TheOncoPT Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Imagine how great it would feel to treat patients after a cancer diagnosis, confidently & competently. Okay, stop dreaming, because it's here. I've teamed up with PT Pintcast & the brightest minds in oncology physical therapy to bring you the first EVER Virtual Oncology Physical Therapy Summit, happening on April 17, 2021! Jimmy & Juliette of PT Pintcast are...

Send us Fan Mail APTA-CSM 2021 looked a bit different this year. With a lot of hard work, the conference brought together the same & new brilliant minds who are helping advance our profession. But I think there's definitely some take-aways from this year on how to make it better for next year.   Sign up for my new FREE workshop: 5 Things that Separate Newbies from Confident, Competent Onc...

Send us Fan Mail You've been studying for MONTHS - now it's finally time to take your exam. You know the content for the exam, but what's your plan for surviving it? In today's episode, we're covering what you need to survive your PT board certification exam.   If you want a structured way to get started on your ABPTS oncology case report, I'm hosting a LIVE writing s...

Send us Fan Mail Over this past year in-person manual therapy training has kind of disappeared. Maybe not entirely, but a pandemic has definitely affected how we teach and learn manual skills.   So how do we ensure that we are learning these important manual skills when we can't be in person? How do we guarantee that we're learning the appropriate touch pressure the spiel of these manual...

Send us Fan Mail We learn how to treat patients after a cancer diagnosis from a PT standpoint - but do we fully consider how other factors impact our patients' progress? Yes, they may be participating in sessions, but do they have food, money to cover housing, a safe place to sleep? These factors affect our patients & their ability to live their best lives after a cancer diagnosis. But ho...

Send us Fan Mail It's the most wonderful time of the #OncoPT year! We are so excited for the virtual APTA-CSM 2021 experience, & we're highlighting some of favorite parts in today's episode. From posters to platforms, sessions, exhibits, & more, you don't want to miss the inside scoop on this virtual experience to remember! If you want a structured way to get started on...

Send us Fan Mail Oncology is full of excited, passionate people who love to educate others, like practitioners or patients. But very few platforms educate BOTH - when we educate both patients & practitioners, we equip all involved parties to be more in tune with what patients need. Denise Stewart, founder of the Breast Cancer Rehabilitation & Wellness Summit, is my special guest on today&a...

Send us Fan Mail What can a beautiful tiny island nation teach us about OncoPT? A lot. Most importantly how to ensure patients get the care they desperately need when there aren't many OncoPTs around. Here in the US, we tend to focus on the big urban cancer centers & how to make them better. But we can't forget about our colleagues & patients in rural areas or even those in healt...

Send us Fan Mail OncoPTs are connectors - we help connect patients with other healthcare pros, services, & care. But we can't do everything. So hallelujah we have foundations like the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation to help patients get needed wigs, compression garments, post-mastectomy care, & more. I spoke with Tina Fernandez Steckler about how HERS helps patients in the San Francisco...

Send us Fan Mail This Atlanta-based clinician is about to rock your world - & your patients' world. DocJay PT (also known as Ashley Johnson, PT, DPT) is radically changing the physical therapy landscape for the better. What she's doing for her practice (where she treats athletes, dancers, entertainers, bartenders, patients with Medicaid, you name it) is what we need to be doing in On...

Send us Fan Mail Happy New Year! We're starting 2021 with a bang - a fantastic interview & VIDEO(!) with Naomi Aaronson, who incorporates Pilates into her oncology OT practice. Pilates is a whole body approach that emphasizes stability, which is a problem for many cancer survivors. Naomi takes us through what Pilates is, how she's using it for her patients, & how we can too. Watc...

Send us Fan Mail We have finally arrived at the end of 2020. Good grief. While this is definitely not how I pictured spending this year, thank God we've made it here. It only seems fitting to send this year off with a bang, so I'm bringing back the #1 most popular episode for us to enjoy again. Even though we recorded this interview back in at the beginning of the pandemic, Nicole Stout&...

