What is your job title/your role at Scottish Rite for Children?  
Sports physical therapist

What do you do on a daily basis or what sort of duties do you have at work?
I evaluate and treat sport-related injuries and collaborate with athletes and their sports medicine physicians, coaches and other providers to help them return to sports and accomplish their goals. I have the privilege of working in Scottish Rite’s sports gym with state-of-the-art equipment and a Hydroworx pool. I have great resources to help my athletes accomplish their goals of returning to play safely.

What was your first job? What path did you take to get here or what led you to Scottish Rite? How long have you worked here?
My first job was as a contract athletic trainer for a sports medicine clinic in Abilene, Texas, while I attended physical therapy school at Hardin-Simmons University. I worked with small six-man football teams during season, providing on field assessment, injury evaluations and some taping/injury prevention. I enjoyed working with athletes and found that I could relate well, due to my background in playing sports. I played basketball, soccer and danced in high school and played basketball and ran track and cross country in college. I also enjoyed the creativity required for pediatric sports rehabilitation and the motivation to improve by the injured athletes. I worked at a different facility for one and a half years after PT school to gain general experience as a physical therapist and then applied to Scottish Rite as soon as I saw an opening at their new sports medicine department in Frisco. I have now been working here for four years.

What do you enjoy most about Scottish Rite?
I enjoy the freedom for creativity in my treatment of injured athletes. I also enjoy how motivated my kids are to improve and return to sport, which allows me to push and challenge them at times. I also enjoy observing my patients as they transition to sport-specific activities toward the end of their therapy and seeing how much they enjoy playing and practicing for their sport. I get to see each child’s personality and enthusiasm for their sport come to life when I put a ball in their hands or at their feet or when I am able to release them to start tumbling or dancing.

Tell us something about your job that others might not already know. 
I have initiated a research project with a focus on therapeutic benefits of blood flow restriction during rehabilitation in the pediatric population.

What do you wish you knew more about?
I wish I had a better understanding of the sports performance world so that I could incorporate more into my rehabilitation at the end of the child’s therapy.

Where is the most interesting place you’ve been?
I have been to Uganda three times for medical missions and even considered moving there after physical therapy school. I stayed and worked in small villages and fell in love with the people and specifically the kids in Uganda.

Is there anything that are you looking forward to in 2022?
I just recently had my first child, a son, and am looking forward to adventures with our little family of three throughout the next year. As a physical therapist and athletic trainer, I am looking forward to continuing to serve the sports pediatric population and improving my knowledge and skills.