After a very busy fall and winter, I am finally returning to my blog with some thoughts on service.
It's been a few weeks since #APTACSM in New Orleans and I've had some time to reflect on the week. There is much that I could talk about: the massive amount of people that attended, the wonderful and thought provoking sessions, the city itself; but what typically stands out for me is the connections that I form and strengthen. It is awe inspiring to think about all of the volunteer time that goes into a sucessful conference. It is this demonstration of service to the profession that inspires me to do my part and keeps me coming back for more. I've have the pleasure to serve both the Michigan chapter of APTA (MPTA) over the past decade and more recently the Academy of Acute Care Physical Therapy (AACPT) this past year. I found service to be enriching and invigorating, especially with the current volatile state of health care. So I've decided to share some experiences and hopefully inspire others to look for more ways to get involved.
Service has been a part of my life for a long time. It started early for me with the Scouting program.
Volunteering is a core tenant of Boy Scouts and during my formative years I spent many hours doing various projects for our local historical museum culminating in the completion of my Eagle Scout project in 1990 in which I built a 40% scale replica of a rural schoolhouse and donated it to the museum complex. Later on I helped to mentor young boys as a patrol leader and assistant scoutmaster in the various troops that served. This experiences helped shaped my view of service as an expectation rather than an option. I continued to volunteer in this capacity throughout my time as an undergraduate.
My time in graduate school (proud USAHS Blue 2000 grad) was also influenced my views as membership in APTA was clearly set as mandatory and involvement was encouraged. I did not get the chance to become engaged beyond membership as my time as an SPT was "Survive and Advance." I do not know if the student organizations were as developed then as they are now. (It is awesome to see the young future leaders within the APTA Student Assembly and Michigan Student Relations Committee and the activities they are involved in!) Luckily, I had a great professional example to follow in one of my Clinical Instructors, Rob Worth. As a new grad, Rob encouraged me to consider running for a district nominating position. Unfortunately, I never got the chance as employment brought me first to Georgia and then back to Wisconsin. I bounced around for awhile as I tried to balance the demands within the clinic as well as those of my family. I finally settled into my current position as an Acute Care PT in Iron Mountain and started to look a way to get more involved.
Which brings me to my story of how I got started with MPTA. I live in the "Deep North" of Marinette County, Wisconsin and wanted to start attending NE district meetings. But they were on week nights and between 1.5 and 2.5 hours away. So my colleague (and now boss) Tim McGuire suggested that I switch to MPTA. He said the UP district had meetings in Iron Mountain. It made total sense! So I joined...and not long after was talked into talking the district chair position (just a couple more meetings and a bit more driving.) Ok, sounds great! Sign me up! In 2009, I began my journey into professional service. (On a side note, I know travel 7-8 hours for chapter meetings, oops!) Travel time aside, I have had opportunity to serve in numerous roles and I am very thankful for people like Rob and Tim that gave me the push to get involved.
So why get involved. Why will I drive 7 hours to Lansing next week or spent time working on strategic planning, financial worksheets, social media, and other policy initiatives. I believe it starts with living the APTA Core Values. This document (along with the Code of Ethics and Vision Statement for the Physical Therapy Profession) are the foundation of our profession. If you want to know what a Physical Therapist is, the Core Values are the template. I feel it is important to know this document and look to live these sample behaviors. Being "Involved in professional activities beyond the practice setting" is part of our Professional Duty and directly tied to service, as are many others. I feel obligated to fulfill this as I try and play my part in shaping the profession in my sphere of influence, promote the benefits of membership, and do my best to show its value.
Beyond this foundation, being in leadership also has been beneficial to me in many other ways:
(1) Being in the know. Leadership keeps my abreast of issues on the state and national level and increases my value as an employee and colleague. I can help spread the message and be a source of information to help others understand regulatory, legislative, and professional issues.
(2) Access to the movers and shakers of the profession. I'm surrounded by smart people that have institutional knowledge of the profession and can be resources. If I have questions, I can reach out to PT luminaries and gain from their wisdom. Which is pretty awesome!
(3) Networking I enjoy hanging out with my colleagues after events/sessions and gained many friendships and connections along the way. We can talk shop or maybe discuss other issues while socializing. Many of my favorite adult memories come from these interactions.
(4) Travel My involvement has allowed me to travel nationally to places like San Antonio, Boston, San Diego, and Las Vegas; as well as numerous bike trails and parks in Michigan. There is no way my wife would let travel to so many places without being involved in leadership!
(5) Fun Events MPT-PAC Karaoke, UPD Golf Social, Pub Crawls, MC'ing the AACPT Trivia contest to name a few.
So look for ways to get involved. Start with something small. Chapters and Sections have committees where you can get your feet wet and start your journey into service. Look at your own talents/interests and see if there is an area you can get involved. I was initially motivated to bring better continuing education course to the UP and later to satisfy my love of numbers/statistics through financial spreadsheets and policies. I believe that everyone has their own high bar of professionalism (which will change over time), so make sure it fits you and don't be afraid to try new things. But be yourself and don't be afraid to express your opinion. I think you'll find leadership that wants to hear your perspective. And remember there may be other ways to get involved outside the clinic beyond our professional organization. Are there areas to get involved in your community to promote physical activity? Consider these as well. Not sure if you can do it alone? Find someone else that has been and can mentor you.
In closing, you might ask yourself: How am I going to find time for this? I went to a local Chinese restaurant and received this fortune once: The less one has to do, the less one finds time to do it in. I would ask to you to reflectively think about this...
