We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Angela Slessor, PT, DPT, MDNC. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Angela below.

Dr. Angela, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?

I had a patient come to me for Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. She had been experiencing frequent urinary incontinence. She explained to me that she was going through approximately 8 incontinence pads a day, and sometimes soaking through them. She had gone through uterine cancer followed by a hysterectomy. Her concern was packing for a trip she had coming up. She was worried her whole suitcase would have to be filled with incontinence pads. After 4 weeks of working together, she was happy to report she was down to 3 pads a day, and was not soaking through them onto her underpants. She was excited her suitcase was no longer going to be just pads! I love giving people their dignity back.

Dr. Angela, 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?

While I was in PT school I attended a conference on Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, and I felt called to gain further knowledge in the area. At the time I was in my 20s and was a little shy, so that unfortunately held me back from really diving deep into the subject. Several years later, after I graduated, I volunteered to go on a trip to Haiti and provide free Physical Therapy treatment. While I was there, I was re-introduced to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, as well as cupping therapy and Dry Needling. I was fascinated with the new topics, as well as it gave me the courage to further pursue continuing education regarding Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy. This has been the best decision I have ever made! Shortly after my classes, I decided to open my own LLC, Renewed Life Physical Therapy. I came up with the name, because I believe when you have urinary or fecal incontinence, as well as, sexual dysfunction, it is so disrupting to your daily life. Most patients that seek out Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy have a 90% success rate, therefore obtaining a “Renewed Life.” I believe more people should be educated on Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, it may delay or avoid their need for surgery to correct their deficits.

In addition to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy, I provide traditional Physical Therapy. As mentioned before, I utilize cupping therapy and Dry Needling in my practice, which has really increased my ability to assist people in becoming pain free with their functional activities. Cupping therapy uses a varied of different cups to assist in myofascial gliding needed for regular movement of the muscles under the skin. Dry Needling is the use of a monofilament needle to release muscle knots and remodel scar tissue. These interventions, in conjunction with traditional Physical Therapy, has, in my opinion, lessened the amount of visits a patient needs to achieve their goals.

Finally, I think it is important to mention that I am a cash-based provider. After a decade of working in insurance driven facilities, I was frustrated at the limitations that were put on myself, as a clinician, in order to effectively treat my patients. The decrease of insurance reimbursement was constantly increasing the productivity (number of patients) needed for the business to be profitable. In essence, this meant I had to see more patients each day in order to make money for the business. This was meaning, that I was on average only getting 15-30 minutes, at most, with each of my patients. This is not what I believe is best for the patient. By having a cash-based clinic I am able to provide my patients with an hour of one-on-one skilled Physical Therapy with me. Being cash-based can sometimes deter patients from coming to a clinic like mine. I like to let people know that I can provide an invoice to them, after our session, that they can, in turn, submit to their insurance provider for out of network reimbursement. Most of my patients tell me by the time they are reimbursed, their appointment with me cost what their copayment would have been for an insurance-based visit. Only, with me, they get a whole hour! I love being able to provide each patient with a quality treatment that is not rushed.

If you could go back in time, do you think you would have chosen a different profession or specialty?

My answer is ABSOLUTELY! I love what I do! If anything, I would have explored my Pelvic Floor skills sooner into my career. I am so sad that so many people are either afraid to talk about it or are not educated on PT as a non-invasive option. I love that my career allows me the time to really get to know my patients, and all of the things that contribute to their pain and dysfunction.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Early into my career I became a director of an outpatient Physical Therapy clinic. The focus of the marketing for most PT clinic is on marketing to local physicians. This can be expensive and time consuming. Unfortunately, physicians, as you can imagine, are very busy. Therefore, it can be difficult to get more than a couple minutes of their time, to speak with them about what you provide. At that time, I decided to ask my supervisor if I could join a local Chamber of Commerce. It took a lot of discussion, but he finally agreed. To me, this was the best decision I could have ever made. I believe when you are marketing your business, you are also marketing yourself. Marketing within the community and really getting to know all of the other business owners around you, helps you to build a relationship and trust. This allows you to build deep connections with small business owners within your community. Instead of marketing TO someone, you are becoming business referrals for one another. This is the route I have chosen to take with my clinic, and I have found it to be more productive than the traditional marketing model for PT clinics.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.renewedlifept.com
• Instagram: @renewed_life_pt
• Facebook: facebook.com/renewedlifept
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/renewedlifept