Well, hello everyone.
I'm Derek Cluley.
I am the host of Hands On
Hands Off podcast.
I've been the host of Hands
On Hands Off podcast with
the Duke Centers for
Excellence in Manual
Manipulative Therapy.
And we are excited because
this is actually our first
episode that we are doing
where the Hands On Hands
Off podcast is associated with
the American Academy of
Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapists.
So AMPH is going to be
taking this over and we are
super excited to be a part of this.
And more exciting is that I
am not going to really be the only host.
We're going to have a variety of hosts.
But to kick us off,
we're going to have our
first set of hosts really
talking a little bit about, I guess,
anything and everything
that's related to manual therapy.
We have no idea where this
conversation is going to go,
but I think it's going to go where we,
well, I guess wherever it goes.
So I'm going to bring into
our stage here my fellow
co-hosts for today,
and we're really just going
to have a conversation.
a roundtable conversation
about what we're planning
to do what we want to do
with this and then also
just talk a little bit
about some of the things
that we're doing here
within AOMP that I think
our listeners would be
really interested in
hearing about so I'll bring
Megan Donaldson and Amy
McDevitt into the studio
here so hello Megan hello
Amy how are y'all doing today?
Good, Derek.
Thanks for having us.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, you're having me too.
So just so we're clear,
this is a triple hosted
event with no guests.
We're all just guests and hosts.
But Megan,
I know that you're our president
and I think it's really
cool that you've taken on
the opportunity to also be
a part of this and really
be a part of branding and things.
So if you
Maybe you can give your
introduction first and Amy,
you can go as well with, you know,
being an executive board
member and also being one
of the hosts here.
So Megan,
I'm going to kick it back to you
because I got to stop talking.
All right.
Well, I'll take it for now.
So Megan Donaldson,
and I'm president of AOMT.
I'm also a department chair
at Medical University of South Carolina.
And so I've been a part of
PT education for quite some time,
still a clinician doing
mostly pro bono work.
And obviously I'm a mom of
two kids and staying pretty
active with all the things that they do.
So when I got asked to do this,
we absolutely had to say yes,
because manual therapy is
part of the passion that
we've had for so many years,
obviously serves the
AMP organization really well.
And I'm excited to talk a
little bit about it and
maybe why this is so
important for us to do this
adventure together.
So that's a little bit about me.
Amy, how about you?
All right.
So Amy McDevitt, I am a member at large.
So I'm on the executive
committee also at AMT,
which is a great position.
I get to kind of represent
membership and what's happening there.
I also get to be involved in bylaw changes,
which is really exciting.
We always hope that we don't
have more than a handful every year,
but you never know what's
coming down the pike.
So
I am an associate professor
at University of Colorado.
So I'm in a teaching position.
Clinically,
I work in an outpatient clinic
at the University of Colorado Health.
So I dabble in the clinical world.
And then I also do some clinical research.
So I get to wear that hat too.
And I'm really excited to be
here because I think part
of what we've decided to do is, you know,
interview all sorts of
people that historically
have been part of the
organization or maybe are
new and are really change
makers in the organization.
And we want to be able to cover, you know,
a whole plethora of topics
that we think are going to
be interesting to the listeners.
Absolutely.
And I even think this next piece,
which is Derek being conference chair,
Can you just talk a little
bit about maybe why he's
interested in participating
in this and how a
conference could benefit?
Yeah, absolutely.
And I'll just give my quick
introduction as well.
I'm an assistant professor
at Duke University in the
Doctor of Physical Therapy Division.
I've been a physical therapist for,
you know how when you
select how long you've been
a member of the organization,
I think it starts out like
zero to two years, two to five years.
six to 15, or six to 10,
and then 11 to 15.
And then there's like this,
I think there's a 20 and up category.
And it's just for like,
just the rest of everybody else.
I think I'm in that category now.
So, but I've been a PT for a while,
but I've been in academia
for eight years.
I do serve a little bit of
clinical practice,
specifically with mentoring.
And I had an opportunity to
mentor some manual therapy fellows,
especially in this last
year with our program.
And so that's part of what I
do professionally.
And then within the organization, yes,
I am the conference chair,
was previously on the
executive board as well in Amy's role,
which I don't think we had
as many bylaw changes until Amy came on.
So in the conference chair role and yeah,
really excited about this
because I think this brings
us another opportunity to
highlight things that go on at conference,
that go on before conference,
that go on after conference.
