The Level Up Podcast

What if we told you one of the ultimate keys to growing as a clinician could be found from the field of…Cooking?   Today, we are joined by one of the BIGGEST influences on the Level Up and CALU community, Derek Miles.   Derek is one of those people that is loaded with wisdom, and his unique background in cooking provides some ripe opportunities for analogies and incredible lessons that transcend the kitchen and take us into the clinic.   While he is famous for his cut rate IG series “cooking with adhesions,” this discussion is focused on a totally different set of key messages to be gleaned from the culinary field.   I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and think you will too! So give this episode a listen and make sure you are following Derek (@derek_barbellmedicine)Please be sure to give our podcast a rating if you find it helpful, and share it around!   Thank you to our podcast team: Producer: @WesWax Intern: @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________   Looking to join a FREE community of passionate providers dedicated to redefining the standard of care? Join our CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians CALU Community FB Group If you are a new clinician looking for more intensive mentorship from the CALU Leadership Team - Check out our CALU Plus community and accelerate your growth alongside over 100 passionate and like minded peers -https://www.wearecalu.com/changingthegame1

In this special episode of the clin ed series, we bring you the audio cast of a free lecture recorded and housed on our CALU YouTube. This presentation was originally created for a local DPT program, but it serves as the perfect piece for this aspect of our clin ed curriculum. In this podcast you will: Appreciate the inherent uncertainty embedded in clinical care. Understand why embracing uncertainty allows for more authentic communication skills and clinical confidence. Explore how to cultivate humility and why this is critical for doctor-patient relationships and meaningful professional development. We hope that after listening to this, you will have more guidance, direction, and confidence with your clinical communication skills and critical thinking! You can watch the lecture on our CALU YouTube here: https://youtu.be/i3WYSiStjzw Please be sure to give our podcast a rating if you find it helpful, and share it around! Thank you to our podcast team: Producer: @WesWax Intern: @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________ Looking to join a FREE community of passionate providers dedicated to redefining the standard of care? Join our CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians CALU Community FB Group If you are a new clinician looking for more intensive mentorship from the CALU Leadership Team - Check out our CALU Plus community and accelerate your growth alongside over 100 passionate and like minded peers.  

Have you ever felt: The things you learned in school don't matter? Paralyzed by the nocebo overlords on how to communicate exam findings in a way that doesn't nocebo your patients? Well then, this episode is most definitely for you. But this episode will benefit anyone who is dedicated to growing as a clinician and looking to provide best care. In this next portion of the clin-ed series, we take some time to discuss one of the most critical elements of being a competent clinician AND communicator, which is....having a rock solid orthopedic foundation! The problem is, this foundation absolutely needs to be broadened and reconciled if you really want to provide that A1 care!!! What we learn is school is so important, but if we leave it at that, it is often incomplete, and has the potential to be harmful to our patients. In this episode we clarify more on: New Grad Nihilism Crisis aka “nothing matters” phase Differential Diagnosis Prep Work informing solid history taking “The Diagnosis Dilemma" and the importance of context when discussing exam findings. The Power of Prognosis  How to communicate "uncertainty" with conviction How to expand and reconcile a rock solid orthopedic foundation. ____________________________________________________________ Looking to join a FREE community of passionate providers dedicated to redefining the standard of care? Join our CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians CALU Community FB Group If you are a new clinician looking for more intensive mentorship from the CALU Leadership Team - Check out our CALU Plus community and accelerate your growth alongside over 100 passionate and like minded peers - https://www.wearecalu.com/changingthegame1  thelevelupinitiative.mykajabi.com The CALU Community Learn more about what's included by being a part of the CALU Community! Community, Journal Clubs, Case Studies, and Resources.

In this episode, big time CALU influence and mentor Nicole Piemonte joins us for the second time on the Level Up Podcast! Nicole is a Medical Humanities PhD at Creighton University and is doing some incredible work to bring a transformative culture to life with her colleagues and med students. She authored one of our favorite books, "Afflicted: How Vulnerability Can Heal Medical Education and Practice" In this episode, we really focus on in the cultural elements and socialization process of medical education. We discuss the difference between calculative thinking and meditative thinking, as well as how these types of thinking came to be. We then really dive into "professionalism," how we can create a truly transformative culture that will help cultivate providers who can do it all, and lastly, Nicole will leave you with her KEY message from her White Coat Ceremony Keynote she will be giving at different DPT programs! Give us a listen on your favorite platform and let us know what you think!

Today, Zak lays down some serious reflections on the state of clinical education, the hidden forces that shape us in our schooling, and proposes a vision for what we can collectively strive for if we want to truly embrace a transformative clinical education experience for future professionals. If you are a student looking to become the best professional possible - listen to this! If you are new clinician looking to become the best professional possible - listen to this! If you are a CI or Academician looking to help in transforming the landscape of clinical ed - listen to this! Listen on your favorite podcast platform, and let us know what ya think! Steph's Blog on Hidden Curriculum ____________________________________________________________ Join our FREE CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians

In this episode, Zak attempts his first ever solo-cast and puts some thought into why this is the direction we are going with the podcast, what to expect, and breaking down the “syllabus” with more detail. Tune in and we hope this will get you excited for what's to come! We also have some exciting podcast announcements coming up soon. Keep those eyes peeled! ____________________________________________________________ Join our FREE CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians CALU Community FB Group

