The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast

Sports Physical Therapy Residencies with Dave Nolan - Episode 4

April 26, 2022 Mike Reinold
The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast
Sports Physical Therapy Residencies with Dave Nolan - Episode 4
Show Notes Transcript

Many students and early career professionals are considering residencies to further their education and to specialize in a certain aspect of physical therapy.

In this episode of The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast, I talk with Dave Nolan about how to determine if a residency is a good idea for you, what to look for in a sports physical therapy residency program, and how to stand out in a crowd of applications.

Full show notes: https://mikereinold.com/sports-physical-therapy-residencies-with-dave-nolan/

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Introduction:

On this episode of the sports physical therapy podcast, I'm joined by Dave Nolan. Dave is an associate clinical professor at Northeastern university and a physical therapist at the mass general sports physical therapy center. But more importantly he's the director of the mgh northeastern university sports physical therapy residency program and that is going to be what we're talking about in this episode

Mike Reinold:

Hey Dave, how's it going? Welcome to the podcast. Appreciate you joining us today.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, I'm great. Mike, thank you so much for having me. This is, uh, it's a great opportunity.

Mike Reinold:

Awesome. Well, before we get into the meat of this episode, I want to first say congrats for winning your, uh, most recent award. My, uh, it's funny you've I think you've won every award. Now, at this point, we're running out of awards to give you, but the, the most recent award was the distinguished mentor award in residency and fellowship education from the PTA. So this is in my mind, a pretty big deal award. So, uh, super big it congrats for winning that day. That's awesome.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. It's humbling to be recognized by colleagues and peers. And, you know, I think for me as I get further along in my career, um, and sort of really enjoy focusing on, you know, being a resource for folks and being a mentor to then sort of be recognized for those efforts was, uh, was really special and really humbling. So I was honored to be considered for it. So, yeah. Thank you very much.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah. I mean, obviously lots of hard work, but, um, you know, it's not always the work, right. It's about being a mentor and not every. I don't, I don't wanna say not everybody's cut out for that, but not everybody's is focused on that. And I think what it takes oftentimes is like that really like that, that, um, you know, lack of selfishness, you know what I mean? Like, like to understand your role in the education of, of these people is, is to help them succeed and to help them almost leapfrog you, that's almost their role. So, you know, that, that, that's, that's a challenging thing. Like, wait, when do you think, like, w when did that switch, or when did that light bulb kind of go off on you? You know, where you said, like, wow, Being a mentor or something. I really enjoy.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, I think that it's, you know, as I've started in, you know, years ago, having students and then certainly within the residence, Um, and I think probably for me, reflecting back on my own trajectory, you know, where we all had had different people, you know, that have helped us along the way. I think that, you know, part of it is with, with, uh, you know, with being a mentor, being a mentee is it's more of an intentional sort of relationship, um, that you're working together. So, you know, thinking back to my own personal path and, you know, just, you know, had I had. Different people at different times to sort of help along the way. Like one of the things that I say to our residents or students all the time is, you know, learn from my mistakes. Um, you know, like if I had done things differently or if I had known what I know now, that sort of thing. So some of it is to try to help somebody else's path be a little bit less circuitous than mine maybe was, um, you know, so, and it's just, just like helping patients get better, you know, seeing, seeing. You know, career professionals or residents or students sort of get better and see the light bulb go off is, uh, is, is really fulfilling as well. It's not just about, you know, uh, helping people for the sake of helping them. It's really fulfilling to sort of see that growth. So.

Mike Reinold:

And, you know, it's funny, you almost like flip the script there, which I really appreciate because sometimes people, especially, you know, younger people that when they seek a mentor, they're seeking a mentor for, uh, education, like what to do. But what they don't realize that oftentimes their learning is what not to do. Right. And, and as you stumbled through the early part of your career, which we've all done to have somebody help guide you through that path that can, you know, almost like help you avoid some of the early mistakes that. Both made. Right. Um, I don't know if people appreciate that enough on how that really helps accelerate them, get to where they want to be within their career. And one of the, probably most, uh, least understood aspects of mentorship in my mind.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. And I think that, um, the other component that I think sometimes gets overlooked is the reality is that most people are going to have multiple mentors. You know, it's, it's not, you know, I have a skill set in a really, a finite area of physical therapy, you know? So, um, I can help with certain things, but not every. You know, so, um, depending on what people are looking for and where their growth is going to be. So I think that, you know, um, seeking out different people at different times is going to be, is going to be important for folks to, you know, um, and making sure that it's, that, that the person that you're seeking out. Cause sometimes they'll, they'll seek somebody out, like somebody like yourself and, um, you know, does everybody have the time to see. To make it a successful relationship. You know what I mean? Um, are you going to be able to get what you need? Um, you know, when you, when you're sort of working with that person,

