovery and performance,” says Gavin. “The difference in the quality of care and outcomes as a result is strongly evident.”