In this episode of clinical files, Shelbie works us through one of the rare times you get a zebra in clinical practice. What was supposed to be a breezy post op meniscectomy in a healthy 14 yo female ended up being massively complicated by a very strange neuro presentation that required some referring out. We also go over Zak's very thought provoking case study involving a 14 yo f with BL "shin splints" that have been lingering for roughly 4 months. We discuss differential diagnosis, navigating the subjective interview, and what is the best possible course of action? Tune in and let us know what you think! ____________________________________________________________ Join our FREE CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians CALU Community FB Group 

In todays episode, I sit down with Quinn to discuss the future of the Level Up Mentorship.   After 7 amazing cohorts, and over 2,000 MSK students and clinicians having gone through, we have learned so much valuable information about what has worked extremely well, and also what things we can make a massive improvement on for both sustainability AND impact.   To all of our past, present, and future mentee's and mentor's, we would highly recommend listening to this 35' conversation to learn more about what went into the decisions being made with this new and improved version of the Level Up Mentorship, and what the vision for CALU Foundations Mentorship is!   We are SO damn excited for August, and think this is going to be so much fun, and most importantly, help so many people! ____________________________________________________________   Join our FREE CALU Community FB Group today for all things including: Monthly Journal Clubs Monthly Student Calls Bi-Monthly Case Studies Clinical Discussion Networking/Meet-Ups Referrals to Trusted Clinicians CALU Community FB Group

I remember the feeling of craving intensive clinical mentorship as a new grad. I had applied to one residency, it didn't work out, but ultimately I wasn't sure the traditional residency model was right for me. Not that there is anything wrong with traditional residency, it can be great for the right person. But ultimately, they are extremely scare, competitive, and don't always align with your clinical values. Luckily, I had been doing some informal mentorship under someone I really admired, Ramez Antoun, who had been extensively trained under a diverse spectrum of approaches spanning orthopedics, PNF, pain science, and strength and conditioning.  When we joked about creating our own “residency” for me to complete under him, we suddenly realized this sounded like an awesome idea. And I am forever grateful to Ramez for taking the time to construct such a thoughtful and incredible learning experience! It was such an incredible and formative experience, and my hope is that for some of you, you are able to pave your own path of what YOUR ideal clinical mentorship looks like! Hope you enjoy this episode and let us know your thoughts! Please make sure to throw Ramez a follow on IG: @neuropedics and if you would like to learn more from Ramez, please check out the following links! Neuropedics Newsletter : https://unique-author-8436.ck.page/01ee69fcf7 Neuropedics Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ig6bCzo8Wr3nOYFP2kSyh?si=fDvhBBSrQJOr7B_q270OkA ______________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Join our FREE CALU Community for monthly journal clubs and bi-monthly case studies! CALU Community FB Group

In today's episode, we are joined by cofounder of The Honey Badger Project, Frank Benedetto. Frank is also a cofounder of Level Up, and has been a primary mentor for us since 2017. What we really appreciate about Frank is his unwillingness to compromise his values, and his willingness to say the things we don't want to hear, but need to hear. Frank has been a constant source of growth for us over the years, constantly pushing us outside of our comfort zone, and we think you will enjoy this very open conversation we had with him about coming to terms with “rethinking” what it means to run a business along with the reality of working full time in the best of in-network insurance driven models. If you are a clinician who is burnt out, you need to listen to this episode. Then register for our special webinar we are hosting on Nov 16th at 8pm EST. Our early bird rate ends next Thursday! https://www.drfrankbenedetto.com/Calu-workshop ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our CALU community? Our free FB group with monthly journal clubs and quarterly case studies is the best place to start CALU Community FB Group

In today's bonus episode, we are dropping a conversation with the Exxentric team and Quinn Henoch!   If you ever wanted to know what fly wheel training is, what the relevance is for MSK rehab, and how to get your hands on some equipment, then this episode is for you!!!   Till the end of sept, Exxentric is offering 15% off to CALU Summit attendees and 10% off to our CALU Community. Simply email USA@Exxentric.com to lock in your equipment order today! __________________________________________________   Want to get involved in our community? Well here is an incredible and FREE opportunity to see what we are about! CALU Community FB Group

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of sitting down with three incredibly bright, passionate, and humble clinicians and philosophers to have a jam-packed conversation reflecting on clinical practice, and more specifically, the philosophy of pain we use to navigate MSK pain and rehab. While reflecting on your own biases can be challenging, it is ultimately the only way to improve, get better, and provide better care! And, the more you do it, it almost becomes “fun.” Here are some of the episode topics we covered, and we really hope that you enjoy the discussion!!! ✔️Philosophical frameworks for understanding pain ✔️Acute vs. chronic pain ✔️At what point does acute transition to chronic? ✔️How are they different aside from temporality? ✔️Operational definitions for philosophical terms Phenomenology, Existentialism, Salience, Valence, Enactivism, Affordances ✔️The role of clinicians in helping patients expand possible affordances ✔️How expectations influence pain experience ✔️Can clinicians really be objective? ✔️How an enactive approach is like a cake ✔️How an enactive approach is also like a video game Tune in and let us know what ya think! Thank you again to Mike, Sabrina, and Peter for such a wonderful conversation! Podcast team: @weswax and @jasmine_dragon831