It lets people continue to
live in the world that, you know,
if anybody's been to one of
our conferences, really,
I think that's where they
start to get energized and
rejuvenated about what
we're doing in terms of our
professional career and our
goals and such.
And when we
having something like this
and as Amy said where we
can bring in guests you
know people who are sort of
legends and lores of the
profession but then also
bringing in those that are
those new and upcoming
talents and highlighting
people I think this is a
really cool opportunity
that's been a while that
way I think we need to take
this take on this challenge
and looking forward to it.
Yeah and Derek you've done a
great job and bringing so
much energy to conference I
mean and I'll just say
I was in that formal role,
but you take it to a whole nother level.
So this is great to have you
here and doing this and
taking what we bring her
conference just to a different medium,
right?
Like it's to reach audiences
that it's not just a single week.
Um, it extends over time.
They can hit us pretty much any, uh,
you know, day of the week.
If once we get to full scale,
this will be great for
those audience members.
And to me,
this is part of our strategic plan.
We absolutely want to engage.
with our membership and give
them something back.
I mean,
obviously they've been members for
a long time,
but we also want to make sure
that they can feel like
there's resources that they
can plug into and know that
we have those resources,
that we're building those resources.
That's a goal I know that as
a board we've put this forward to do,
and this was one of the
mediums that we wanted to do it.
So we appreciate you and
Duke and Chad Cook for
allowing us to kind of have
this opportunity to
transition with CMET's hands-on,
hands-off podcast so we can
get this to our audience as well.
Yeah.
And I think it aligns really
well with AOMT and the
strategic plan that we have.
And it's nice to see this a
little bit more formalized
connection between the two endeavors,
well,
not with the endeavor and then with
the association.
You know,
the mission for the Centers for
Excellence in Manual and
Manipulative Therapy is to provide,
I think it's really this
balanced and honest,
credible information about
manual therapy and what better
avenue to do that than to
have a podcast that brings
in people who are, you know,
can speak to sort of both
sides of the aisle really nicely.
So I look forward to
bringing in some of those guests.
That's kind of what we've
tried to do with some of
the conference programming as well.
Yeah.
And I like how we've kind of
decided as a group here to engage,
you know,
people on topics that aren't
just maybe specific to
manual therapy research,
but I love that we're
thinking about clinicians
and bringing in clinicians
that have ideas related to the topic.
We've talked about maybe
bringing in some people who
have some expertise in education,
because I think a lot of us
wear different hats,
whether we're clinicians
and educating students or
residents or fellows, you know,
we can always glean more.
you know,
insight and information from
people that are coming in,
talking to us about how to
be better educators.
So I like the kind of draft
lineup that we have that
we're not going to just
close just quite yet.
But I think we have some
good ideas about the types
of people that we're going
to bring in to share ideas with us.
Yeah, Amy,
I'm glad you brought that up
because I think it's nice for the...
probably the majority of our
membership is not
researchers and educators, right?
The majority of our
membership is clinicians.
And I think making sure that
we always have some sort of
focus within that.
And I think having a chance
to bring in clinicians,
one thing I actually have
always thought that AOM has
done really well that,
You know, we have high level researchers,
you know,
some of the highest level of
research funding that are
part of our membership.
But we also have very impactful,
well-known clinicians who, you know,
many of our members have learned from it.
And when you think about who
we are with the fellowship training,
it truly is a clinical fellowship.
And so I think having, you know,
making sure that when we
bring in guests that we're
always considering, you know,
that part of it as well,
not necessarily translating
all these evidence from the researcher,
but also bringing in the clinician who is,
um, you know, using some of that.
Yeah.
I think that's great.
And we all started there, you know, that's,
uh, for all of us, those were our roots.
And so, um, I think it's great to try to.
give clinicians some
palatable information to
take back to the clinic, you know,
whether they practice just
clinically or whether they
educate in the clinic.
And I still think what's
neat is bringing in people
to talk about education.
It's not just necessarily
education of peers and colleagues,
but education of patients too.
And so, you know,
I think there's a lot of
different avenues that we
are willing to take with us
in order to just bring in a
diversity of speakers to
give us a diversity of information.
And Amy,
I love the fact that we even went
outside of the US, right?
Like our goal as an organization,
which is a member organization of iFOMT,
is for us to have that
international flavor and
perspective at times.
I think it makes us better.
And so for us to look at
speakers and really be
mindful about who can we
pull from the US and who
can we pull from outside,
because this medium allows
that rich engagement.
And it's not about, oh,
can you make the week work?
