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Physical therapist Tiffany Nguyen, PT, DPT, reflects on PT Month

By Tiffany Nguyen, PT, DPT

In light of National Physical Therapy Month, I was asked to write a little snippet about the profession and my own experience as a physical therapist (PT) for the last 16 years.

In truth, I had my heart set on a different profession after graduating high school in 1996. Nobody would guess, but I was supposed to be an accountant — more specifically, a CPA (Certified Public Accountant). I was good with numbers, and the job catered to my introverted personality. However, the universe pulled me in a another direction that summer before college. I wanted to get into health care, and somehow stumbled upon this wonderful career.

In my early years as a physical therapist, I was naive, thinking that we were going to help everybody get better simply by appropriately implementing therapeutic exercise, manual therapy, modalities, and education about good movement patterns and posture. Then I discovered that not all of my patients were getting better, partially due to persistent pain patterns. After trying every intervention in the book with no relief, it bothered me to see these patients feel so defeated, upset and hopeless.

That's when I dove into the world of Pain Science Education, led by world-renowned physical therapists/clinical scientists, Lorimer Moseley and David Butler. This has been such an important, additional tool in helping patients with complex pain patterns, many of whom have dealt with great loss, grief and trauma. I’ve learned that being a physical therapist is more than just providing conventional treatments to our patients. Being a physical therapist also means providing a safe emotional space for people to process their injuries, previous/current losses and overall grief while getting rehabilitated. I believe this is one of the keys in getting patients better, which I have been able to witness over the years. I find this to be true treating postpartum patients following a traumatic birth, being with families while they come to terms with their child’s disability and helping patients transition into a new job after a debilitating injury.

More recently, I've witnessed the significance of our job as thousands of inpatient physical therapists charge the frontlines, treating patients with COVID-19 during this pandemic. One story told by a physical therapist touched me deeply. She walked into the patient’s room and found that he was significantly weak while recovering from COVID. She saw an unopened letter next to the nightstand and asked if he wanted her to read it to him, as he was too weak to do it himself. It was a letter from his wife telling him how much she missed him and that she was waiting for him to get better to come home. In this moment, just being "present" during a time of isolation and hopelessness was so healing for him.

I hope this reflection and story reveal how much of an impact physical therapists really do make on our patients' lives. With that, I want to tip my hat to all the physical therapists making a difference in the world. Happy National Physical Therapists Month!