Join us for the second installment of the CALU Clinical Files! Today, Zak walks you through his line of reasoning and thought process for how he managed this case! Case Study Context: Pt is a later 20 year old, F, works in Television (currently work from home). She reports that 1.5-2 years ago, she had a goal of running and marathon and had a major uptick in her running volume, and participated in roughly 9 races (avg distance of 5k). Pt reports that towards the tail end of her running, she began to get R knee pain which was dx as ITB syndrome. She received PT in NYC and had some resolution over a few months, but then had an onset of R sided lateral hip pain, which was originally dx as R GT bursitis. She had been receiving virtual PT at this point, but reports it was largely ineffective for her sx. She did end up getting imaging which reveals R labral tear, but was able to rule out potential boney stress injuries. Currently, she is c/o R sided lateral hip and groin pain that is worsened by prolonged sitting, squatting, running, and walking. Pt is frustrated by her lack of progress with non-operative management and is considering surgical repair of her R labrum. Pt does reports that the past year has been extremely stressful as she has been dealing with three other undisclosed health issues that are now resolved. Pain 4/10, Achey, sharp, R lateral hip and groin, acute on chronic for past 1.5 years. Podcast team: @weswax and @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!    CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship   And if you have not yet, lock in your spot for the best con ed event of the year!  calusummit.com

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Rachel Zoffness and have an open conversation about the merits of pain education, some critiques of pain education, but most importantly, help provide a crash course in relevant pain neuroscience along with some practical ways to start weaving it into your patient care!   Dr. Z is a fierce advocate for pushing the collective healthcare industry forward and we were pumped to have her on! Make sure you toss her a follow and check out her pain workbook if you are looking to learn more from her!   Episode Topics:   ✅ Chronic pain from the perspective of a pain psychologist   ✅ What actually goes into our experience of pain?   ✅ How much agency do we actually have over our body and our pain?   ✅ Cognitive behavioral therapy   ✅ Interpreting the evidence     ✅ Individualizing the treatment plan   ✅ Defining successful treatment   ✅ Setting realistic expectations   ✅ Creating opportunities for mastery experiences   ✅ Barriers to this treatment   Podcast team: @weswax @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month MentorshipAnd if you have not yet, lock in your spot for the best con ed event of the year! calusummit.com   thelevelupinitiative.mykajabi.com The CALU Community Learn more about what's included by being a part of the CALU Community! Community, Journal Clubs, Case Studies, and Resources.

Find yourself feeling burnt out? You will DEFINITELY want to listen in on this one! Dr. Thomas Lee, author of “Becoming a Good Doctor,” is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. This was a fruitful conversation on providing pragmatic ways to help create a fulfilling career in healthcare. Episode topics ✅ Elements of a good team ✅ Balancing care for the team with care for the individuals on the team ✅ Elements of burnout  ✅ Solutions to address and prevent it ✅ Inherent rewards and external stressors of working in healthcare  ✅ Using fury as fuel  ✅ Reengineering the patient experience to reduce fear  ✅ The intersection between a compassionate business model and a profitable one ✅ Empathy Podcast team: @weswax @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship  

Looking for more clinical education? Welcome to CALU Clinical Files: Level Up Edition. Today, Shelbie Miller will be walking us through her thought process on a challenging clinical presentation of a mother and fitness instructor who suffered a complex set of injuries and trauma following a motor vehicle accident. Case Description: A 36 year-old female fitness instructor sustained right arm weakness, pain, numbness, and color changes during a motor vehicle accident. She was in the car with her children and admits to having nightmares and anxiety every night since the accident. This patient presented to PT 1 month later with a guarded arm, gross arm weakness that did not follow a specific pattern, significant grip weakness, lateral hand numbness and admitted to a syncope episode after the accident. She has difficulty with all ADLs and hopes to return to teaching barre and cycling classes. Tune in to hear how to navigate a complex case by addressing the psychosocial factors at play as well as the exercise progression used to return this patient back to fitness instructing! Let us know what ya think and if you have any questions on the clinical reasoning/management, shoot us a message! ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

In this episode, we sat down with former APTA president (among many other things) Dr. Marilyn Moffat, who is a very outspoken advocate for embracing stronger Exercise foundation in our curricula as PTs. She makes a very compelling case for why we should be embracing Exercise over Manual Therapy as our identity to better treat and manage both NCDs and CDs. We also discuss: ✔️Dr. Moffat's experience creating guidelines to implement exercise based curricula ✔️Acknowledging constraints that academicians face to implanting better Exercise coursework in curricula ✔️Why this is a huge opportunity for the PT profession to make a meaningful impact on the current healthcare landscape ✔️ Lessons learned from decades of fierce advocacy across her many leadership positions. Trust us, you will NOT want to miss this one. MAJOR shout out to our podcast producer @weswax (follow this man!!!) for cooking up this new intro that captures the intense but swaggy vibe we were looking for. Lucky to be surrounded by some incredibly talented and creative individuals. Let us know what ya think! Podcast team: @weswax and @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship Interested in attending the CALU Summit? Our early bird rate ends at the end of May! Learn more and secure your spot today: calusummit.com  

In this episode, we go behind the scenes with the co-founders of Clinical Athlete and Level Up to discuss more about the CALU Summit! If you had any questions about the summit, listen in, and if you still have questions, send us a message! We discuss: ✔️ What made last year's summit such a hit? ✔️ What is the mission behind the summit? ✔️ What makes the summit special? ✔️ Why the sessions are designed the way they are ✔️ Why we are SO excited about this year's speakers ✔️ Why we are SO excited about this year's sponsors ✔️ Why you CAN'T miss this learning experience!   Limited tickets still available at our best rate! Lock in your spot today at