Can you travel?
Can you
you know, leave your family,
because I mean, let's be honest,
if we're really looking at
how do we do this,
where we can engage with each other,
it has to fit in our life.
And so we're trying to find
ways to do that, whether you're a mom,
a dad or whatever, you know,
you got to make sure that
we can fit in the life.
And so really,
this is a great medium for
us to be able to line up
amazing speakers,
with some flexibility, right.
That bring that
international flavor
experience expertise.
Um, and to me,
this is a priority because it helps our,
our professional
development of all of our, our members.
Um,
and so obviously carrying kind of that
international feel with a
little bit of a hometown grown feel, um,
by having some of the, uh,
the locals that they know
of AOM doing some of the facilitating.
And Megan,
I want to say I really
appreciate the fact that
you're putting yourself out
there as the person who's
going to interview the
international speakers at 2, 3,
4 o'clock in the morning.
I think your commitment is
just unbelievable.
I really appreciate the fact
that you put that out there
to be the front runner in
doing those late night interviews.
I'm just not sure.
Yeah.
Isn't Amy our international traveler?
I mean,
I really feel like I should give this up.
I mean, like, you know,
I feel like this is really your space,
Amy.
You know, I'm excited to just, you know,
watch you grow in that platform.
So, you know,
feel free to take those early
morning calls.
Mountain time is probably
the most flexible time.
Is that right?
But I agree, like, you know,
the international side.
But you could also do, like,
the early morning instead
of the late evening for those recordings.
But speaking of international, I just,
because I know our, and I don't know,
so for our listeners out there right now,
which right now we
currently have none because
this is our very first recording,
so we're just saying this in this moment.
but hopefully as we do this
launch this out we will
actually have um listeners
and we'll see when this one
actually gets pushed out
there but when we're
recording this right now on
june 17th is that right I
think it is june 17th and
um I would imagine that
this will get published um
after the big event that's
coming up in early july and
megan you spoke to this
just a couple minutes ago
about the international
presence and the
international um you know a
appreciation that we have.
So, you know,
besides the Taylor Swift
concert that I think you
may be going to or not,
what else are you excited
about this iFOMT expedition
that we're going to be headed out to?
And I think maybe your first iFOMT, right?
Yeah, this is my first iFOMT.
So I'm just timing of the other ones.
I was never able to make it.
So
I'm really excited about this.
So, um, you know, I think what's,
so let's put, let's put it into context.
So similar to AOMT, right.
It's multiple days.
There's some early sessions,
like there's some optional
things to join into,
and then they do a little
bit of a celebration.
So that's all really similar.
Um, there's a teaching, um, seminar.
So again,
for those who are kind of in the
education space, mentors, um,
maybe serving other fellows, right.
Those are opportunities to
plug into those other.
who are doing that across the world.
So that's really kind of cool.
There's rich conferencing.
I mean, again,
I think the biggest thing
for me is this is a networking event.
Internationally.
So what the expectations are,
I think it can be as much
as you want or as little as you want.
It just depends on how much
you want to engage in those things.
So to me,
this is a space that we're taking
our board and we're ready
to go and meet and talk
with people and really
figure out best ways so we
can work together and
leverage manual therapy on this platform
internationally so that
people really do get a
sense of what this is.
And kind of again,
going back to what CMAT was there to do,
it's it's to remove the misnomers.
It's the misinformation that
has been out there
We need to talk about this
as a great viable option.
And, you know,
I think the pendulum swings pretty good,
especially in orthopedics
and PT specifically.
But within orthopedics, right,
we've kind of gone to this exercise,
pain science,
and we've kind of forgotten
a little bit about the
benefit of manual therapy
or it's been criticized.
So this is a really nice
place because the U.S.
has stand pretty firm and we
still believe in those
supports and the multimodal approach.
So to be able to go out there, you know,
when I say out there,
I'm saying Switzerland.
We're going to Switzerland
and we're going to have
these conversations and
with researchers and speakers.
And yeah,
I can't I really couldn't be more
excited for what we get to do.
So Megan,
aren't you excited that we're
going with Amy though?
Because I actually feel like
Amy's are going to be our
traveling mom because I
have absolutely no freaking
idea what to do.
I've been to Jamaica and
I've been to Canada.
And when I say Canada,
I've been to Beaver Creek, Yukon,
Yukon territory, not just like Toronto.
Like I truly have been in Canada,
but that's it.
Like that's my international traveling.
Right.
So I'm super happy to have
Amy advice for us.