Send us Fan Mail This was a hugely popular episode of 2020 - I'm still getting emails & messages about this one! In Ep. 89, I interviewed breast surgical oncologist Dr. Toni Storm, & she brought the house down with all the knowledge she shared with us. Knowing her perspective as the breast surgeon helps our OncoPT practice so much, especially when it comes to healing & potential c...

Send us Fan Mail It's time to send this year off with a bang. So before we say hello to 2021, we're recapping the top 3 episodes of 2020. We looked back at the stats, & your downloads picked these three as your favorites! Today's episode is slightly ironic because here in the Northern Hemisphere, it is winter - in my backyard, it's cold & sprinkling. BUT - today's...

Send us Fan Mail A lot could be said about 2020. I think an overarching theme is one dumpster fire after another. But it hasn't all been a complete disaster. Even some of the things that totally derailed the momentum we had coming into this year have become exceptional teaching moments for OncoPT. I just wish we didn't have to learn them this way. Regardless, it's almost the end of...

Send us Fan Mail The past two years (yes, that's how long this podcast has been around!) have been quite the learning experience. It's stressful & frustrating trying to navigate the OncoPT world as a new practitioner, but you're not alone. I'm sharing the top 10 lessons I've learned in my early OncoPT career, including some mistakes I learned from & what I'm p...

Send us Fan Mail We're back with a special Black Friday part 2 episode - this time with savings for you, OncoPT! Now is the perfect time to stock up on practice supplies & pick up great savings on oncology physical therapy education. Be quick though - you don't want to miss out on these savings! If you want a structured way to get started on your ABPTS oncology case report, I'm...

Send us Fan Mail Thanksgiving is just one week away here in the States, which means that Black Friday sales are just around the corner. Now is a great time for patients to purchase needed garments & equipment, as well as stock up for the new year. I've included some of my favorite products that I recommend to patients in this episode. Check them out & save your patients some moolah -...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wondered what the heck goes on in pediatric oncoPT? For me, I have exactly zero experience in this patient population, so I reached out to Lynn Tanner, PT, to give us the low-down on pediatric oncology physical therapy. What she shares is powerful not just for our pediatric colleagues, but for ALL of us in OncoPT. If you want a structured way to get started on your ABPTS onco...

Send us Fan Mail We made it to 100 episodes! TheOncoPT celebrated our 100th episode with a special live Instagram interview with Shai Sewell - & we had a blast! Shai turned the tables, as HE asked the questions in this episode. I've included both the Instagram Live & the audio from our interview on this page - so you can enjoy the audio or video version of this great episode. Thank yo...

Send us Fan Mail Pelvic floor dysfunction affects a significant number of cancer survivors. Many of these patients will not be referred to pelvic floor PT. Instead, they will end up in oncology PT for other reasons & will "happen" to also have pelvic floor issues. So can we actually help these patients as non-pelvic PTs? The answer & how to actually implement this solution is in...

Send us Fan Mail Like it or not, COVID has significantly impacted oncology PT. Our ability to reach patients & treat them in a timely manner has changed dramatically. These changes have been largely negative. So what exactly has COVID revealed about how cancer rehab works? As a profession, our methods of getting patients in the door (or getting referred to patients) is problematic. OncoPTs do...

Send us Fan Mail Oncology physical therapy is simply the coolest - we get to help patients after arguably the worst diagnosis imaginable. We see patients throughout the cancer care continuum, even until the end of their lives. It's a beautiful, sad, frustrating, wonderful opportunity to share this sacred space with these patients. But, we often have to jump right back into the whirlwind witho...

Send us Fan Mail Alexandra Hill, PT, DPT, WCS, CLT-LANA, is part of an elite group of clinicians in the US: she is dual-board certified in both oncology & women's health PT! She's using her incredible knowledge, experience, & passion for treating these patient populations that often go hand-in-hand, & she stopped by the podcast to share how she found her path, how she prepare...

Send us Fan Mail It's time to start cracking down on studying for the Oncology Specialist Certification Exam (at least here at our house). This is my first time studying for the exam, so I'm really excited to be brushing up on all this great stuff & refreshing things I may have forgotten. While the exam can seem really daunting at first, there are some great tools out there to help y...