Ahhh, that sweet feeling of excitement and angst, mixed with some anxiety, as you a preparing for your clinical rotations! These are such formative experiences, so how can you maximize your experience and get the most out of it? Tune into this roundtable where we discuss these exact topics with 4 incredible students in the CALU Community and let us know what ya think! Topics: ✅ Clinicals during a pandemic ✅ Pre-rotation nerves ✅ Performance anxiety ✅ Imposter syndrome ✅ Cultivating confidence ✅ The role of students on clinical rotations in patient treatment ✅ Patient/student interaction ✅ CI/student relationships ✅ Ways to maximize the success of your clinical rotation experience ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

I still remember where I was when this RCT dropped: “Effect of Intensive Patient Education vs Placebo Patient Education on Outcomes in Patients With Acute Low Back Pain” It shook the Pain Science world, and for good reason. It was a really solid blow to my confidence, but more importantly, an opportunity to reflect and eat some humble pie. I really admire and respect Adrian and his team for conducting this meaningful research over a 5 year span, only to be humbled, but still share the results. There is A LOT to unpack in this conversation, but we would highly recommend tuning and and letting us know what you think! Some Topics Covered: ✔️ Placebo vs sham interventions ✔️ Effectiveness of active listening vs placebo interventions in reducing pain ✔️ Benefits and risks of pain education ✔️ Benefits and risks of diagnostics ✔️ How the physical architecture of the room affects quality of care ✔️ The root cause of pain – do you really need to know? ✔️ What are the risks of unnecessary medical care? Podcast Team: @wexwax @jasmine_dragon831 ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship thelevelupinitiative.mykajabi.com The CALU Community Learn more about what's included by being a part of the CALU Community! Community, Journal Clubs, Case Studies, and Resources.

Ready to step outside of your comfort zone? We're thrilled to welcome a very special guest and Level Up alum, Dr. Krystyna Holland. Not only does she make every effort to provide exceptional care and a safe space for every single patient, she is also an effective educator and a fierce advocate for change. Our conversation this episode covered lots of taboo but important topics! We are grateful to Dr. Holland for coming on and sharing her perspective.  Listen if you'd like to learn more about: ✅ Myths, misconceptions, & the veneer of taboo surrounding pelvic floor PT ✅ Microtraumas & trauma-informed care  ✅ Inclusive care & inclusive language ✅ Why the picture isn't complete without the patient's lived experience  ✅ What Dr. Holland wishes everyone would screen for in outpatient orthopedic settings  ✅ What she wishes would change in the field of healthcare ✅ Gentle ways to approach uncomfortable but necessary topics like pelvic pain, sex, & incontinence ✅ What YOU can be doing to make your practice more inclusive …and much, much more. Tune in and let us know what ya think! ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship thelevelupinitiative.mykajabi.com The CALU Community Learn more about what's included by being a part of the CALU Community! Community, Journal Clubs, Case Studies, and Resources.   

When I was first starting out my social media journey back in 2015, Jarred was someone I was immediately drawn to.   He was someone who was performance-minded but had a huge fascination surrounding the narratives we use and paradigms we subscribe to. All to say, I was very much aligned with his values of thinking critically about our clinical practice, as well as not selling out on IG with nocebic click bait.   While I have grown away from some of my early connections through social media, my relationship with Jarred has stayed strong over the last 6 years. He has been a constant as someone that both myself, and now our community, looks to as a role model of practical skepticism, intellectual humility, and a steadfast commitment to both personal and clinical excellence.   As someone that I truly admire, I had SO much fun getting to have a super candid conversation with Jarred.   I really wanted to take the opportunity to learn more about what makes Jarred, Jarred. He opens up and explains a little bit more about how his early childhood and environmental factors helped to shape who he is, and we reflected on the last 6 years of growth, the lessons learned, the consistent themes, and what the future holds.   Trust me when I tell you that you do NOT want to miss this conversation. Thank you for all you do Jarred, and if you don't for some reason follow this individual, then get on it!!! @dr.jfitboyd   Topic-Teasers  How family, race, stereotype threat, and a fascination with the complexity of the human body & human experience shaped Jarred's path to pursuing an education in PT Skills he's learned on the job as part of the interdisciplinary team that takes care of the Grizzlies His clinical philosophy Resolving the heavily medical emphasis of bio- with the comprehensive emphasis of psycho & social in the BPS model Reflecting on the epistemology of our beliefs, actions & value systems  Creating value systems based on what you want vs. creating value systems based on what you DON'T want The processes of learning & unlearning How to meet a patient where they are and create a “GPS” route from that point forward Titrating & triaging (you gotta listen to get that one) ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

We are very grateful to have a lot of Temple DPT students involved in Level Up. After getting connected to Bill Egan and Trish Crane, two faculty within Temple, it makes total sense why their students are gravitating towards our community.   You know when you just connect with people and the conversation is just super easy and fun? That was our experience talking with both Bill and Trish, so we were SO excited about featuring them and all the amazing things they are doing at Temple DPT!They are both such humble, dedicated, curious, and just straight up real people, and they are truly leading by example within their program at Temple DPT.   This episode was such a fun conversation, and think it will leave you feeling inspired by what they are doing. Please share this with students, faculty, and clinicians you think would benefit from hearing this!(and if you appreciate the show, you can show us some love and leave us a review!)   Episode Topics: Catalysts for personal/professional/therapeutic paradigm-shifting Evolution of evidence-based practice in education and in the clinic   Fellowships and their capacity to improve clinical decision-making and pattern recognition  Balancing emphasis on information vs. skills in education Repackaging manual therapy as one tool in a box of many rather than an entire approach Leveraging the placebo effect in an ethical way Optimizing educational curriculums to produce well-rounded & effective practitioners  How pain science education impacts clinical decision-making Attributes of a healthy healthcare workplace culture   ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