Like,
You know,
we don't do anything stupid and you know,
or what.
I'm happy to be your guide.
I, uh, yeah, I'm excited.
I love traveling
internationally and here we go again.
I just got back from an
international trip and I'm,
I actually just left the
suitcase open and pulled
out the essentials cause
I'm packing it back up again in a week.
But it'll be great.
And I went to the iPhone
conference in Glasgow,
which was... Were you there, Derek?
No, but I was looking at that.
Wasn't that like seven years ago,
eight years ago now?
Because we had a COVID break.
I can't remember the exact year,
but it was really interesting.
I think one of the things I enjoy about it,
and hopefully we can bring
some of this back to...
the podcast is just learning
about what's happening in other countries,
what's current, what's contemporary.
And also what I think is
important is learning how
to kind of cater to
different populations of people.
So we'll be privy to
presentations from people
representing countries all
over the world.
And it's just really
fascinating to hear how
manual therapy is slightly
different or it's modified
and what ideas come from
not just researchers,
but clinicians in other countries.
And so I'm excited to bring
some of that back.
And, you know,
maybe there's some speakers that we're,
you know,
lucky enough to hear at iPhone
so that we can think about
bringing to the podcast.
So I think we're also there
on a little bit of a
fact-finding mission to
bring some really cool
information back to our
membership and our listeners.
So I'm excited about that too.
So it's not just backfinding.
I can speak specifically,
we are getting mics and
Derek and I have to figure
out how to use these mics
and we are going to go
navigate wherever we are to
go and have live
conversations and bring it back.
So like, well, we're going all in on this.
Yeah, we're all in.
I hope I don't get in the
security lines and customs
and they think that I'm some spy.
Um, if you don't see me ever again,
somebody thought I was a spy.
And so obviously with my
mics or whatever else is be in my bag,
but Amy,
We're not on a fact-finding.
We're going to find him and
we're going to interview him.
Real live time.
It's an implementation prep.
That's right.
They are little creepy mics.
I think they're little fuzzy
feathered mics that we're
supposed to wear on our
shirts and I think talk to
people and get information.
I kind of think I'm a spy.
You look like a spy.
So Derek, what...
What are some of the, Derek and Megan,
what are some of the ideas
that we want to share with
listeners about some of the
speakers that we might be
bringing forward in the
next part of 2024?
Do we want to talk about any
categories of things we're
going to be talking about?
Or maybe what are some of
our goals in terms of
engaging with different speakers?
I know we talked a little
bit about that already,
but what do we want to
share with people without
know totally spoiling
spoiling it well I'll give
big categories kind of like
the big overarching thing
so like in our in our
strategic plan right we
have key enablers that kind
of make everything work
that we do um and when we
think about that it's
leadership it's education
and it's advocacy and I
would almost suggest you
know the research piece in
that kind of transcends it
kind of goes across
multiple like it could be
an educational piece right
just how the clinical
pearls and those kind of things
But really,
those are the three big overarching aims.
Like, right,
we're trying to lead and grow
as an organization and be
the front leader.
In order to do that,
we have to have enriched
membership that just really
feel connected.
And with these speakers,
we feel that that will happen.
You know, from an other perspective,
which is the education side, I mean,
I think we have great topics, right?
Pertinent topics about manual therapy,
integrating manual therapy across,
you know, multiple populations,
whether I even saw some of the lists like
We were thinking about,
do we bring some pelvic health in here?
Women's health, right?
So some of those pieces and
topics would have a really nice platform,
which is just contemporary practice.
And then the last is advocacy.
And I have to say guys,
the more I'm at the main
level of leadership and
interfacing both nationally
and internationally,
we have to be an advocate
for the science and the
practice of manual therapy.
We have to,
and this is the platform that
it has to be at because
not just on our conference, which is these,
you know,
days together and we feel so
good because we're all
together and it's a little
bit kumbaya to be honest, right?
It's our family,
but it's when we leave each other,
how do we keep the synergy
and how do we keep
advancing the profession?
And, you know, Twitter's got a place,
all the other social media
things have a place,
but how do we stay
connected where we can
follow thought leaders more
than in a snippet that can
be misinterpreted, right?
I mean, more than something,
This is a great forum for that.
So we've aligned some of
those speakers on those categories.
And so I'm excited about that.
I love that.
Yeah.
And to jump in there,
I'm also excited that,
I don't know if we've mentioned this,
but a lot of this, Megan, Amy, and I,
at least I'll speak for me,
I don't know a whole lot
about podcasting.
