Five Reasons You Should Attend PT Pub Night

logo from: http://ptpubnight.com/

What could be better than a Friday night spent with friends?  A Friday night spent with fellow physical therapists having drinks chatting about patient cases, the health care system, recent conferences, and suggesting new articles to read.  #AllTheCoolKidsAreDoingIt.

When a former coworker first invited me to PT Pub Night about 3.5 years ago, I was a little hesitant to attend because it sounded just as cheesy as my above statement.  I was new to Seattle, and new to being a PT, though, and a networking event sounded like something I should do.  Actually, I didn't know any PEOPLE in the area - PTs or otherwise.  I had been harassing her to have dinner with me so I wouldn't have to eat alone sitting on my living room floor since I was a poor new grad without furniture.  It wasn't a hard sell.  We headed over to Hales Ales in Fremont, WA and since that time I have been to several PT Pub Nights.  Here's why you should check one out if you get the chance.

1) You meet new PTs in your city.  Obviously.  This is helpful for learning, future employment opportunities, finding new continuing education courses, securing a mentor, finding local specialists for things like bike fits or pelvic health or running mechanics, learning about referral sources and surgeon preferences with their rehab protocols, discussing the changes in legislation that directly impact patient care in your region... this list could go on forever.  Having colleagues that are in a similar line of work but don't work in your office is incredibly valuable.  Alternatively, bringing along your coworkers can help build up your work relationships because these events are really about physical therapy and health care - not your personal life.

2) You meet PT students either studying nearby or on clinical affiliations in your city.  The last two PT Pub Nights I have attended, the same student was present.  He's graduating soon and it's interesting to hear what he's learning in school, how his rotation is going.  It could help me if I'm ever a CI (scheduled in 2019!) to get the opinion of a student who I have no professional responsibility towards, but also it helps me grow as a professional.  I remember attending PT Pub Night-type events when I was a UConn PT student attending the Combined Sections Meetings (Chicago and Las Vegas) and loving the opportunity to talk to my faculty in a more casual setting.  Later, when I was a practicing PT and attended CSM in Anaheim, it was even more comfortable to have dinner and drinks with my former instructors because we're colleagues now!  In the three years since I graduated, there have been a handful of times where I've directly reached out to them for advice regarding patients, careers, and the status of the UConn PT program.  It makes sense that your instructors shouldn't be sitting next to you at the on-campus bar (shout out to the sticky floor at Ted's with delicious chicken cutlet sandwiches), but after your grades are finalized, your faculty immediately becomes your first network of colleagues.  That relationship can start sooner with this type of function.

3) For me, like I said, I had no friends when I moved to Seattle. This isn't an exaggeration.  As a physical therapist, I spent all day long talking to patients - so I didn't feel like I was missing out on the human connection entirely. But meal times alone at home were super lonely.  I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge that my closest PT colleagues are also some of my closest friends in Seattle and that this was a direct result of PT Pub Nights.  I even joined a softball team because of a friendship made at PT Pub Night - but that ended with me having a broken nose and a concussion - we can talk about those another day.

4) The group is always different.  At least here in Seattle, where the location changes each month, the attendees are often more local to the host location.  This weekend's Pub Night was a small group, but sometimes it's a large crew.  Most of the time the attendees are from orthopedics and sports PT, but sometimes there have been therapists from other settings which is a refreshing reminder of the things we are trained to do.  I do not miss my time in the skilled nursing facility, but several PTs I have met love working in that environment.  To see them passionate about their setting is refreshing and the end-game for all of us is to improve human function. Additionally, we previousyl had a mayoral candidate join us, we have had Washington Physical Therapist Association board members attend to increase awareness of upcoming legislation, and sometimes a physician from the neighborhood will even stop in.  It's a true networking event.  

5) You can respectfully debate the issues going on in health care - because at the end of the day, we all want our patients to get better. If our approaches or our political opinions differ, the end-game is the same.  This past Pub Night, for example, some of the participants had just returned from a Pain Summitt in California.  They had a lot of insight to share and they treat their patients with strong consideration for the biopsychosocial model.  While I, too, consider this model in my treatments, it's a new concept for me and so I still find myself more in the biomedical model camp.  I like some of the language that the biopsychosocial model uses and I like to hear how they talk and think about the patients in front of them.  I treat mostly children so I see a lot of fear avoidance behaviors and have observed the way the wording we use with patients directly affects some of them. Any time you get a group of people together who have differences of opinion, the conversation can get intense.  This Pub Night's talks were deep - but they made me think - and I respect that.  The conversation is notably different when March Madness comes around - because we're all rooting for our alma maters. 

PT Pub Nights have spread throughout the country, particularly in the cities.  I encourage you to check one out - or come hang out with us in Seattle.  You might learn something, but you'll definitely meet some interesting people. 

Photo credit: Sarah Cruser 
Location: Magnuson Athletic Club, hosted by Ellie Somers and Sisu Performance