Today we sat down with Level Up Mentor and all around bad-ass Kayla. She is totally inspiring in how she has not only preserved through her own dark times to find what truly drives her, but also how she broke through her own mental barriers to build the career of her dreams.This short conversation is loaded with golden nuggets and well worth the listen, especially for new grads!Make sure you show Kayla some love and reach out to her if this episode resonated with you! And please keep showing love to the show with reviews, it all helps get this information out!   Episode topics: The struggles faced by injured athletes  The benefits of athletic participation for teens The shortcomings of the biomedical model for physical therapy treatment Uncertainty  Career growth Kayla's advice for new grads Keep connecting: https://www.theathleteconnectionpt.com/about @theathleteconnection (IG) www.bethebossmastermind.com ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

Constructive Conversations About the S&C Landscape with Kevin Carr of MBSC and CFSC (@kev_in_carr) Available across all streaming platforms! Today we are joined by a long time friend of ours, Kevin, to have a candid discussion about professional growth, constructively challenging dogma, and handling conversations with people whom you might not see eye to eye with. We have a ton of respect for Kevin and what he has done for the fitness industry. This was a really fun episode for us and think you will enjoy it! Please share this with anyone who you think might benefit from listening and be sure to leave us a review to help our podcast gain more exposure! Episode Topics  ✅Whether exercises can be strictly “good” or “bad “  ✅The clinical benefits/pitfalls of systems and frameworks   ✅The importance of coaching skills in physical therapy  ✅The consequence of a pathokinesiology-based approach when educating future clinicians and coaches ✅The conceptualization, birth, and growth of CFSC ✅The structure and content of CFSC courses  ✅The importance of context and how it is informed by usefulness  ✅The biggest thing PT new grads and students would like to change about their education based on feedback collected by Level Up ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

Today we are joined by faculty member Dr. Dawn Brown of NIU's DPT program! We were lucky enough to be connected with Dr. Brown through a CALU community member who told us "we would absolutely love her." They were spot on. After hopping off a phone call to connect, it was easy to see the passion and leadership she brings to her students at NIU! She is someone that goes above and beyond what's expected, and is helping to push for constructive change at the academic level. We had so much fun in this conversation learning more about Dr. Brown's values, educational philosophy, and some of the changes she wishes to see both in academia and healthcare at large. This episode is a must listen for anyone looking to drive positive change in healthcare! ____________________________________________________________ Want to get involved in our community? Here are two incredible (and free) opportunities!  CALU Community FB Group Four Month Mentorship

Come behind the scenes with Level Up Co-Founders Zak & Steph and Clinical Athlete Co-Founder Quinn to learn more about WHY we decided to merge our companies and what you can expect moving forward! Working alongside the Clinical Athlete team over the past year and half has been so fun, and it helped us realize how much more potential we have by pooling our resources and working together. Check out this episode to learn more about the process of how we got here and more info about the brand new and improved CALU Community FB group. To join the CALU Community FB group click here To learn more about our free four month mentorship click here We can't wait to see you all in the group and learn and grow along side you all!

New Grads and Students: YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS ONE! We had the pleasure of interviewing someone we have a deep admiration for, Steph Mundt, on her experiences navigating new grad life. We covered some of the following topics: - The uncertainty and discomfort of being a new grad - The perils of confidence - The value of uncertainty - The challenges and rewards of asking questions - The challenges and rewards of building community - The importance of INTENTION   In all honesty, Steph is KILLING the game right now, and has already developed into such an incredible physio/coach and entrepreneur. Make sure you give her a follow @drsteph_volantept and if you appreciate the podcast please be sure to leave us a review and rating! 

Level Up Community member Jessica Ruiz reached out to us wanting to share her experience from her recent clinical in an Acute Care facility in rural, and lower socio-economic part of California. Jessica's experience was super powerful, and she did a fantastic job sharing her experience, and bringing to light some really important aspects of healthcare that we often turn a blind eye to (guilty). I wont play spoiler, but I think this is such an important story for everyone to hear. We are super proud of Jessica for stepping up, advocating, and being vulnerable with sharing her story with us.

In this episode, we were able to sit down with one of the most influential leaders in the MSK industry to have a discussion around a topic we are both deeply passionate about: Too Much Medicine in MSK Practice. From cultural iatrogenesis, to over-diagnosis, and pathologizing normal, we were able to take a deep dive with Dr. Chad Cook around a recent viewpoint he co-authored in JOSPT, "The Elephant in the Room: Too Much Medicine in Musculoskeletal Practice." For those that have been following along Level Up from the beginning, this sits at the foundation of what drives our mission: Making a positive impact in the healthcare industry, and namely, being committed to improving areas we know we can be doing better in. We hope that you enjoyed this episode, and if you did, PLEASE recommend this to one friend, colleague, or professor that needs to hear this!

Know that feeling when you're a frantic new grad and you feel like you don't know anything and you're being pulled in a thousand different ways to figure out "the answer?" Well, lucky for us, Chris Johnson was a timely guide that really helped put things in perspective and was a major guiding voice for both Steph and Zak's careers! Join us for this jam packed episode where we share the biggest lessons learned that had formative impacts on our career! Chris is 20 years into his career and is a testament to what consistency and commitment to growth looks like. He is such an incredible resource and role model! We would highly recommend checking out any of Chris Johnson's work at Zeren PT. ___________________________________ If you enjoy our podcast and find value, please leave us a review and share this with friends! 