We launched the hands-on,
hands-off podcast,
and I think we've done an
okay job with that.
But we have brought in Jimmy
McKay and his team to help us with this.
And I think that that is
what I am most excited
about because I think he's
going to really supercharge
what we're going to do and
really help us bring something that's,
you know, a little bit more
more exciting, a little bit different.
And actually before we even
got on and started recording this show,
we were having all kinds of
fun playing around with the
stream yard thing that
we're working with.
And I think that's all part
of the fun of us learning
how to better engage and
interact with some of these
people that we're going to be bringing on,
because I'm sure that we've
all heard podcasts.
It doesn't matter how great
the guests can be.
if we're not doing a good
job of engaging that individual,
then it may not be
pertinent to the listener.
So I think that's going to
be a fun and exciting thing.
And just, you know,
your question about like
what kinds of topics and
things that we're going to
be bringing in.
I mean,
I'm just looking down some of the
lineups here, you know,
just talking about everything from,
you know, careers in manual therapy.
To Megan's point,
some of the more
interesting things where
manual therapy can be put
into manual therapy and
sports manual therapy and pediatrics,
other sorts of approaches, and then,
you know,
myth busting and all kinds of
fun things that I think
we'll be able to do.
And, you know, from there, you know,
selecting the right guest for that.
But then I also think too,
we'll also have guests who
will probably let us evolve
a little bit of what we're
talking about in addition to that.
That's one of the things
that we did at the Centers
for Excellence in Manual
Manipulative Therapy.
And I don't think it worked
as well as it's going to,
because I think we're going
to get some good advice on from Jimmy,
but having some themes,
but obviously we need to have, you know,
some big
some big stars we're gonna
have a lot of heavy hitters
I think you know with the
international opportunities
and all of the
international people that
Amy will interview at 2 a.m
we'll have some really good
some really good guests as
well and I love the
platform with that because
if you know Jimmy which
right he's got that just
that personality and that
kind of get to know you
person type and I love that
about him and I think
that's really nice about
this platform too is that
we can get to know each
other a little bit
differently just you know what
what about them makes them a
little more unique, right?
Rather than just, oh,
they're a researcher.
Oh, they do that.
Or, oh, I'm my bio, right?
Like that's,
I'm so much bigger than that
and different than that.
That's not even half the
things that I want to talk about, right?
But it is who it makes,
it makes part of you, right?
And so I'm looking forward
to getting to know a little bit more
about the people that we're
going to speak to and, and, um,
listening about their experiences, right.
And,
and what learned lessons our audience
can learn from them,
because like I learned so
much by learning from others and honestly,
the things that they wish
they wouldn't have done or
the things that they think
they should have done better.
Um, and that's a,
it's a great space for us
to engage in that too.
I think they're kind of like the, you know,
you brought this to conference.
the PTI talks,
I always loved those just
because they allow people
to get into somebody's life
a little bit differently
than just here's the
research path that we took.
And then it seems almost
untouchable to a lot of folks.
I think when people see that
their journeys involve a lot of other
very important parts of their lives,
their families, their hobbies,
and things like that.
I think that that also makes
it really fun and interesting.
At least I think so.
Yeah.
Great.
Hey, Derek,
do you want to tell people a
little bit about the hands-off, hands-on?
Are we hands-on, hands-off, or hands-off,
hands-off?
Hands-on, hands-off.
Hands-on first.
There's a reason.
Hands-on first, right.
And then pull away.
Yeah, all right.
That makes sense.
We're good.
No,
but I think it would be good to tell
people a little bit about
what's in a name.
Yeah, no, that's a good.
Well, gosh,
we were going around and around
and around about a name, weren't we?
And I think when we when we
had the hands on hands off
podcast and when we were
starting to talk about our
name or talk about the strategic plan,
I'm like, wait a minute,
we're going to be saying the same thing.
We're trying to do the same
thing and we're speaking in parallel.
So why don't we just put all
of the energy into one thing?
And so Hands on Hands Off
podcast really was
identified as a good name
within the CMET because I
think there's a lot of
misinformation about manual therapy.
And it drives me crazy
sometimes when you see
things about the misinformation.
And it's a type of manual
therapy that we would all
probably agree maybe is wrong.
is not necessarily the most appropriate.
And so hands-on means that
there is time that yes,
that it is necessary to put
our hands on patients.
Um,
but then there's also this component of
manual therapy that, you know,
we also don't need to put
our hands on the patient to be effective.