Mike Reinold:

Yeah, no, that makes sense. And, and, you know, good advice for somebody if they're, if they're going into the early aspect of their career. So, Dave, I mean, you, again, your award was for your residency basically, um, through the PTA. So, um, for those that aren't familiar, uh, Dave's. Uh, residency is with mass general hospital in Northeastern university, probably have one of the more premier sports, physical therapy, residency programs that are out there right now, um, which has been great to see kind of grow. And, um, um, I I've, I've seen a lot of the residents and worked alongside with them a little bit at Northeastern to see them really develop and even go on to some great jobs in the future. But. Um, wanted to talk to you a little bit about that today on, on the episode, because I think your experience and your award-winning experience, right. Uh, can, can really help a lot of people grow with this. So, um, why don't we start with that? Like how long have you been running that residency? How long did.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. So our first resident was in 20 14, 20 15. Uh, so since we've had 15 residents in total and we, we actually just accepted, um, two residents in our ninth cohort and that, and they'll start in July.

Mike Reinold:

That's awesome. Do you ever look back at your first resident and say, wow, I, I feel bad. We made a lot of mistakes at first year.

Dave Nolan:

No, thankfully not too many, not quite that bad, not that I'm going to admit out loud, but I do feel one of the things that's been a lot of fun with the program is, you know, having the, you know, the expertise at, to, you know, really. Institutions is leveraging the things that are there to try to really, you know, um, make the program special, you know, taking advantage of those things, um, to make sure that we're adding great experiences that are hopefully a lot of fun and a great learning opportunities as well. So we have done a lot of things hopefully to keep growing and making it better as opposed to, you know, fixing things that exploded right.

Mike Reinold:

Really nice way of, of saying that I like that. Um, and you know, w that, that shows again a little bit about you as a person though, like when you started this, you didn't just start it, you started this with some careful, uh, you know, uh, careful creation of, of what you wanted accomplished. So, um, I'm not sure if you know this, but when you started, do you know how many sports residencies were there when you guys first started?

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, the exact number. I don't remember, but it was in the, in the low thirties, I think. Um,

Mike Reinold:

was going to say even less at the time, but

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, I might have high twenties or low thirties in now. I think there's around 60 it's it's a moving target because there's different phases. Now you're getting programs that are fully accredited and then you have programs in candidacy and in development, things like that. So there's definitely been a lot of growth in the time that, that our program has existed, which is great to see. Um, you know, but I would say. Even still the number of programs that exist aren't are likely not enough to meet the need of the people that, that want to ultimately do a residency.

Mike Reinold:

Right. For sure. Yeah. And, and, and I think as our profession continues to grow, I think the role of residencies is going to grow within our, our development, um, in a really positive way. Um, so, you know, I'm excited to kind of see the future direction of these things, but, um, you know, going on your last point right there, there's. People right. The supply versus demand as right. There's more people that are probably looking for a residency than, uh, that can possibly attend one. Right. So, you know, for me, I, I think that that shows you right there, that we need to do a better job probably of developing some of these residencies and, and hopefully over the next, like, you know, five to 10 years or so, we kind of look back in time and say that, you know, as a profession we've shifted to, um, you know, to get people to the specialized training, I think that would be, that would be a really good point to get.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that, um, No, it needs a lot of needs of what many, you know, uh, either new grads or young professionals are looking for with a structured mentorship. I mean, that's one of the biggest differences is that every residency, regardless of specialty area, you know, you're required to have at least 150 hours of one-on-one mentorship where that time is carved out, you know, and some of the things that we see with. With people that are looking for that, if they're not new grads, many of them are people that, you know, took their first job or second job and thought they were going to get something. But then that didn't really quite work the way that they, you know, were maybe thought that it was going to, um, you know, so it's, um, that's a component. I think so many people are looking for. And as you know, you've been in a busy clinical practice. I've been in a busy clinical practice. It's if you're not sort of carving time out for things, the day gets busy and the time gets away from you. And even some of the best people, it's just hard to, to manage it, you know? So

