John, I'll text you in a little bit.
Where are you staying?
All right, I'll text you.
All right, live from Anaheim,
let's kick this off.
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Accountability sounds simple until you
realize how uncomfortable it can be.
Our next guest works in the intersection
of education, high-level athletics,
and clinical decision-making,
and he's not afraid to challenge how we
hold ourselves and our patients to high
standards.
Live from Anaheim at CSM, Eric Bellum.
Welcome back to the show, man.
Hello.
Thanks to you.
Thanks for having me.
So you're from St.
Louis, the Billikens.
Correct.
What league is the Billikens in now?
What conference are they?
They are in the Atlantic Ten.
Right.
And that was new-ish.
I mean, it's been a while,
but I went to St.
Bonaventure.
Oh, you're a Bonnie.
I apologize for that.
I remember when St.
Louis joined.
Of course.
I mean,
I feel like I knew all the Atlantic
Ten teams.
I was going to school there for four
years.
You know who your rivals are.
You know who their mascots are.
I remember just being like, a Billiken?
What?
Yeah,
and they're not in the Atlantic either.
They're in the Midwest.
Right.
Correct.
It's the Atlantic Ten.
And I'm like,
I'm checking where the Atlantic is.
So how do you always get this?
I get asked, what the hell's a Bonnie?
What's a Billiken?
I think it's cool.
It's also a dope logo.
Yeah, it is.
Well,
now it used to be a very like
cartoonish looking logo.
So it has changed since, well,
since I graduated and then rejoined.
So the Billiken ironically is a Buddhist
good luck symbol at a Catholic Jesuit
university.
Of course.
And it stands for the way things ought
to be.
So it's kind of this guiding principle for
us at SLU that we work towards the
way things ought to be with our patients,
with our classes, with our students,
with our community.
So we're always working towards that kind
of ideal.
I like that.
Once I did the research, I was like,
all right, I'll allow it.
But it's a cool looking gargoyle.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They named it after we used to have
a football team, apparently.
And our coach looked like a Billiken.
So a short, stumpy guy with pointy ears.
And that's how back in the nineteen tens.
Yeah.
Don't quote me on that.
That's how we became the Billikens.
St.
Bonaventure is so small.
We haven't had a football team since the
nineteen tens.
And I sort of got in trouble at
school because I would I was an
entrepreneur.
We figured there was a shop in town
that would make T-shirts for us.
And I made unofficial official merch that
said like St.
Bonaventure football undefeated since
nineteen twelve.
Yeah, we have the same thing from people.
But I did not have permission to use
the logo,
so I got brought to an office and
was told, just stop doing that.
Yeah, just don't use the logo.
Just don't use the logo.
I'm like, oh, okay, cool.
Yeah, we just say St.
Louis undefeated in football.
So it's not a university.
You can't stop us from doing that.
St.
Louis doesn't have a pro football team now
either.
Oh, yeah,
you guys got rubbed into that too.
Yeah, we're not going to talk about that.
All right,
so where do PTs confuse being supportive
with avoiding accountability?
Yeah,
so that I think is one of the
challenging things that we talk about
within our classroom is how do we get
you to be a supportive physical therapist
but yet hold your patients accountable?
Like when you go to a physician's office,
if you don't take your medicine,
they're like, what are you doing here?
As a PT, we should ask, hey,
you're not doing your home exercises.
What's going on?
And I think we've been too much of
the nice guy for both of our patients
in the health care system.
In this world of evolution where we have
to think about our reimbursement rates,
we gotta start thinking about how do we
create accountability for ourselves,
for our patients,
so that we can make the best out
of the time we have with them.
So what are steps to do that?
Because the opposite of being the nice guy
is being like the jerk.
I'm sure we don't wanna do that.
Correct.
So how do you do it well?
Yeah.
So I call it a coming to Jesus
moment where it's like we have a sit
down and I'm just like, OK,
so help me understand here.
Your time's worth something.
My time's worth something.
If we're not going to put the effort
in.
Yeah.
Do you think this is worth it?
Right.
And you might not like that answer.
And that's the part that I had to
like stomach.
But.
it kind of brings that like, OK,
where are we going with this?
And you have to be willing to answer
that question to yourself.
Correct.
Because, you know,
while there's not a ton of like literature
behind this,
but it makes us have to know the
literature,
because if you're just going through step
by step cookbooking,
everybody like
well what are you doing there why are
you creating a positive experience for
this patient so i like to just start
it off with even like first day eval
i'm like hey i'm gonna be honest with
you you be honest with me uh and
we're gonna get through this together like
it is this is a team effort i'm
not telling you what to do you're gonna
help me figure out this as well uh
and we're gonna just push forward i like
the the first three words you said which
is help me understand yeah which
It's just a life hack.
