Keeping your Passion in the Profession & Avoiding Burnout

From Dr. Corrie Jones, DPT – lead Instructor for How 2 PT. 

I’m thankful that PT is a profession that demands continued learning.  The importance of maintaining and understanding the latest research and obtaining CEUs is helpful to keep interest in the profession.  I’m thankful that PT covers so many different aspects of the human mind and body and that there is always something new to learn.  As the saying goes, “the more you know, the less you realize you know.”  When you are able to keep a growth mindset, you can see potential to learn something new with every patient encounter.  I love learning and being that neo-generalist that can continue to fine tune my skills and understanding.

The other thing that has kept me passionate about the profession is the people I get to work with every day.  Every single one of my patients is different and unique.  We get to meet new people every single week and get to hear their stories and get to know their lives!  People are the most fascinating to me because we all come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. 

If you stay curious, it’s so fun getting to know people and finding out what they’re passionate about.  As you help them get back to their goals and passions, you realize that you are literally an assistant to making sure other people are able to make the imprint on the world they want to without pain getting in the way.  You are helping to “pay it forward” daily and make the world a better place by making sure other people can operate the way they’d like to in their lives. 

Keeping focus on the big picture like that helps me avoid burnout and keep trying to be better at getting my patients healed up quickly and completely!