By: Lindsay Wilcox, PT, DPT, OCS, Cassie Olson, PT, DPT, CSCS, and Brianne LaBella, PT, DPT, CEEAA
A Gray Institute for Functional Transformation (GIFT) Fellow spends 40 weeks deep diving into applied functional science in order to help their patients and/or clients move and feel their best.
This fellowship covers all things functional movement. It gets specifically into how your joints function, what movements are optimal, specific manual techniques, and different ways to assess performance-based exercises.
We talked to three Spooner physical therapists who have been accepted in the fellowship and are currently in the program: Lindsay Wilcox, PT, DPT, OCS, Cassie Olson, PT, DPT, CSCS, and Brianne LaBella, PT, DPT, CEEAA. Each of them has shared their experience in the GIFT program this far:
What was the application process like?
Lindsay: Sending an email to the practice performance team, Tim, Michelle, and LaRissa answering questions about your current treatment philosophy, mentors who have influenced you to attend GIFT, and challenges that have pushed you out of your comfort zone.
Cassie: There’s a small, short application that they sent out. But essentially, we apply through Spooner because we have such a good relationship with Gary and his program. But I wrote an essay about why I wanted to be a part of the GIFT program, what I would use it for, and how I would kind of implement it into my practice going forward.
Bri: We had to essentially write a short essay about why you want to be a part of the program, what you wanted to gain from it, and how you felt like it could help people.
What do you anticipate you will learn?
Lindsay: After completing my residency, I felt more confident in treating common orthopedic conditions, but have felt more stagnant/regimented in being able to progress patients to get them back to the activities and everyday tasks they want to be able to do. I feel that getting a better understanding of the way the body works as a full kinetic chain and how to best facilitate that motion through prescriptive exercise, manual techniques, and cueing will serve to enhance my therapy practice and the lives of people in our community. I hope to gain skills and a new perspective to elevate my practice to better serve current patients.
Cassie: A lot! I’ve been a therapist for almost six years now, and I learn something new every single day, literally. But I have always been interested in GIFT because I felt like the people around me who had gone through the program really seem to understand movement at a deeper level.
A lot of that more intricate knowledge comes over time with practice, experience, other continued education courses and fellowships like this. So that’s really what I am expecting to learn and I am already learning more of; the intricacies of human movement and making treatment more functional, which is always our goal as physical therapists. The Gray Institute does a really good job patient centered care; their specific activity goals, occupational or functional goals, and the particular movements that they need to accomplish to complete tasks. So, I am looking forward to learning a deeper level of function, treatment with movement, and exercise prescription.
Bri: The best thing that I have learned thus far is how to look at the body as a whole. If someone has hip pain, how does that connect to the knee or to the ankle? Or, if you have ankle pain, how can that connect to the hip and above and below. This helps us take our eyes in a different direction and getting away from isolating a joint versus seeing the whole body work together and how it works together.
How can being a GIFT Fellow elevate your skills to help patients move and feel their best?
Lindsay: I am confident that this is a learning opportunity that will help grow not only my personal practice, but our clinic in Coppell, and Spooner within Texas. I’m excited to bring this knowledge back to my team of therapists and the future Spooner therapists in Texas. Given GIFT started at the beginning of this month and that my current mentor, John Kline, is a GIFT fellow, I have already implemented a few techniques in clinic and have tried to look at each patient through a new lens.
We recently had to post about our When, Where, and Why our desire to serve and encourage started and this is what I shared with the group:
Really my why started with my parents. My mom has been a teacher her whole life and lives for her students. My dad owns a small business in audio/visual work and does a lot of service with our church community and Dallas Catholic Charities. They both have instilled the importance service and Christian values in my life. This was further pressed upon me in high school as our motto at Ursuline was Serviam, latin for “I will serve.” I am still close with a lot of girls from my high school class, and it is amazing to realize that of my 10 closest friends, all of us have gone into healthcare and strive to continue to serve our communities.
I realized I could serve my community through my interest in the human body and how it works as well as my ability to connect with people. I have never been the smartest person in the room, but I have always strived to understand and approach people/situations with empathy. I first was introduced to the field of physical therapy through taking my younger sister to her PT sessions after ACL reconstruction, where I got to see her go from being in a wheelchair (due to poor bone healing) to returning to the sport she loved. In the same year, I saw the impact PTs could have with people post stroke with motor involvement, as my grandpa went through recovery for this.
I went to PT school at UT Southwestern, continued to learn through an orthopedic residency, have sought environments to push me out of my comfort zone with mentors who are willing to help me grow, and have tried to apply my skills to the best of my ability. My most recent mentors at Spooner have all been GIFT fellows and I appreciate their insight and guidance, both with patient care and my professional/personal journey. Applying for GIFT was the next logical step for me as I am always thirsty to learn, understand, and better myself so that I can best help others. The more I know, the more tools I have, the more people I can help.
Cassie: Another big part of the Gray Institute is they always talk about mind, body, spirit. So you’re not just treating the patient’s body on a surface level, but you’re also treating their mind and spirit. We know how important it is to treat patients with respect and kindness, make them feel good, motivate them, and connect with them on a deeper level.
On top of that, also being able to dive deeper into how the patient’s moving, finding their deficits and being able to treat those at a little bit higher level and more specifically, is helpful over all to help them move better.
Being able to help patients reach their physical goals and connect with them on another level is woven throughout this program.
Bri: There are so many answers to this. It goes back to being able to look at the whole body and treat the whole body rather than isolating a part of the body. Through the GIFT program, I can see how the body moves together in a functional way. This will help me prescribe movements that look more like the movements patients actually make and in all planes of motion. So, if you’re a tennis or pickleball player, I can put them in positions that make the patient feel like it’s a pickleball or tennis move- so the exercises are more applicable to how they want to move outside the clinic. This will help patients understand the connection between what we are doing in the clinic and the goals they have outside the clinic.
Want to get back to doing the activities you love but are unable to because of pain or discomfort? Schedule an appointment with a Spooner physical therapist today!