Thanks and I hope to follow up with another post about advocacy next week.
It's been a few weeks since #APTACSM in New Orleans and I've had some time to reflect on the week. There is much that I could talk about: the massive amount of people that attended, the wonderful and thought provoking sessions, the city itself; but what typically stands out for me is the connections that I form and strengthen. It is awe inspiring to think about all of the volunteer time that goes into a sucessful conference. It is this demonstration of service to the profession that inspires me to do my part and keeps me coming back for more. I've have the pleasure to serve both the Michigan chapter of APTA (MPTA) over the past decade and more recently the Academy of Acute Care Physical Therapy (AACPT) this past year. I found service to be enriching and invigorating, especially with the current volatile state of health care. So I've decided to share some experiences and hopefully inspire others to look for more ways to get involved.
Service has been a part of my life for a long time. It started early for me with the Scouting program.
Volunteering is a core tenant of Boy Scouts and during my formative years I spent many hours doing various projects for our local historical museum culminating in the completion of my Eagle Scout project in 1990 in which I built a 40% scale replica of a rural schoolhouse and donated it to the museum complex. Later on I helped to mentor young boys as a patrol leader and assistant scoutmaster in the various troops that served. This experiences helped shaped my view of service as an expectation rather than an option. I continued to volunteer in this capacity throughout my time as an undergraduate.
My time in graduate school (proud USAHS Blue 2000 grad) was also influenced my views as membership in APTA was clearly set as mandatory and involvement was encouraged. I did not get the chance to become engaged beyond membership as my time as an SPT was "Survive and Advance." I do not know if the student organizations were as developed then as they are now. (It is awesome to see the young future leaders within the APTA Student Assembly and Michigan Student Relations Committee and the activities they are involved in!) Luckily, I had a great professional example to follow in one of my Clinical Instructors, Rob Worth. As a new grad, Rob encouraged me to consider running for a district nominating position. Unfortunately, I never got the chance as employment brought me first to Georgia and then back to Wisconsin. I bounced around for awhile as I tried to balance the demands within the clinic as well as those of my family. I finally settled into my current position as an Acute Care PT in Iron Mountain and started to look a way to get more involved.
Which brings me to my story of how I got started with MPTA. I live in the "Deep North" of Marinette County, Wisconsin and wanted to start attending NE district meetings. But they were on week nights and between 1.5 and 2.5 hours away. So my colleague (and now boss) Tim McGuire suggested that I switch to MPTA. He said the UP district had meetings in Iron Mountain. It made total sense! So I joined...and not long after was talked into talking the district chair position (just a couple more meetings and a bit more driving.) Ok, sounds great! Sign me up! In 2009, I began my journey into professional service. (On a side note, I know travel 7-8 hours for chapter meetings, oops!) Travel time aside, I have had opportunity to serve in numerous roles and I am very thankful for people like Rob and Tim that gave me the push to get involved.
So why get involved. Why will I drive 7 hours to Lansing next week or spent time working on strategic planning, financial worksheets, social media, and other policy initiatives. I believe it starts with living the APTA Core Values. This document (along with the Code of Ethics and Vision Statement for the Physical Therapy Profession) are the foundation of our profession. If you want to know what a Physical Therapist is, the Core Values are the template. I feel it is important to know this document and look to live these sample behaviors. Being "Involved in professional activities beyond the practice setting" is part of our Professional Duty and directly tied to service, as are many others. I feel obligated to fulfill this as I try and play my part in shaping the profession in my sphere of influence, promote the benefits of membership, and do my best to show its value.
Beyond this foundation, being in leadership also has been beneficial to me in many other ways:
(1) Being in the know. Leadership keeps my abreast of issues on the state and national level and increases my value as an employee and colleague. I can help spread the message and be a source of information to help others understand regulatory, legislative, and professional issues.
(2) Access to the movers and shakers of the profession. I'm surrounded by smart people that have institutional knowledge of the profession and can be resources. If I have questions, I can reach out to PT luminaries and gain from their wisdom. Which is pretty awesome!
(3) Networking I enjoy hanging out with my colleagues after events/sessions and gained many friendships and connections along the way. We can talk shop or maybe discuss other issues while socializing. Many of my favorite adult memories come from these interactions.
(4) Travel My involvement has allowed me to travel nationally to places like San Antonio, Boston, San Diego, and Las Vegas; as well as numerous bike trails and parks in Michigan. There is no way my wife would let travel to so many places without being involved in leadership!
(5) Fun Events MPT-PAC Karaoke, UPD Golf Social, Pub Crawls, MC'ing the AACPT Trivia contest to name a few.
So look for ways to get involved. Start with something small. Chapters and Sections have committees where you can get your feet wet and start your journey into service. Look at your own talents/interests and see if there is an area you can get involved. I was initially motivated to bring better continuing education course to the UP and later to satisfy my love of numbers/statistics through financial spreadsheets and policies. I believe that everyone has their own high bar of professionalism (which will change over time), so make sure it fits you and don't be afraid to try new things. But be yourself and don't be afraid to express your opinion. I think you'll find leadership that wants to hear your perspective. And remember there may be other ways to get involved outside the clinic beyond our professional organization. Are there areas to get involved in your community to promote physical activity? Consider these as well. Not sure if you can do it alone? Find someone else that has been and can mentor you.
In closing, you might ask yourself: How am I going to find time for this? I went to a local Chinese restaurant and received this fortune once: The less one has to do, the less one finds time to do it in. I would ask to you to reflectively think about this...
Thanks and I hope to follow up with another post about advocacy next week.
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