Why I Started My Own Practice (and why you should chase your dreams!)

The life of an entrepreneur is no joke! There are late nights, early mornings, and sometimes the nights and the mornings seem to overlap each other! There are tears of joy when you heal a client that is in debilitating pain, and also tears of frustration when it seems you are doing your best but no one is coming through door. But, if I had the opportunity to rewind the clock and be able to choose between a steady, reliable income or keep the insanity and uncertainty of entrepreneur life; I would choose having my own practice 100% of the time, and I’ll tell you why…
I’ve wanted to be a therapist as long as I can remember, mainly because I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up. As they began to age, I was able to take care of them and guide them to the best quality of life possible; they really depended on me even at a young age. So while in college, I set out to be a physical therapist and work in geriatric care…which I successfully accomplished after four years in undergrad and three years of grad school!
But that’s not the reason I opened my practice. As I eventually moved from geriatric care and into orthopedic care, I saw the constant struggle between patient care and insurance reimbursement. I saw that even though a clinic may have truly desired to see a patient healthy (some clinics don’t though, don’t get me started!), there was only so much time they could give to a hurting patient. Clinics had to keep new patients coming in the door since insurance companies may or may not pay for the services rendered. This bothered me to no end because I WANT EVERYONE HEALTHY, but there was just not enough time to spend with each patient for them to be healed. ARGGHHHHHHHH!!!!! (in my bothered voice!)
So after years of this constant struggle in my conscience, I had to make a decision. I could either work for the money, or I could work for the benefit of the patient, and the only way to do this was to open my own cash-based, out of network practice. There was no in between. It was all or nothing. Security or uncertainty. Stay at the edge of the pool or jump in the unknown waters. This is craziness for someone who isn’t naturally a thrill seeker or a risk taker. So this decision took me past myself, past my level of comfort, and past what I thought I was capable of.
But, on the other side of safety is where the magic of life resides. As great as it is to heal a patient, and as great as it is to be able to give my all to the people that walk in my clinic, the greatest part of all of this is that I realized that uncertainty is the fuel for greatness and creativity. Uncertainty has created my best self, and is still continuously creating my better self every day, and this is what I want for you. While I absolutely love being a therapist, I love even more to see people take that step to achieve and realize their dreams. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, I cry (I’m still a girl lol). Yes, there are times I want to say forget it and go back to “normal” life, but all these thoughts melt away when I walk in the doors of my own clinic, see my patient’s smiling faces, and hear those magic words, “because of you, I’m able to sleep at night.”
If they only knew that them being able to sleep at night is what drives me to keep
going throughout the day.
Keep Dreaming and Achieving!
-Dr. Q
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