(Rebroadcast from ClinicalAthlete) This episode is a little different.   As some of you may know, The Level Up Initiative has joined forces with ClinicalAthlete to put together a special educational experience – the CALU Summit, on Sept 18-20, 2020.   It goes without saying, that the year of 2020 has required all of us to pivot. The Summit was no exception.   This podcast is all about what it means for the communities of ClinicalAthlete and Level Up to join forces and pursue this mission together.    We talk about the importance of a cohesive team, how to deal with hardships along the way, why it's important to keep an agile approach to planning, and why the CALU Summit is different.    Yes, you will get all the deets about the event itself in this episode from the unique model that we've created, to our amazing line up of presenters and sponsors; but you'll also get a behind the scenes look at what it takes to put something like this on, and what it means to work within a Mission-Driven Team.    For more information on the CALU Summit, visit: https://calu-summit.heysummit.com/

We had over 50 people come and listen in and we felt like this ended up being a really helpful conversation for a lot of new grads navigating the tail end of their academic careers! Steph gives a 20' webinar on her "5 year plan" vs Reality and then we follow that up with an informative and helpful Q&A with Steph, Zak, Josh, and Ryan. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions!

Today, we have on Scot Morrison of Physio Praxis. Scot is one of the people I look up to the most in clinical practice. Why, you ask? Well, for starters, his critical thinking and clinical decision making skills are top notch. But what probably stands out to me the most, is Scot's determination to continuing growing, and his continually shedding of his own certainty based on the best available information. Scot's intellectual humility is role model worthy and is something I respect so much. As I continue my journey as a clinician, Scot has been someone who helps to hold the mirror up to myself, helping me to ask myself the hard questions, but ultimately the ones that make me GROW! I really think you all will enjoy this episode so much, it will definitely make you ask yourself some hard questions. AND THATS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!!!! Make sure you listen, share, and spread the love for this one!!! (And please give us a rating on iTunes!!!)   PS - his course “Sloptimal Loading” is easily in my top 3 musts for new grads (really any clinicians) in the outpatient world. SLOPTIMAL INFO Scot's Instagram Ok - enough gassing him up - let's get into the conversation. Enjoy!!!

SURPRISE! ⠀ Told you we had a little something else up our sleeves! ⠀ We pivoted a bit for this blog series and added a short and candid podcast with the writer himself. @fscottfeil_dpt let's us in on some of his own back story and how/why he is so passionate about helping others realize their potential for ventures within and outside of clinical work. You can recap the guest blog HERE. Learn more about F Scott HERE ⠀ OH and there may be one other small change we haven't told you about yet, but you'll have to listen to the podcast to find out for yourself.   Happy Friday Level Up Fam!!!!    

What we have today is part one of an unintended, but awesome, two part series. Today, we sat down with Faculty member Sorcha Martin of Boston University's DPT program, a very well known program in the Boston area for embracing a BPS model that influences their curriculum. We sat down and had a great conversation about the strengths and shortcomings of "pain science" in curriculum, but more to a big picture about what values and themes emerge from embedding this type of material into their curriculum. We really focused on what values are most important for students to focus on when getting ready to be "entry level clinicians." We hope you enjoy todays episode, and if you do, it would mean a lot to us if you left a review or shared this with your friends! Thanks for listening everyone and enjoy! Also, if you are interested in learning more about our FREE four month mentorship, click the link below! FREE LEVEL UP MENTORSHIP

"If we can name it, perhaps we can manage it." In today's episode, we are joined by Level Up community member and friend, Kit. Physio x10 years as well as having a Master's in Applied Positive Psychology. ( Kit had a great post last week talking about the importance of holding space for feelings like grief with everything we are going through right now. Whether it is "grieving" the loss of your job, your identity, financial stability, future plans...this discomfort can sometimes seem inescapable and somewhat paralyzing. But what we believe is that by having a discussion about it, naming it, and reflecting, perhaps it can allow us to move forward with more meaning. We hope that you enjoy this conversation, that it might get you to reflect, and allow you to move forward with more meaning! ___________________________________________________ Resources: That Discomfort You're Feeling is Grief - Harvard Biz Review Lucy Hone - Ted Talk on Resilient Grieving Learn More About Kit Here

There can be a lot of well intended misinformation the permeates the hybrid fitness/rehab space. (no pun intended) But Stefi Cohen and Ian Kaplan keep it real. I have admired what they have helped to create with Hybrid Performance Method as a massive hub of fitness/rehab information and training on social media. They take there epistemic responsibility seriously and lead with humility - that's some serious respect. I really enjoyed this conversation with the two of them, and really appreciated their transparency. It was great getting to learn more about Stefi's own journey with low back pain, and Stefi and Ian's values - this lead to some awesome conversation surrounding beliefs, recovery strategies, and finessing BPS principles into social media posts with a big following. Hybrid definitely goes about their business with some serious swag. Let us know what you think and make sure you leave us a review if you get value from this show! If you are interested in learning more about their training programs and coaching services check out https://hybridperformancemethod.com/ to learn more!  _______________________________________________________ This episode is sponsored by the CALU summit, a one day educational event co created with Clinical Athlete. If you want to learn more or attend check out our website at calusummit.com  

Belief change can be a real SOB. I remember that initial chasm (trust me, there were many more) that was crossed, when my world got rocked understanding the flaws and consequences of a purely biomedical paradigm. It challenged a lot of my foundational knowledge that I clung too, and what defined me. So here's the plot twist, what do you do when you have a social media platform over 500k in size and you have a massive belief change? That shit takes SERIOUS integrity and vulnerability. This is one of the reasons why I truly admire Jacob Harden. I have had the pleasure of growing along side him since 2015. One thing that unifies us is this: "when you know better, do better." While overly structural and nocebo laden posts are a hot ticket on the gram, once you see the robust evidence that this can cause harm, you must simply do better. Thank you Jacob for opening up on this episode, I thoroughly enjoyed it and consider you a true leader in the healthcare industry. Definitely check out Jacob's course which he teaches world wide Prehab 101. Learn more about our upcoming cohorts for Level Up at thelevelupinitiative.com Interest in the CALU Summit? Tickets are selling fast! We have 50 spaces left. Claim Your Spot! 