Mike Reinold:

yeah. I would agree if you don't, if you don't plan for it, your, your energy gets drained faster than you probably anticipate, especially as we're getting older. Right, Dave, but, um, but you know, it's interesting. So, um, so w why don't you do this for the listeners? I think this would be kind of interesting, but why don't you tell us what it's like being a resident in your program? So like, what, what's their day, like what's their year, like, what's their schedule, like, you know, you mentioned that you need, you know, essentially 150. At least 150 hours of, of, um, uh, contact time on one-on-one contact. I'm like walk us through all the different components of that. Cause I think that would be really cool for people that are considering a residency to, to hear about it a little bit more deeply, you know, straight from you.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. Sure. So, you know, one of the things with any residency, uh, in sports, in particular, so you're going to have at least 1500 hours of, um, uh, of, of clinical work of, of working with, with patients. There's another 300 hours of education. Um, and then within sports residency, you're going to have another 200 hours of venue coverage as well. Um, You know, so one of the things right out of the gate is any residency is, um, is, uh, a huge commitment. It's a ton of work. Um, you know, and it's, and I think people need to know that going in and be motivated for it. Um, you'll get a ton out of it, but you're going to work hard to, to, you know, to get through that, um, within so ever. And I mentioned that because every program will achieve those goals, sort of in a S in their own unique way. Um, you know, In our residency. So the residents get hired at mass general. Um, they typically spend about 30 hours a week. Um, they're in, in clinic and then they also attend, uh, ortho grand rounds and sports medicine conference that happened every week at mass general. Um, we typically will build, typically have two, two hour blocks of time with me carved out in their schedule for mentoring. The resident typically chooses what patient they want to have in that time that we're going to work with. So there's time specifically to talk about the patient before their, their work with the patient, uh, together, and then sort of have a debrief afterwards, which is sort of the focus of that to really try to help facilitate, you know, critical thinking and decision-making and learning. Um, they also spend two half days a week. At Northeastern in the athletic training room, treating athletes there and that's alongside Steve Clark. Um, who's, who's a PT at Northeastern and faculty and has his STS as well. Um, and then they're doing a lot of venue coverage with all the Northeastern sports and then, um, alongside me at the, at the Boston marathon and the other BA event. And then also at the special Olympics, the summer games, some of the venue coverage that they'll do, um, they are also a teaching assistant in the musculoskeletal labs at Northeastern as well. So they have some opportunities to do some teaching, uh, in the DPT program, uh, also at masteral they spend time. Uh, observing surgery with some of the sports medicine docs or in clinic with some of the physicians as well. Um, they spend time in musculoskeletal imaging with the attendings. They're seeing procedures are looking at CT, Mr. And things like that. Sports concussion clinic, um, uh, and then cardiovascular performance center as well, where they get to see some high level athletes. Um, we also support them to go to, uh, CSM and the academy. Annual meeting as well. So the, um, the expenses for travel and lodging and registration, all that stuff is taken care of. Because again, we, you know, we feel strongly that that education and sort of, you know, involvement in the, in the academy and involvement in, in APJ is important as well. So we, we make sure that we give them the support and time to be able to attend those conferences as well. So, um, that's sort of a bit of a quick overview, I guess, of what it is. So it's busy.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah.

Dave Nolan:

good stuff.

Mike Reinold:

It sounds amazing. I'm thinking about applying to be honest with you after that. I mean, that sounds so good. I mean, you know, one of the things that I'm sure you know this, because I'm sure you, you, you hear it as well and you see it, you know, just being in an industry, but one of the things I've ever heard about your specific residency at Northeastern and mass general was, was that people really appreciated the diversity of learning opportunities. Right. And it wasn't just. You know, deep in the college training room, you know, some people love that, right. But I'm sure there's a residency that has way more hours than the college training room. But I think what people appreciate is you get clinical care, you get the college training experience, you get a teaching experience, which I think not every program has you have access to all the surgeons. I mean, you, to me, it's, it's so diverse that. You know, I, I, I'm really appreciative of people like yourself putting something like this together because you have access to so many resources. It's awesome that you're sharing it. So, um, good stuff.

