Blog Post: May 5th, 2021
By Natalie Theroux, Doctor of Physical Therapy
I’m Natalie Theroux, a Doctor of Physical Therapy here at 21st Century Rehab in Osceola. I have been a physical therapist for just about eight years. I initially became interested in physical therapy in kind of a silly way.
It was 8th grade, and I had to do a report on a career I was interested in. I almost did my report on the career of professional chef, but I thought physical therapy looked pretty neat, so that’s what I went with. I then became even more interested in physical therapy in 10th grade after I was able to do a short observation internship at a clinic. At that point, I was pretty confident I wanted to go into physical therapy.
As many others who decide to become a physical therapist, what really solidified my confidence in the path of physical therapy was when I had a personal experience with it myself. Actually, I had more than one personal experience with physical therapy…
First, I injured my shoulder playing softball in high school, While it was a bummer to have to sit out for a short time, I thoroughly enjoyed the physical therapy I received. I’m a pretty accident-prone person, and proceeded to need physical therapy a second and third time when I tore my ACL and broke my hand on two separate occasions when I was in college. As a college softball player, I needed to get back to tip-top shape as fast as possible. Luckily, I had a great physical therapist this time as well. At this point, I couldn’t wait to get my career started as a physical therapist.
Here I am today, and I absolutely love the personal interactions and relationships I get experience with my patients throughout the rehabilitation process. I get to see their wins and experience that along with them. I am so happy I chose the career I did, because I love every single day of my job.