The Huntsville Times
Age: 30 Education: Associate degree as physical therapy assistant; multiple courses in orthopedics, manual therapy, back education, conditioning and strengthening\
Experience: 9 years
Job title: Licensed physical therapy assistant, clinical director of Nesin's Madison office
Where: Nesin Therapy Services P. C., 540 Hughes Rd., Suite 8
Number of employees: 25
Job description: "I supervise staff education and the day-to-day running of the clinic, staff training, scheduling. I'm the liaison between the Madison and Huntsville clinics, and I do patient care. We do one-on-one manual therapy and we see patients for an hour, so I usually have eight patients a day. We see a lot of sports injuries, total knee or hip replacements, neck and back pain, and women's health issues, such as pelvic congestion, endometriosis, incontinence. That's the majority of my time. When we have new employees they work with me for a few weeks and then I schedule time for working with staff, going between the clinics."
Best perk: "Taking a patient who's been in pain a long time and giving them back a better quality of life. It's important for patients to take control of their own therapy to prevent future problems, and it's important for us to give them the tools to do that."
Ambition: "I love working at Nesin Therapy. This is the best job; I work with the best people. My goal is to grow with Nesin."
Best advice received: "This is from my coach in high school, Wanda Henderson. She always told me to push myself, to pursue my dreams. She never doubted me. We were very close, and we still are."
Best advice to give: "People should take more responsibility for their own health care. Get things taken care of quickly because you'll recover more quickly if you do that."
It's a bad day when: "I can't make a patient better due to other medical problems. We spend so much one-on-one time with our patients, you get emotionally involved with the patient. It's disappointing when other factors prevent them from achieving what they want to do."
It's a good day when: "You help a patient return to their activities and they truly appreciate your hard work. When they truly show it, that's when it's good."
Role model: "Michelle Nesin. She saw potential in me a long time ago when I was fresh out of school. She taught me everything I know, and now I can teach others. She's a great boss. She's very caring, she wants to help you with any problems. She's a boss, co-worker and friend."
Working on: "Today I have five patients, one lady with women's issues, a neck patient, a foot patient, back and shoulder, a wide variety today. We also have a two-hour in-service staff education meeting. And I'm getting treated today."