And, and I think that's one of the things,
at least in my fellowship,
when I talked through,
talked to a lot of people
who have gone through
fellowship training,
is that one of the things
that they learn through
fellowship training is more
about when to put your
hands on and when to take your hands off,
right?
And more often than not,
you are taking your hands off,
but you're still using and
you're still effective with it.
And so that's, I think,
the idea behind the name is
that manual therapists will
put their hands on patients, but
they will also spend a lot of their time.
In fact,
probably the majority of their
time with their hands off of the patients,
right.
Doing all kinds of other things.
And a part of that reasoning
of going into when you put your hands on,
when you take your hands
off is part of the journey
that we have all, um,
evolved in and have grown
through through our
respective um programs and
I think that that's
something that we would all
agree on so I think that
that hands-on hands-off
podcast name was very
intentional because we
wanted to make sure that
there was times where we
said yes it's appropriate
for hands-on and then
there's also times when
it's appropriate that it
may not be for yeah and I
like that I think some of
the misinformation out
there is that we only do one thing
know or that we we condone
just just this one
intervention which couldn't
be further from the truth
so I i love hearing you
unpack that a little bit
because I think you know
we're also trying to um
just improve our our
branding or people's
perception of what it is
that we actually do and a
huge component of that is
therapeutic alliance and
shared decision making
motivational interviewing
um you know all those other
things that really are a
hands-off component so
thanks for giving us a
little bit more of an explanation of that
And I think that we've put
that in those lineups too, right?
How does that work in the
building those relationships and,
and person-centered care or
patient-centered care?
I mean,
All of those components
center around the patient.
I mean, so,
and sometimes patient preferences, right?
I mean,
if they think that that's something
that's going to get them
better and that's what
they're looking for,
then that's a great place to start.
But then obviously usually
reasoning and moving on.
And I think the lineup helps
us really kind of just
convey the flexibility of a
manual therapist who's gone through,
especially for fellowship training.
But it's not to say that
fellowship training is the only thing.
I just think it's a style, right?
It's the way that our
organization feels that manual therapy,
when done at the highest level,
it really integrates all of
the pyramid or all of the
stools or all the legs of
the stool in order to
really integrate it for the
best outcome for the patient.
And I think that's really important.
Well said.
know really derek is is the
one doing it I'm just
summarizing and you already
obviously hit it too so
three this is why we should
just do all three together
so derek needs to be pulled
into these international
3am meetings as well but
he's probably running a
track somewhere chasing his
stellar kit I mean that's
probably what's really
happening there so no no
I'm getting too old for
those 3am runs it's like that that
the knee arthritis starts to
kick in I gotta grease the
skis a little before I get
running so well tell me this
What do we get to think
about in what's coming up
in Orlando that you're most
excited about for our own conference,
right?
Like we're not that far away.
And Derek, things are opening up soon,
right?
Like, I mean, registration's starting up.
I mean,
we should do a whole show just on that.
But just give me a little snippet,
little snippet.
What do you think is like
the most exciting or what
are you most excited about?
Well,
obviously when this podcast gets released,
it's open.
Registration is open.
It's actually,
you can go on the website
and you can register.
So we are super excited.
One, we're in a really cool location.
We're in Orlando.
We're a really nice facility.
The facility is exactly the
type of facility that we want to be in.
What I think AAMP does really well.
And in those,
those kind of spaces where
everybody is together,
like we're all in the same
house together.
And this is, it's a really nice space.
You know, if you get a chance,
book your room, the rate is amazing,
you know, that kind of thing.
So, so, so take time to come down.
I think one of the things
that I love about conferencing,
especially because we're just, you know,
we were pulling out now of a pandemic.
we're all getting an
opportunity to come back together.
And it just shows and it proves how
essential and how important
it is for us to be together
and so having a space like
we're going to have is
going to be absolutely
incredible I've looked at
pictures of it it's it's
it's it's top top flight
and we actually just
surveyed our membership and
one of the things that we
realized is that location
matters um for our
conference um the zip code
actually does matter
obviously the convenience
of the airport and so I
think this checks a lot of those boxes
Beyond that,
what we're super excited about is,
and I think the thing that
I was most nervous about
when I took over from the
previous conference chair
who set the bar incredibly high,
I'm just hoping I don't
knock it off too hard,
is obviously the level of
keynote presenters.
And this year was, and then Megan,
I'm pretty sure that you always felt this,
where you started to get a
little stressed out, like,
am I going to get, am I going to get?