Today we sat down with two clinicians I really admire, Michael Ray and my co worker Michael Amato, who both also work for Barbell Medicine. They are both clinicians who ask really good questions, display really strong critical thinking, and are extremely well read in the realm of pain, philosophy, and truly patient centered care. We reviewed a paper that was really meaningful and insightful, that we would HIGHLY encourage you to read! It is attached here. We also highly recommend reading this complimentary paper from Toye et al, here. We really hope you enjoy this episode, and please feel free to join in on a conversation regarding the show,  on our Facebook Community, here. If you value this show, please go leave us a review on whatever platform you listen so we can try and get this out to more people! Enjoy!

Today marks the final episode of 2019! Say What??? What a year it has been, and thank you all so much for your continued support. In today's episode, we will finish the year strong with a fun, constructive, and practical conversation with Ben Cormack of CorKinetic regarding how do we practically apply the massive field of Pain Science into clinical practice? We critique and discuss some of the different pain models, but probably most helpful, we give it context through a case study of an individual presenting to my clinic with some mid-thoracic pain. Ben will be gracing us with his presence in FEB 2020 hosted at our clinic here in Boston! All the details can be found HERE and we hope you'll consider checking it out! It will be an engaging course, that I know for sure. Hope you all enjoy the episode and from everyone here at Level Up - happy holidays and a happy new year!

In this special edition episode - we share some insights from behind the scenes of our free mentorship to help provide clarity for those interested in applying! We interview four Level Up alum, Jenna Nitowski, Max DeMartino, Raul Axtmayer, and Abby Gordon to get some insights from their experience with us!   Our next cohort opens for enrollment on NOVEMBER 18th at 6am EST and you can find our application HERE You can sign up for our mailing list as well so you don't miss this opportunity HERE! We can't wait to have some of you getting involved and we look forward to reading your applications!

This episode is sponsored by our friends at Physio Network. They run the industry standard research review translating the most recent research into practical information with some of the most incredible contributors. They have been a huge asset in our clinical growth. Learn more about their monthly research review HERE _________________________________ Greg has arguably been one of the most influential people in my career - so it was really quite an honor to have him on this podcast and have a candid conversation. I have learned a ton from Greg, and while some of this is covered, we actually tackle a bigger topic as well. Greg has been practicing now for almost 20 years!!! I think for many of us we first learn about “pain science” and the BPS model and our first reaction is something like “holy crap, how have I never heard or seen this before??? Is this a new thing???” Well, we know folks have been advocating for this stuff for decades…but I figured who better to have a conversation with, then someone who has been pushing for a paradigm shift for 2 decades. In today's episode we talk about trends in today's practice…has anything really changed in his 20 years? Are we making progress? We also talk a lot about what “current best practice” looks like and we share some gems that have been transformational nuggets that I have taken away from Greg's courses over the years. Please give it a listen and share it around! I think this is a conversation our profession needs to hear and discuss further!   _________________________________ Interested in learning more about our FREE four month mentorship??? Click HERE for more information!

In this episode, we get an opportunity to go behind the scenes of the mind behind arguably one of the most successful private practices in the country. But let's define what we mean by success... Rehab 2 Perform has set the bar for: -Contemporary Clinical Excellence (Strength and Conditioning, Pain Science, Communication Skills) -New Grad Development -Person Centered Care -Profitability and Scalability Josh shares invaluable insights into his vision for what PT can truly look like, the values he looks for when creating his team, and his thoughts on making an impact both in healthcare and in his community. If you are a student or new graduate looking to network and get involved with clinics like R2P make sure you are in our Level Up Community FB page and consider signing up for our FREE 4 month mentorship to help you gain the values that TOP clinics like these look for!

A common misunderstanding regarding "pain science" is that we are attempting to teach people about pain with the intent to lessen their pain (and rightfully so). And to be quite honest, I was definitely someone who was doing intensive pain neuroscience education with that intent. But as I have matured and reflected hard on the evidence, I realize that helping people learn more about pain is less about ridding it, and more about helping patients to gain more confidence with moving in the face of it. Words can straight up be disabling (and we have decades of compelling evidence to support this claim) and this is a HUGE part of why we started Level Up! This episode is a great example of what can happen when words leave a lasting impact on peoples being. I hope this episode can demonstrate some transparency with what my approach might look like with this subset of presentation. Thank you SO much to Rachel for being such an inspiring and bad-ass human and coming on the show to open up about how this approach was life changing for her. So amazing to have "ex-patients" become advocates for not only what we do, but helping to change the societal folk model of healthcare.   Enjoy!!!     Learn more about our free mentorship here!!!

