Becoming a Physical Therapist
Meet Lindsay Brown
Courtesy of Lindsay Brown
Lindsay Brown has worked as a physical therapist (PT) for 15 years. PTs help people recover from all kinds of injuries and conditions, from sprained ankles to strokes. For each patient, PTs create a treatment plan—a series of exercises, stretches, and other therapies. Their goal is to improve patients’ mobility and relieve their pain so they can complete everyday activities.
Read on to learn about Brown’s journey and what it takes to be a PT.
Illustration by brown bird design
Brown helps patients perform therapeutic exercises like squats.
What sparked your interest in becoming a PT?
I knew that I wanted to work in health care but wasn’t sure in what role. In college, I took a series of courses called “Exercise as Medicine.” That led me to major in physiology, the science of how the body moves. As a lifelong athlete, I loved the idea of using movement and fitness to help people.
What was physical therapy school like?
Every program is different. The first year of my program was mostly science classes, but we also did dissections of cadavers (dead bodies) to learn about anatomy. In years two and three, we did rotations, spending eight weeks focusing on specialties, like pediatrics or sports medicine.
What sorts of conditions do you treat?
As an orthopedic PT, I treat injuries that involve the musculoskeletal system: bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and joints. A patient might be a person with unexplained neck pain or someone recovering from knee surgery. They can get a prescription for physical therapy from a doctor or come to me for treatment without one.
In some cases, I help diagnose the injury, but my main goal is to improve the patient’s functioning and relieve their pain.
What’s the best part of your job?
I love helping to solve each patient’s pain or injury puzzle and seeing them regain independence. Seeing a patient with a serious injury return to their favorite activity is the best!