It's not accusatory.
It's like, hey,
I'm here to think about what it actually
says.
I'm here to understand.
What am I missing?
Hey, man, lost my job.
Oh, got it.
Hey,
now we have a different thing in the
equation.
Now that I understand that,
how can I be helpful?
Correct.
But just assuming, and what's the label?
Patient is noncompliant.
That's lazy on our part, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Did you need due diligence or research to
figure out why?
No, just didn't do it.
Yeah, we're all humans, right?
We have to understand where they're coming
from as well because I think it's part
of a problem when we say, hey,
you've got to come three times a week.
Do they have the capacity to do that?
Do they have the funds to do that?
Do you have child care for that?
Do you have a ride for that?
Do you have the money for that?
And is it actually best practice?
I would probably argue no.
So where are we going as a profession?
between this crossroads of like, okay,
we're coming out with more student debt,
we're getting less reimbursed.
I think it's time now to reflect and
say, hey,
how do we change this profession moving
forward?
Yeah, I think it's a good time.
we love milestones, right?
The profession turned a hundred just a few
years ago.
It's like, well,
if we're doing the same thing or something
similar that we did a hundred years ago,
some things are good to stick around,
not all things.
So what do we do to evolve and
do those things?
Those are good reflection moments.
Yeah.
And it's, I mean,
hopefully we're not being the same.
We were five years ago.
Right.
So that's,
That's a big component of figuring out
where we want to be as a profession.
So going internal,
what do you think is one standard physical
therapist should raise for themselves
first?
Where do we start?
If you're like, okay,
how do I do this?
If it's not in the workflow,
I'm never going to do it.
Yeah,
so I think one standard is thinking about
each patient as a human.
Like,
I think sometimes we get caught up and
we got fifteen patients.
The schedule.
Yeah, we got this.
You know, I got to get this done.
I got to get this done.
But then asking the question,
what does this patient actually need from
me today?
Because there are times we've had those
patients that walk in and they just look
drowned.
Like you're like, man, what's going on?
And they're like, hey.
like got broken up with and you're like,
Ooh, that's a,
that's a different plan changed.
Correct.
Like should, should anyway.
Right.
Yeah.
That's that internal load that I can't
affect.
Right.
I can affect an external load to them,
but I can't affect their internal load.
So I think the easiest step is one,
just stepping back and realizing that
we're not the only ones in their world.
It's very easy within our clinic,
within our busy schedule to think that and
think, why aren't you,
why aren't you doing what I'm telling you?
Right.
Like start thinking what else is going on
in their world.
Yeah.
That's that's easy.
Step one.
Step two is I like to think about
having an accountability buddy at work.
Right.
Like, hey,
have you looked at this article?
Have you thought about this?
Have you gone to this conference?
Are you thinking about what you're doing?
Because there's times that I again,
you everybody gets in the motion and to
have somebody be like, what was that for?
And if you don't have an answer,
like as a clinician,
having students is great because you on
your keeps you in check.
Yeah, yeah, it makes you know your shit,
right?
Yeah.
Yeah, like, what are you doing that for?
And you're like, uh,
because it looks cool.
Like, you've got to have those answers.
Because I couldn't think of anything
better, and I did that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So let me pause and think of something
better to do.
Yeah, so I think those are, like,
the two easiest things, like,
you can do tomorrow, right?
Like, look at your patients and be like,
okay, what am I missing with this human?
Because the missing thing might be they're
just not bought in.
Yeah.
Like, so is it worth it to them?
Yeah.
And then having an accountability buddy.
that you can check yourself and be like,
what's really going on here?
Correct.
What's something educators need to model
better for students?
Educate.
I think it's the humility in itself.
Not being the sage on stage all the
time and right all the time.
Yeah.
I laugh because I walked into class this
past week and I was like, guys,
what day is today?
It's Tuesday?
Yeah.
My kids didn't sleep like I'm up here
struggling to like you're going to raise
your hand when I start losing you and
we're going to work through this together.
Wow.
So like I like to not think of
myself as the sage on stage.
Right.
Like I tell them, like,
I'm here to help you.
You're here to help me.
So if things aren't making sense,
I need you to raise it up.
Yeah.
So it's I think that's and I would
say most.
teachers don't go into it wanting to be
the sage but again they get busy too
there's a lot of things going in academia
that students don't know yeah that it's
just easier so like again it's having that
same check of like teaching's a skill i'm
teaching my first how to podcast course
for healthcare providers now i got fifteen
years in radio ten as a podcaster i'm
not a mathematician that's twenty five
years doing this sort of thing yeah and
when i'm teaching i'm still like
Are they with me?
Am I doing this right?
Am I talking too much?
Am I talking not at all?
Should I be asking them more questions?