Dave Nolan:

Thanks. And I mean, I, and that was one of the goals, you know, as you see what sort of, uh, expertise you have around you. And then, you know, obviously, you know, my thinking with that is they're going to, they're going to learn a whole lot more about imaging by sitting with one of the attendings and going through scans or seeing procedures then, you know, for, for me to give a didactic lecture about MRI or something like that. And they're going to have a much better appreciation of how to manage people after surgery, seeing what happens within the. You know, so, um, you know, I guess that's the other part of my own development too, that has influenced the program is that, you know, how we learn best is to be kind of immersed in sort of gain from that expertise of, of other people. You know, I'll never forget the first surgery that I observed as a PT student. And, you know, you sort of have such a better understanding of what your patient is going through or dealing with. You know why you can, and can't do certain things after surgery, you know, once you're, once you're in that room. Um, you know, so it's, uh, it's on the one hand it's sort of, it's like fun stuff to do, but then there's also really great opportunities for learning as well.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah. So w what was the, what was the surgery that you first saw?

Dave Nolan:

So the very first thing I ever saw was it was a total hip.

Mike Reinold:

Me too. That's the same thing.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. And it's, uh, you know, for people that haven't seen ones like says that as a naive PT student, you know, it's like, you know, people will joke that orthopedic surgeons are carpenters with cooler tools, you know, and they were just hammering away and sort of putting the implant in. And I was like, oh my goodness.

Mike Reinold:

It was, it was traumatizing and you're Like, well, no, no. yeah, of course they're in so much pain the first week after like there's, I mean, they're literally it's carpentry. It was a, it was traumatizing. So, um, it was, it was really cool to follow that up with an arthroscopic procedure afterwards, but just to start off with a total hip, I don't recommend, so it's funny. We both shared that.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, definitely. It had a significant impact on my empathy

Mike Reinold:

Yeah, for, for sure. So, you know, I think even just hearing a little bit from what Dave, um, uh, outlined for what Northeastern's program has to offer, I think that's actually a good, um, you know, touch point to kind of learn from here is that each residency program. Different things that they offer. And sometimes, you know, you hear students that just apply to a few residencies, almost like they're throwing darts at a dartboard. I think you need to understand that there's different components to it. And you know, a good example here is if you want to dabble in a little teaching, for example, then you want to. Something like Northeastern's that has teaching. Um, but you know, there's other ones that don't have access to college athletes, for example, maybe that's what you're looking for. So, you know, you know, keep that in mind that every program is a little different. So, um, Dave, next big thing. And I think this, this could be the best. One of the episode in my. But, um, I'm sure you come across a ton of applicants. I'd actually love to hear how many you get a year. Uh, but more importantly is what are some of the things that you think you could share with people to help them really stand out, to impress somebody in these residency's applications? Like what are you looking for in the perfect candidate?

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, that's a great question. And one, I get asked a lot. Um, you know, people are always trying to get some insights. What they should be doing and thinking about, you know, uh, which I appreciate, you know, um, I think that, you know, the, the, the biggest thing that we, so we'll probably see, you know, 30 plus applications a year, um, uh, for, for two spots, you know, so, and so that's, it's competitive for sure. Um, The things that I always talk to people about is, is do some things to make sure that it's really what you want. You know? So the example that I give people that are considering residency all the time, especially a sports residency is go and observe or volunteer or do something with some sidelines. Acute management, um, to really make sure that that's a component that you enjoy and that you want to do. You know, I tell people like you don't want to figure out on a rainy November night that you don't like sideline coverage, you know, because you're going to do 200 hours of it in any residency, you know? Um, you know, so I think that, and that's not to say that everybody should, you know, that may be part of the difference of. To pursue an orthopedic residency versus a sports residency. Is that venue average. Cause obviously in ortho in sports, you're going to have some overlap with the types of patients that you're going to see, um, and the things that you might do. Um, so that's one of them we kind of look for, you know, has this person taken advantage of opportunities, you know, to expose themselves to. That side of physical therapy to really show themselves that that's in fact what they want to do. I think sometimes people just say like, I like athletes, I used to be an athlete. Maybe I'll do a sports residency. Um, you know, I think, um, you know, the, the other component is then also, you know, investigating different programs, you know, uh, you know, we try to have a lot of information on, on our website and many programs do, but reach out to the program, directors, ask questions, you know, Identify what you want to do. You know, as you mentioned our program, you have an opportunity to do some teaching and it's actually quite a bit, so they're in one or two MSK labs and they're three hours a piece. So typically every week for three to six hours, they're doing some teaching. So if that's not an interest of yours, then our program is probably not the best program for you, you know? Um, you know, and, and you're going to see different. Across the board, like you mentioned college athletics versus high school athletics and things like that. So, you know, think about what it is that you want or what's going to help you get to your goals and then start looking for the programs that are the best fit, you know, and I think that, you know, we talked about that. There's not the supply and demand issue is that, you know, people like me and program directors have the luxury. I've really just doing it like a match, you know, there's no shortage of applications. Um, so really you just trying to see, you know, whose goals sort of match with what your program has to offer.

