On this edition of The FOX Five we speak with Cathy Lee, PT, who is wrapping up her first year of being a physical therapist with FOX Rehabilitation. Cathy sees older adult patients in our Virgina North region, the team that happened to win our Team Spirit Award at FOX Spirit Night 2024.

In her FOX Five, Cathy breaks down all the reasons why she enjoys being a physical therapist, which include being part of a patient’s success journey from beginning to end and having the ability to continuously grow within chosen clinical profession.

Jim: Hello, everybody. Welcome to The FOX Five, the show that explores FOX Rehabilitation through an original list created by a FOX colleague. That FOX colleague today is FOX Rehabilitation physical therapist Cathy Lee. Cathy, welcome to the FOX Five!

Cathy: Thank you. Thanks for having me on your show today.

Jim: I should have prefaced everything by saying that you are a member of our FOX Spirit Night Team Spirit Award-winning squad from Virginia!

Cathy: Yeah!

Jim: Yes, your team won it all and we had a victory party in Arlington earlier this year.

Cathy: I still have the props. I should wear them, actually.

Jim: Well, hey, if you ever come on to do another FOX Five, you can wear the props for that one. So, enough about Spirit Night. I brought you in today to do an episode of The FOX Five. Cathy, what is your FOX Five today?

Cathy: My FOX Five today is Five Things I Enjoy About Being a Physical Therapist.

Jim: All right! All right! So, Cathy, what is Number One on your FOX Five?

Cathy: Number One is being part of patients’ rehab journey. I love that part of being a physical therapist.

Jim: You get to see the whole story unfold.

Cathy: Yep, the ugly, the good.

Jim: Well, I mean, that's part of the game, right? You, as a PT, you see the ugly, and you take that ugly and you turn it into greatness!

Cathy: Yes, yes, I do like that.

Jim: All right, so that is the first reason that you enjoy being a physical therapist. What is Number Two on your FOX Five?

Cathy: My Number Two is building a rapport with patients. Healthcare is very fast paced, but as a therapist, we get to know [our patients] really well. We get to hear about what they do for work, what they do for fun, all the dramas in their life. When you are seeing a patient, you're not just staring at them when they're doing the exercises; you're chatting with them. You are seeing everything.

You get up close and personal, and like I said for my first point, you see them from the start to finish. The in-between part is where you build a lot of relationships, a lot of conversation. As a physical therapist, you provide a lot of encouragement, reassurance, and they provide you a lot of good feedback or bad feedback. That's part of building a relationship.

Jim: Cathy, this brings us to Number Three on your FOX Five.

Cathy: I like being a PT because I did not start out in a home setting. I started with inpatient, which brings me to my point: as a PT, you get to work in diverse work environments, all kinds of settings.

I was trained in, like, I have a specialty in pelvic floor, and so there's so much I can just learn from. There's a lot of transition. You're constantly growing and moving, and you're not stagnant.

Jim: Nice! And that brings us to the Number Four reason FOX Rehabilitation physical therapist Cathy Lee became a physical therapist.

Cathy: Number Four is continuous learning opportunity. I used to think the minute I graduated from PT school I could say, “I am done. I can burn my textbook.” Not true! Because even though the textbooks may not be there anymore, I'm still having to look up all these things and learn from all these courses.

Jim: I respect that you put that as something you enjoy about being a PT, because I would imagine there might be some PTs out there who don't enjoy putting in that extra work, gobbling up those continuing education courses.

Cathy: Yeah! Honestly, every profession requires continuing learning. My husband needs to do it [in his line of work]. At first, you're like, “What a drag!” But usually, the day you sign up for a [continuing education course], five minutes in, you're like, “Oh, I think I'm learning something!” At least I'm using my brain cells.

Jim: Yes, you're using your brain!

Cathy: Yes, I'm using my brain. I'm being challenged a little bit. It's usually when they start out with the pop quiz. They're like, “What is this body part?” or “Name this,” and you're like, “Oh no, I don't remember.” And that's when you're like, “Okay, alert, alert!”

Jim: (laughs) And Cathy, that brings us to Number Five on your FOX Five.

Cathy: The Number Five reason I enjoy being a physical therapist is job stability. There's always a need for therapists, because as long as a person can move, even if it's rolling, even if it's turning, even if it's just to move your arms a little bit or leg a little bit, there is a need for movement specialists like us. Especially with FOX, I feel like apart from having a stable job, there's also flexibility. I know for sure we'll always have patients we need to get to, but at the same time, I don't feel like I have to see anyone at a particular hour or time. I can be flexible, work around my schedule, work around my lifestyle, so that's what I like about being a PT.

Jim: All right, thank you, Cathy! Going inside the mind of a PT. Will you come back for another episode of the FOX Five?

Cathy: I can't say no!

Jim: Yeah! All right, so you'll be back.