But we ended up getting three really,
really good, actually I should say four,
but three keynote presenters.
You know, Jeremy Lewis,
if you work anything with the shoulder,
you know who Jeremy Lewis is.
I mean,
he is going to be somebody I think that,
and to be honest with you,
we had him on our Hands On
Hands Off podcast
which is how I ended up
connecting with him to get
him to come to conference.
Because after I interviewed
him for the podcast, I was like,
this guy has to come to conference.
So inspiring, so motivating,
such an incredible, I think a very,
he will be a lot of fun.
He's going to be a lot of fun.
People are going to really enjoy that hour,
hour and a half of his talk.
Nathan Hutting,
he's a friend of ours within AOMT.
He has come to AOMT before.
He's a huge supporter of what we do.
He's a huge supporter of
manual therapy on the
international stage and
specifically to neck pain management.
And so I'm super thrilled
that when we asked him if he would be,
he was just like,
I've been waiting for you to ask me.
Wow.
So happy to have him.
And then Sarah Piva,
obviously a very
established researcher with UPMC,
And she is interesting.
She does a lot of work with
knee and knee OA right now,
but she's kind of previous to knee.
She worked a lot with low
back pain and now she's
kind of moving back toward low back pain.
But in our conversation, she was like,
I was once a manual therapy fellow,
but I let it lapse.
And then we were like, no, wait,
you don't have to worry
about that because we don't
have the 10 year rule.
And so I think we're even
able to bring her back in to the fold,
but she comes with a
a surprising background in manual therapy.
I didn't realize that when I
started to reach out to her
and then we started to have
some conversations.
So it goes to show how like
Aon can jumpstart so many
people's careers into so
many different directions.
Yeah.
She'll bring a lot into that.
And then Roger Chow, I mean,
This is going to be an incredible, um,
you know, distinguished lecturer, uh,
ask for a better lecture.
He's going to be our first
non physical therapist as a, uh,
distinguished lecturer,
but he is somebody who probably,
if you look at the research line,
a lot of the things that
come back to conservative
management for low back pain is, you know,
probably one of, if not the most arguable,
um,
persons who's really sort of
shown how we're not doing a
great job of managing low
back pain from a
and medicine and health care
and health care, a part of that solution.
So I'm excited to hear what
he brings into the table.
I've actually had a chance
to hear him once before speak,
and it was it was
definitely a one of those
crowd appealing events.
It was it was exciting and speaker.
So I think those are the exciting things.
And then the last thing is,
is we just finished reviewing the,
you know, the proposals.
And I was excited because
the majority of these
proposals are manual therapy.
People love to present about
manual therapy,
and we're going to have a
lot of really diverse
types of presentations that
will go along with our keynote presenters,
everything from pelvic health, pediatrics,
sports to the typical
things that we would see
with chronic pain management and so on.
But the overall quality we
actually we were saying on
the other night when we
were going through the
conference proposals that
this is hard because they
were actually too good.
So there was,
there was not enough
distinction in the scores.
And so it was,
it was a little bit of a
challenge to get these to
figure out what was going to be best,
which is a,
which is a good challenge to have.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
That is awesome.
Great.
And I love that we, you know,
we're bringing in a keynote
that's not a physical therapist.
I think the outside
perspective from other
professionals is so different.
important you know because
they have a lens I think
sometimes we don't know
what we don't know because
we talk to pts we engage
with pts we you know we
collaborate we do research
and and I think it's really
cool to have someone you
know who's who's not a pt
provide their perspective
and their experiences I
mean I'm really excited
personally that he's coming
I've been reading his work
ever since I kind of
entered academics and I
quote his stuff all the time and so I'm
I'm, you know,
I kind of feel like I have a
little bit of like, I'm starstruck.
I was going to say, she's starstruck,
Derek.
All right, so Amy, don't worry.
I'll reserve a seat in the
front row for you.
I'll leave one there for you.
We're going to get her a shirt, Derek.
We're going to get her a
shirt and that he can sign it for her.
Oh, we have to do something.
Oh, guys.
WWRCD.
What would Robert Chow do?
Oh, my gosh.
You're giving all the
listeners all these ideas
now that they're going to
have to tell us what we're going to do.
Yeah, that could be a fun competition.
Whose idea do we take?
I'm just saying, Derek,
we might have to explore
this a little bit.
I'm trying to figure out if
we save Amy a seat in the
front row or we actually
don't have Amy in the front row.