Interested in learning more about our FREE four month mentorship??? Get your Critical Thinking skills on point!!! Gain confidence with effective communication skills! Meet and network with some of the most passionate game changers in our profession. Click HERE to find out more and get started for our January 2020 cohort! ___________________________________________ Low back pain, posture, and movement seem like they would have a super obvious relationship. Bad posture would cause low back pain, right??? Or “poor” movement will cause low back pain, right??? These commonly held perceptions around the causes of low back pain are deeply engrained into our societies folk and academic healthcare models. But this can be very problematic when not audited and investigated in the form of negative attitudes and beliefs surrounding why people hurt. Enter: Kevin Wernli, a Physio and PhD student under the likes of Peter O Sullivan and team out of Australia who is investigating exactly these claims! This episode was a fantastic opportunity to have a discussion around this very important topic with someone who is in the trenches of academia taking a deeper look at these commonly held beliefs! We discuss how things like posture and movement ARE important, but probably not as important as we think… More importantly, we discuss a framework for what current best practice might look like when treating patients with low back pain. We think this episode will be extremely helpful for new graduates and students looking to have insight into what psychologically informed practice looks like in action. Kevin has attached a link with all relevant show notes organized! Enjoy!   Show Notes: www.kevinwernli.com/levelup

This episode is sponsored by Physio Network, a company that is changing the game in helping us stay up to date AND translating research into practice. Learn more about their extremely affordable service HERE. Every purchase through these links goes towards Level Up, so we really appreciate the support and consideration! _______________________________________________________  Have you ever had someone you know and respect say something that you disagree with on an emotional level? What is your reaction? Challenge them? Avoid them?   There seems to be a larger scale issue in how we are handling these situations. And we have learned FIRST HAND from our mistakes on "less effective" ways to go about it. It is so easy to be antagonistic, or just withdraw; but to be honest, neither of these tactics really do anything to push our profession forward.   This is NOT a call to “just all get along,” but rather a call to action to all look inward, and move forward with a better ability to have challenging (and productive) conversations!   What if we could keep it real with each other, but respect and listen to each other…is this possible? Maybe not 100%, but I DO think we can do MUCH better.   Shout out to my girl Shante for hopping on for this episode. We really hope this can serve as an example of what happens when keeping it real…goes right.   #TheLevelUpPodcast

Join us for an authentic conversation with Barbell Medicine's Austin Baraki MD. True to form, we had a very open and honest conversation about Austin's perspective on aspects of healthcare he would love to see improved upon. We learned more about his story, and how he came to be passionate about all things strength training, pain, and behavior change. He also has some fantastic advice on several topics including better strategies for discussing evidence with colleagues and MDs. Most importantly, while still “in our echo chamber,” Austin's perspective is very helpful to understand what is going on in the big world of healthcare, beyond the rehab field. We will be hosting Dr. Michael Ray and Dr. Derek Miles of BBM in November at our clinic in Boston Pain and Rehab Seminar   Our friends at RX strength training will be hosting Dr. Austin Baraki and the BBM team for their seminar in April BBM Seminar

Buckle in, ya'll. We had an epic conversation! I really appreciated this open and candid conversation with someone who I admire greatly, Dr. Robert Streb. He has over 30 years of experience under his belt and lots of wisdom to share! What I admire the most about Dr. Streb is his practically skeptical and transparent approach he takes to his own learning and his student's learning!  I won't spill to much and keep it short. In this episode we cover hot topics surrounding manual therapy, pain science, and everything in between. If you are a practicing clinician (especially new grad) this is a must listen!!!! Please share with someone who you think would benefit from hearing this episode. As always, thanks for listening and if you find value in this show please leave us a review on iTunes!

This episode is sponsored by our good friends at Trust Me Ed- an unbelievable online learning platform essentially working as a "netflix for physiotherapists." Use the discount code LevelUP30 to get 30% off an annual subscription! TRUST ME ED   ______________________________________ In todays episode we have a very special guest, Dr. Bronnie Lennox Thompson, live from New Zealand. Bronnie is someone we admire and look up to in this field, and we feel so lucky to learn from her in this episode. We mostly focused in around her PhD thesis "What can learn from those living well with chronic pain?" but also included:    BIG QUESTIONS (questions posed and addressed in this episode):  Why can some people cope well with chronic pain, while others cannot? How can one live well with chronic pain? (focus of Bronnie's research) What beliefs and attitudes surround pain in our culture? Should clinicians focus only on pain reduction, or recognize that pain reduction might not be possible and help clients live well in the meantime? How can new clinicians deal with failure to eradicate pain? What is the difference between pain and suffering? And, how is pain management like brushing your teeth?   We really hope you enjoy this episode, and if you feel compelled, leaving a review would mean the world to us!

This episode is sponsored by Physio Network, a company that is changing the game in helping us stay up to date AND translating research into practice. Learn more about their extremely affordable service HERE   I remember when Teddy and I were both first starting out on “the gram.” The immediate thing that connected us was that we were both hell bent on creating a passionate network of likeminded people just trying to be better for our patients.⠀ As the years have passed, I have been so impressed with how Teddy has been able to grow his account, maintain great content, AND keep his integrity. But above all else, I truly respect Teddy because he is a critical thinker, and takes his public authority very seriously and responsibly. In this episode, we have a very candid (maybe too candid) discussion regarding some of these topics: Growing an Instagram account w/ integrity Dunning Kruger-ing/Radical Thinking regarding current clinical paradigms Going about constructive conversations with others you might disagree with And much more… Also important to note for the new grads and students out there listening: our hope is you can learn from our mistakes!!! We have been prime examples of what we talk about during this episode. So hopefully it helps! So appreciated this open conversation, Teddy! Thanks for pushing healthcare forward and leading by example.