We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Andrew Gillihan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dr. Andrew, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
Funny enough, I was thinking about this just the other day: my parents did a few things correctly, even though I may not have always been the ideal child to deal with.
The first thing my parents did well was allow me to fail. And when I say fail, I mean they let me fail often and hard.
I was always a high-achieving student, played multiple sports, and was able to excel at a lot of things continuously. As I grew up, though, I found that other people were able to excel at those things too. I didn’t stand apart from the group as much as I used to. My parents easily acknowledged this, but they didn’t coddle me. Instead, they embraced these realizations and didn’t allow me to back down, quit, or be extremely difficult on myself in these situations.
This leads me to number two. Through the process of letting me fail, my parents did a fantastic job of helping me build my self-efficacy. I learned the hard way that even if I wasn’t able to do something immediately, I could always come back to it and learn to be better. They instilled in me the concept of hard work and perseverance. I’ve continued to fail a lot throughout my academic and professional career, but it’s what has gotten me to the point of obtaining a doctorate in physical therapy and even opening up my physical therapy practice.
My parents did an excellent job of helping me grow as a human, as a leader, and as a man by allowing me to experience life in all its ups and downs.
Dr. Andrew, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am Dr. Gillihan, a native Idahoan born in Boise. My family moved to Tumwater, Washington, in 2002, where I lived for almost ten years before returning to Boise to complete my undergraduate degree. I hold a B.S. in Kinesiology: Exercise Science with a Psychology Minor from Boise State University. During my undergraduate studies, I became a National Strength & Conditioning Association Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Exercise Physiologist.
Deeply interested in communication and psychology, I returned to Boise State University to complete my Master of Kinesiology Degree focusing on Sports & Exercise Psychology. During my graduate school experience at Boise State, I conducted research on learning with mobile technology, concussion awareness, international physical activity guidelines, and motor learning & autism. Culminating my studies at Boise State, my final project was creating, organizing, and supervising the Bronco Fitness Challenge and Older Adults Strength Training Program.
Following my Master’s Degree, I continued my education to pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Arkansas. I assisted faculty in research targeting population health, social determinants of health, and myofascial release (MFR) techniques with police officers with chronic pain. I have clinical experience in pediatrics, acute care, outpatient sports, and orthopedics. As a performance physical therapist, I specialize in treatment for everyday gym-goers, weight lifters, runners, youth athletes, combat athletes, and tactical professionals such as service members, veterans, law enforcement, firefighters, and EMTs. As a male pelvic floor physical therapist, I help men following prostatectomy regain continence or those with pelvic pain get their life back through different modalities and musculoskeletal training methods.
I want to help clients and patients reach their “moonshots” (the dreams they feel they may never complete). I am passionate about using my knowledge of orthopedics & sports physical therapy to help better serve people just like you.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I’m a very large fan of Ryan Holiday and Alex Hormozi.
Stoicism is something that has always guided me to obtain a more moral and ethical state of life and business.
Alex Hormozi has the understanding of an individual dedicated to a cause, which is his business. The combination of these two things has skyrocketed my productivity and the growth of my practice immensely.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
Management of your emotions.
Healthcare is truly difficult. We quite literally have to deal with suffering every single day and we have to be able to segment them and utilize our passion, empathy, and anger wisely.
I can honestly say I’m not perfect at this but I believe using these things as tools at the appropriate time not only make you a better person but a better clinician that can connect with their patient at a deeper level.
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