Oh, Derek, no.
Like, you and I are in the front row.
Amy's going to be, like,
trying to nudge up there.
We'll be like... Is that the
risk of embarrassment that
you're trying to put me in the 10th row?
That's a real risk, just so you know.
I'm excited Roger Chow's coming.
I think it's going to be fantastic.
It's going to be great.
And...
But all the other, you know,
people that you mentioned
that are in the lineup,
I think it's going to be I
think it's going to be great.
Yeah, well,
I just have to say kudos to you, Derek,
for putting the lineup together.
It is hard to put such top
notch people year in, year out.
And, you know,
bringing that to the AM
group is such a it's a privilege.
Right.
I always think it's such a
privilege to have that
opportunity to do that work.
but it's also hard work.
And Derek,
you're really going out and
getting those speakers.
And so again,
thank you so much for all
your work you're doing there.
It's, I mean, we really, our,
our organization is for the
people by the people.
Like that's it.
Like we're doing this work for our people,
but AOMT is, has just been such a,
such a great organization
to be a part of from, from very,
very long time ago.
So I love seeing that,
people still have the
passion to serve with such a big heart.
So thanks, Derek, for that work.
The other thing I'll say is,
is that it's actually,
it's a little bit of an
easier job than I thought
it was going to be.
I know that doesn't sound right.
But in that,
and I say that because AOMT is
a very respectable,
very respectable organization.
And so when I reach out to people,
they are
they want to be part of that
they know who our
membership is they know our
members are some of the you
know not just the great
researchers and education
and educators but they also
know that they truly are
like some of the best
clinicians you know if you
if you think about this
like who would I send my
who would I send my mom to
go get care for and if I
saw somebody that
had you know some background
in manual therapy and such
um and so when we talk to
folks that want to present
they know that they're
presenting to an audience
that is uh has high
standards and I think that
makes it um a bit of an of
a nice role because I think
people actually feel um you
know it is a privilege to
stand up on the main stage
and to present to this group of
members, clinicians,
other researchers and
educators who have these
standards of excellence that are,
you know, quite high.
Yeah.
Well, I think we're also just, you know,
it's a pretty fun group too, by the way.
We have a party every year.
Yeah.
And they're, they're pretty,
they're pretty
pretty crazy people.
We enjoy each other's talk.
We just got to watch Amy and Roger,
apparently, though, at the party.
So make sure that we give
security a little bit of a cue.
I love it.
Well, I mean, again,
we have such awesome people
who come to this conference.
So I always say it is like a star event,
right?
You get these rock stars in
the profession who totally
make time for other people,
have conversations.
So
Amy,
you can be the first to have that
conversation with Roger,
and I'm sure it'll all work out great.
But we'll have others.
So we'll distribute all the
rock star dust around the room,
make sure everyone gets to spread around.
So that'll be great.
Awesome.
I think this is pretty good
for our first kickoff.
I mean, we hit our vision,
what we're trying to do.
We totally talked about how
it aligns with what, you know,
what we're trying to do as
an organization.
You gave them a little
history about the naming,
which by the way, not an easy thing.
And thank goodness for Derek
saving the day.
You know,
now we're sitting here at a space
where we get to talk about
what our next steps are we're going.
We've got a lineup.
We've got a huge lineup.
We're going international.
And some of those same
people are going to be on
the main stage with you, Derek,
as we're kicking off a big
conference that we just talked about.
So I think this is a pretty
good wrap up for all the
things that we've got going
on that are going to come
over the next five, six months.
Yeah, I think it is.
I think it is.
Yes.
Very excited to be a part of this.
And, you know, and to our listeners,
actually, I just, you know,
When we said, hey,
what's our first show that
we should have?
I'm like,
let's bring Megan and Amy on the
show and let's just have a
conversation because it
would be about the best thing.
We didn't play around with
any of the technology, though, did we?
We could have had all kinds
of fun with some of the
sound bites from our listeners and things,
but we'll do more in our time.
We'll do more.
You know, I can remove myself now.
I can just go.
I know.
I ask goodbye, you all.
You can,
but I also have the same amount of
control as you do.
And I can bring you back on the stage.
I don't think we're going to
showcase all of our
inadequacies this early
into this endeavor.
I agree with Amy.
And two beats one.
All right.
Well, thanks, team.
It's great.
I really appreciate you guys
going and doing this with us.
That's awesome.
Sounds like you have to wrap.
Sounds like it's a wrap.
I'm going to end recording here.