Should I be asking them less questions?
It's not easy.
No.
And they're humans too, right?
Correct.
I mean, we both went to PT school,
right?
We know that feeling of like you sit
in the back of the class and you're
like, oh, yeah, okay.
Like nobody's going to be perfect every
day.
Right.
So teaching is challenging.
I mean,
at SLU we have classes of like ninety
students.
So to teach across that spectrum.
You have ninety students?
Yeah.
In one class?
Yeah.
In one cohort?
Yeah, one cohort.
Wait a minute.
You have a ninety student cohort?
Yeah.
We have ninety to about a hundred
depending on...
how they fall that's bananas yeah it's it
sounds crazy i went through it and i've
taught at other schools that have smaller
ones there's pluses and minuses to both
with that many kids there's that many
other experiences there's that many
chances to not get caught in a click
there's not like we have resources because
we're so large wow like so it don't
be wrong it's a
Yeah, that's a tough part.
Hey, here's the thing.
Whatever color shirt you wore on the first
day, you're wearing that.
You're a blue shirt guy.
I'm going to remember you as a blue
shirt guy.
Yeah, I always tell people,
if I don't know you by the end
of the...
The kids I know in the end of
the first semester are the ones that...
Ask questions.
Yes,
they ask questions or I don't want to
know your name.
It's both ends of the spectrum.
But we try by putting them into groups
and making them switch.
So I have to learn that group and
just kind of chipping away with it each
time.
Ninety.
Dude,
how does accountability matter more as
healthcare keeps changing?
I think that's a great question.
I think the fact that we have to
know we're changing and that we have to
keep evolving and, again,
that humility of, like, okay,
we've been a profession for a hundred
years.
Like,
what's the next thing that's coming out?
We're going to talk about AI here.
A lot.
Should be.
Right?
Like...
Why do, like,
let's not be grumpy old people and be
like, ah,
AI is trying to take our job.
Maybe AI is trying to help us, right?
Maybe this is how we work on productivity.
Like, I don't have that answer, but, like,
we have to not get caught back.
and grumpy and ignore it correct dude like
i remember watching metallica on stage
when napster was a thing and they're like
you can't do this i'm like my man
kids in basements are downloading music
it's happening yeah and then you got a
guy like dave girl from the foo fighters
who was just like what am i gonna
do about it he's like play more live
shows like you can't download a live you
know you can't download an experience so
be more experienced teach you know give
more that evolve
yeah it's it's a that's i think is
we have to be accountable to our ability
to evolve to the patient that's in front
of us because we all can appreciate the
next generation that's coming up has
different things that we have to deal with
i was saying this earlier today it's a
rubik's cube on a rubik's cube yeah
students are a different part of life but
they're also from a different generation
raised on different things they're
experiencing different parts of this life
like you like
I grew up and didn't know what a
cell phone was,
and then one day I did.
There are kids who just never knew not.
Well,
and it's interesting because we're getting
a lot more of our first generation
students.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
It's great to see all the different
components.
Again, so back to ninety kids,
when I have kids from all walks of
life,
and I ask a question,
you see some of that like, oh,
I never thought of it that way because
now they have a student that grew up
in Mexico, grew up in Africa,
grew up in Japan or South Korea.
That to me,
when I learn that about my students and
I encourage them to explain that
experience,
only makes us richer as healthcare
clinicians and people.
That's cool.
All right,
we have a tradition on the show.
It's called The Parting Show.
This is The Parting Shot.
One last mic drop moment.
No pressure.
Just your legacy on the line.
Parting Shot brought to you by U.S.
Physical Therapy,
a nationwide network of clinics focused on
developing clinicians.
We're at their booth right now.
Leadership tracks, mentorship,
career growth, and long-term stability.
U.S.
Physical Therapy supports PTs who want to
build real futures in this profession of
physical therapy.
USPH.com, that is USPH.com.
Eric, Parting Shot,
what do you want to leave with the
audience to wrap up?
An idea, concept, quote,
whatever you want to do.
Yeah, I think at this point,
it's just continue to grow, right?
Like continue to help yourself grow,
continue to help people that are coming up
behind you grow.
Like we're not meant to be this one
island human that pulls everybody along,
right?
I think as healthcare providers,
we're there to push, right?
I want to push my students.
I want to push my colleagues.
I want to push the patients that walk
through my door.
Sometimes I want to push my kids.
Like I think that component of like don't,
leave the hungriness at home.
Ooh, I like that.
That's hard to do on some days.
We can all appreciate that.
But I have on my computer rotating
messages.
It's like,
just because you're struggling doesn't
mean you're failing.
So just keep pushing as much as you
can.
Eric, appreciate you coming on the show.
Yes.
Go Billikens.
Thank you.
I will talk to you again soon, man.