Mike Reinold:

That's fantastic and excellent advice for people. And I can't help, but thinking just as you were talking about that here too, like, if you are sincerely passionate about. For example, your residency has to offer that that's going to be articulated probably in their, in their process. Right. Versus the, you know, the person that you can just tell is just applying to a bunch of residencies just because they want to do a residency, but they don't honestly have like a game plan in place. So I think that's, that's an excellent point. You know, for me, I, I, I, in the past, I don't want to say I've been critical of residencies cause I don't think I've been critical of the actual concept of residencies have been critical more in some of the students that just blindly want to do a residency. Um, and you know, I talked to drew Contrarez last year, actually with the APA, built this a little bit about the concept of these residencies, but what I'm starting to see now, what I love is that. People are trying to use a residency as, as a specific tool to help them with a specific objective. And to me, that's where we nailed it because like five, six years ago, we, it was students were coming in and just saying like, oh no, no, my university is just telling me I should do a residency. So they applied to six of them and I'm like, Wow that, I mean, let's talk this through a little bit. So, you know, based on that day, I mean, I mean, do you think everybody should do a residency? Do you think it's, you know, just the right type of person, uh, you know, what would be your advice on somebody that's kind of on the fence maybe?

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, and I think that's an incredibly important question. And one, I think too many students don't think about, um, you know, so side of the gate, no, I don't think everyone should do a residency, which may not be the most popular opinion of. Who's involved in residency. Um, you know, but I think that it's a, it's a specific path, um, to an end goal, you know, um, to specialization. And, and I think that we, as a profession sometimes undervalue the expertise of a generalist. Um, and not everybody has the, you know, the luxury of, of working in a really specialized environment, you know, um, you know, I know people all over the country. That, you know, their schedule doesn't look like ACL, ACL, ACL, Tommy, John, you know, it's somebody who had a stroke, somebody who had a hip fracture, somebody who had an ACL, somebody, you know, so, um, you know, there's not a residency for that specifically.

Mike Reinold:

I

Dave Nolan:

I think if people have, have really identified what their passion is and where they want to go and residency will help them get there then. Absolutely. I think what I see a lot is, you know, to, to, to your point, is that people, some people just think it's, well, it's what I do next. Right. I did my undergrad degree. I'd got my PT degree. Now I do a residency and then I guess maybe I'll do a fellowship. Right. Um,

Mike Reinold:

there. They're either afraid to commit. They love debt or they're, uh, you know, there's, there's, there's, there's something going on with them.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. Yeah. I think it should be an intentional decision. You know what I mean? And, and also not one that you have to make, you know, coming straight out of PT school, you know, we get plenty of applicants that have been out a year or that sort of thing, figuring things out. And then, you know what I was, I didn't know if I want an ortho or a sports, but now I know this is really what I enjoy as population. And, and this is sort of, the residency is going to help me get to where I want to be.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah, for sure. Awesome. Yeah. And you know, to me, I think that's probably one of the more important concepts there is, is have a goal in mind. Right. And I've talked so many of our students out of residencies, you know, in the example is always. Yeah. All right. So what's next? And you're like, well, I'm gonna apply to residency. And I'm like, that's great. I'm like, w what's your dream job? What are you gonna get? Like, oh, I just want to move back to my, my little hometown, um, somewhere and work in the orthopedic practice. I'm like, and you don't think you can do that right now? Like without a residency, like, like, you know, for example, like, you know, so for me, we try to help them like almost work backwards from say, you know, where does. I get to write and how can a residency help you get there? And I think that's, I think that's the, that's the best part. It shouldn't just be. a tool for self-confidence there's there's other ways to build self-confidence.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. Yeah. And I think for me, that decision on residency ties in, you know, we talked about mentoring and mentorship and, and things being intentional. Um, I think that, you know, the, and the, the advice I try to give people is that the decisions that we make should be intentional. Like, if you want to do a residency, you don't be doing a residency just cause it, because you think that's what should be next, or somebody told you that, but you know, what, what do you mean. To do. And how is this program going to help you be successful? Um, and, and I will say that even if it's not to move towards a specific job with a specific population, certainly, you know, there's going to be value in your decision-making and thought process and that sort of thing. But you know, it should be an intentional decision because if it's. Uh, I will say that comes across when you're interviewing candidates and reading letters and things like that. Like you can see the people that have the passion there versus the ones that are just sort of doing it because they think that's what they should be doing.

