Join host Dr. Larry Benz, nationally recognized for his expertise in private practice physical therapy and occupational medicine alongside NEW co-hosts Tim Reynolds and Bryan Guzski. From Evidence In Motion, The Practice Leadership Podcast’s Movers and Shakers Season will go straight to the source, asking the industry heavyweights about research, social media, what technology challenges lie ahead, their seasoned advice form the clinic floor, and where to take action in advocacy.
This week on the eighth episode of the season Larry Benz, Tim Reynolds and Bryan Guzski are joined by Mike Rienold PT, DPT, SCS, ATC, CSCS, C-PS. He is considered a world-renowned leader in the field of physical therapy, sports medicine, fitness, and sports performance. He is a noted author, lecturer, consultant, researcher, and clinician. As a physical therapist, athletic trainer, and certified strength and conditioning specialists, Dr. Reinhold has used his experience in a variety of settings to help restore, optimize, and enhance their performance. He has most notably worked extensively with a variety of professional athletes from every major sport, with emphasis on the care of throwing injuries in baseball players.
Mike is the co-founder and president of Champion Physical Therapy and Performance, a physical therapy and performance training facility just outside Boston in Waltham, MA, Mike is also currently the Senior Medical Advisor for the Chicago White Sox and the Director of Baseball Performance at Northeastern University, where he has been instrumental in the restructuring and building of the high performance and medical teams.
Mike expands on the many different roles and projects that he has taken on during his career. He attributes the processes that he has put into place to manage projects and complete tasks. Mike has always loved art and music. He does everything on his website himself, the design, some of the coding and design just purely because he says it stimulates his brain differently. He is always trying to do something to grow and learn.
Mike says, “Creative comes in a lot of different ways and there are a lot of ways to apply creative abilities. I am in a position where I am more of a mentor based leader than he is a dictator. It isn’t about delegating and barking orders, it is about putting people in the right position, giving some baseline systems, and then letting them grow and make things better. When you make that shift mentally, I think it changes the way you approach everything.”
Regarding the next generation of physical therapist hoping to become sports physical therapists Mike recommends reading the 365 degree leader. He says, “ You can always lead from within, you can lead horizontally and vertically.” There are multiple ways to lead within.
On social media Mike says, “If you make too many statements online, I don’t want to say you become close minded but maybe you are starting to look at the research to support your past public claims a little bit more than keeping an open mind. As things evolve, you don’t want to dig in too deep on an opinion because you run the risk of having a little bias that you (not in a negative way) want to egotistically defend that thought versus I want to keep an open mind. That is a negative about social media, everything is out there for everyone to see, so no one wants to look silly. There are ways to do it, share your journey, I have ton of past students that were doing it right and it is working. In general social media is not bad but It cannot be your primary method of learning new things.”
Listen and learn more about Mike’s advice for becoming a sport’s physical therapist leader in an outpatient environment, his thoughts on physical therapist specializing early on in their career or waiting, physical therapy burnout & social media.
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Ad Info: Evidence In Motion is excited to be back in person and back to hands-on learning for the 2022 Align Conference. This year you can join an all-star lineup of speakers in Dallas, Texas, August 26 through the 28. The labs and lectures focus on sharpening the physical, hands-on treatments essential to patient care. Save 5% on registration as a practice Leadership Podcast listener. Visit alignconference.com and use the promo code PRACTICELEADERSHIP at checkout.
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