Dr. Coach; Combining Two Passions into One Rewarding Career

I was in the final months of my internship at Jump Start Physical Therapy in Massachusetts, and I was knee deep in the process of obtaining my PT license back home in New Jersey when my phone buzzed. My brother texted me that one of his friends who coached high school soccer was looking for a JV coach for her program. I thought, ‘Hey, that could be fun while I look for a real PT job back home, sure!' I spoke with the head coach and got the job a few weeks later. Little did I know how much I’d love coaching high schoolers, and that 2 years later, I’d be forging a way to integrate coaching and practicing physical therapy.

In the past 2 years, I’ve worked in an outpatient ortho facility part time, covered various outpatient clinics, and worked in a school district treating pre schoolers, all while locally coaching high school soccer, basketball, and softball. I traveled to Cincinnati and became a certified Sportsmetrics trainer so I could specifically offer ACL injury prevention, and have assessed and reduced the risk of a handful of middle schoolers in this this past year.

Every team I coach has plyometric jumps as part of their daily warm up, with the goal being injury risk reduction and performance improvement. The anatomy, biomechanics, and movement analyzing skills I’ve learned as a doctor of physical therapy have benefitted my student-athletes every day, as I’ve been able to improve their balance, strength, and flexibility in the context of their sport.

While being a PT certainly helps me improve each athlete’s movement and lets me assess and rehabilitate various injuries during practice and games, coaching has made me a better physical therapist. I have to teach exercises and drills every day. I have to make sure that whoever I’m interacting with understands WHY I’m asking them to do a certain task or exercise, and then asses HOW they perform it to give them constructive feedback on how to improve.

I have had to organize my priorities in making my decision to pursue coaching as well as physical therapy. I am not making the kind of money I would be if I were a full time PT at an outpatient clinic somewhere, but I’ve managed to keep my expenses low by living back home with my parents and saving everything I could, and I enjoy the flexibility which allows me to continue coaching while working.

Through great mentorship from Greg Todd, and the encouragement from my fellow students in his SSPT class, I am coming up with ways to generate revenue online which helps me serve other coaches and more people. I am by no means living a lavish lifestyle, but I am tremendously happy with the balance that I’ve struck so far, and know that this is just the beginning.

I do both of these jobs with a smile on my face and I bring enthusiasm to them every day. I have a great balance of joy and challenges with the jobs I have. I hope that my story can inspire anyone who may want to become a PT while combining it with another passion they have. I am finding a way, and you can too. At the end of the day, if you are excited about something and can help people with it, you will find a way to succeed.

-Kelli Josephsen

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