Mike Reinold:

That's that's. That's great. That's great. And, and I think, you know, even if, if somebody just listened to the podcast takes like those two points essentially is, you know, have a goal in mind and make sure it fits your passion. So that way, you know, your, your interview process, it'll be you'll, you'll impress everybody because it'll be very obvious that this is the logical next move for you. So, um, that that's awesome stuff. And one thing to consider too, is, I don't know if. It's been adding them up. I've been trying to take notes here, but I'm trying to figure out how many hours in a week that Dave in his residence app, because they're not adding up. Right. I think we're well over everything, everything. So, so, uh, you know, time consuming here. So keep this in mind here too. This is a big commitment, right? I mean, I don't know, Dave just outlined like at least eight hours a week of work from what I could try to, uh, um, add up right.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. I mean, I think in that, and that's true with any residency, I would say, regardless of specialty area and things like that, you know, that, um, be prepared. You know, it's incredible learning opportunities and things like that, but especially in sports, right. Because you know, games and practices and things like that change you'll have weeks that are super busy and then you'll have a little bit of downtime, you know? So it is, it is not your, you know, your typical nine to five, Monday to Friday, and that's all there is. Um, it's a huge commitment. It's a lot of work and. Um, everyone's working hard to, for the resident to be successful. Um, but it's not easy by any stretch, you know, there's, there's easier way is to sort of get letters after your name and things like that for cure.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah, well said, and, and hopefully it ends up being one of the most impactful years of. Do I think that's the point and you know, it's not going to do that and unless you're very strategic with it, so, you know, um, I think that's awesome. So, uh, Dave, that was awesome. Um, I, I like ending the podcast with a little series of questions that I call the high five. Right? So essentially five quick questions, five quick answers, but you know, really impactful hopefully for the listeners. But first big question is what are you currently reading or working on for your own continuing education or your own professional?

Dave Nolan:

Yeah, digging in a little bit deeper with, uh, with blood flow restriction lately. And. You know, looking at applications for, um, you know, a lot, lots of work has been done with postoperative patients, but sort of looking even more at, you know, chronic injury and the people that just sort of can't load and can't get past it. You know, it's just been such a huge, um, you know, tool to sort of help people that, uh, it's, it's been really interesting, exciting to sort of learn more about it and see how quickly it's growing.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah, that's awesome. That's a good one. Um, what is one thing that you've recently changed or revolve your thoughts on.

Dave Nolan:

I see with, I see lots of endurance athletes, so I see lots of tendon pathology. Um, so incorporating shockwave or having people, um, you know, see practitioners that do shockwave therapy on top of the loading activity. Um, you know, There's some, some new literature that's been coming out. That's showing that the two together may actually be more beneficial for me. Like that used to be, I would work with people and lots of people would get better, but then some people wouldn't and it'd be like, well, maybe you should try doing, doing this. Like seeing somebody for an injection or a shockwave or something like that. Whereas I don't look at it as let's wait till we fail to do this other thing, but rather, you know, let's sort of let's work together with these different interventions to try to have the best outcome.

Mike Reinold:

That's a great one too. And you have access to just so much where you are, but, um, I feel like the barrier to entry, to chalk waves, actually getting a little bit more, uh, you know, easier to people. Um, have you tried any of the, like the clinical applications of that, that, that you can do yourself versus having to go to, you know, uh, a medical doctor to have like a bigger procedure? Have you tried any of those?

Dave Nolan:

I haven't, I've, I've read a little bit on them, you know, but, um, you know, within one person local in the Boston area, that's doing a lot of it is Adam 10 40. Um, and he's somebody that's done a lot of research and is generating some of those papers. And that's the, some of the stuff that I've read as well. So, you know, we're lucky in this area. To, to have some, you know, world-class folks that are, that are in our, in our backyard to be able to send people to. So, um, yeah, having explored sort of doing that on my own sort of, you know, just, uh, just collaborating with other people.

Mike Reinold:

That's great. Right. Awesome. Uh, what is one, what, or if you had to give a student or some early career professional, one piece of advice, what's your biggest piece of advice right now?

Dave Nolan:

I think the biggest thing is to, is to take view everything as a learning opportunity and take advantage of every learning opportunity. Um, you know, I think that that students often, you know, whether it's, uh, an affiliation or whatever, it might be, sort of have their thoughts in their head of what the best thing is going to be. And sometimes those plans don't work out. Um, some of the things that were most impactful for me, We're jobs that I didn't necessarily intend or, you know, opportunities or meetings or, um, uh, you know, affiliations and things that even, even if it's not what you thought it was going to be, it's an opportunity to learn even negative things. I think back sometimes the negative stuff has been more impactful because I'm like, well, when I'm practicing, I'm definitely not going to do things that. Or, you know, so, um, I think sometimes people kind of get in a bit of a rut and just, you know, are unhappy about something, but there's always opportunities to learn and sort of have it influence, you know, how you do things moving forward.

Mike Reinold:

Yeah, I like that. And I feel like I've seen, you know, early career professionals kind of focus on trying to avoid as much negativity as they can, which obviously you should, but just keep in mind that even if you find yourself in a negative environment, right? Like there's lots of things you're going to learn from that experience and then move on. And become better because of it. So, um, that that's excellent advice. I love it. Um, what's coming up next for you, Dave. I mean, any more awards we're about to win anything else we need to know? Cause, Uh, uh, it's, it's been an impressive resume, but what's next for you?

Dave Nolan:

Uh, so one of the April is always a fun month for me because of the Boston marathon. So we're back on a normal schedule this year after COVID and things. So I've had the pleasure of coordinating the physical therapy care at the finish line for, I think this is my will be my 19th year. Um, so the, the third Monday in April is, is the Boston marathon. So. The medical leadership has been working for months now, sort of putting together plans and things like that. So that's around the corner and, um, in June two fun things for me in June, we have our annual sports medicine conference. It's going to be focused on the female athlete. Um, Uh, I think it's still going to be virtual this year, but hopefully we'll have some opportunities and more information with a final program out soon that people can check out. And then I'm really excited. I was selected to be part of the medical delegation for the special Olympics USA games, which is in Orlando in June. Um, so just an amazing group of, of athletes that are going to be competing, uh, down in Orlando, Florida. Um, and I'll be heading down with the delegation for Massachusetts. I'm super excited about that.

Mike Reinold:

That's a good one. Yeah. Congrats on that too. That's that's yeah. Heck that's that's just a few months, David, you got a lot going on in these few months. That's going to be busy.

Dave Nolan:

yeah.

Mike Reinold:

Awesome. And then w you know, how do we find out more about you? Is there a place that, um, you know, you'd like to share some of these things, social media on the internet somewhere, how can people find more, uh, more about what you're up to.

Dave Nolan:

Um, yeah. You know, I I'm, I'm trying to be better about, you know, putting things on social media. I definitely that's for, you know, for, for me, one of the things that. I don't stay on top of as much as I, as, as I should or could. And I'm trying to get better about it. You know, our residency website has things on it and then certainly trying to be more involved in the academy. I just had the opportunity, um, uh, recently this earlier this month to put a talk together for the hip SIG, uh, academy of sports PT, you know, we're trying to have more information that's just available to members to sort of highlight some of the benefits of, of being a member of the academy and the. Um, so certainly those are some areas that I try to contribute to for sure.

Mike Reinold:

That's fantastic. Awesome. Well, Dave, thanks so much for taking time out to do this episode. Lots of great information on residencies and, and what, um, you know, people could maybe, uh, take for some good tips to, to do a better job, uh, making sure that these programs are right for them and succeed in them. So again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to talk to us today.

Dave Nolan:

Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Mike. I really appreciate it. It's been great.