If you are asked to speak to a few hundred graduate students about specializing in your field of work, what would you tell them? Last fall, I was asked to present on specializing in physical therapy (I am a certified orthopedic specialist) to 300 physical therapy students and I have…

Richard Feynman once wrote, “Scientific knowledge is a body of statements of varying degrees of uncertainty/certainty — some most unsure, some nearly sure, none absolutely certain.” Scientific curiosity, not scientific knowledge, must be the focus for clinicians to excel. School and continuing education courses are great for gathering new information…

Bias and heuristics should be a staple of higher education The current pandemic has highlighted a glaring gap within most people’s education: learning how to think. What do I mean by ‘learning how to think?’ Those four words could be the tagline of most higher-education institutions. At least, that is…

My internship taught me how to use communication to overcome a lack of experience and technical skills — There are few better ways to petrify an intern than for a patient to say “oh crap” after you introduce yourself as a student on their clinical rotation. This happened to me on my first clinical rotation and I vividly remember the entire encounter. Following my practiced, yet unrefined, introduction…

Helping you decide when to rely on intuition or slow critical thinking — How do we make daily decisions in our careers? In my field, physical therapy, we use the term clinical decision making (CDM) — “a highly complex, multi-faceted skill that is developmental and requires a substantial amount of practice with realistic patients to develop.” As a physical therapist, I rely on…

I don’t want my kids constantly counting down to the weekend. — I don’t want my kids to wake up on Mondays thinking they have to ‘get through the next 5 days. I don’t want to only have a relationship with my kids on the weekends. If I don’t control when I work, all three of those fears will become realities Shifting my career Before…

You don’t need to settle for the established path — When I walked into the CEO’s office, the first thing the COO said was, “Zach, before we finish, I want to make sure we discuss some integration plans and regions I think you can help with.” I knew I didn’t get the job. Over the next 30 minutes, both the…

4 tips on how to make better choices at work — “The hardest thing about being a doctor is that you learn best from your mistakes, mistakes made on living people.” —Dr. Karen Delgado As a physical therapist, I face a similar daily challenge as described by Dr. Delgado. …

Advice from a successful physical therapist turned REALTOR® — What do you do if you invest $200,000 into your education, complete two grueling residency programs, create a residency program from scratch to become one of the youngest residency program directors in the country, present at national conferences, and oversee all of the education for one of the largest physical…

What scientific research tells us about how to spot bullshit and how we can protect ourselves from the myriad versions of it, like ‘fake news’ — Do you consider yourself a bullshitter? If not, chances are you know one. How can you determine if someone is bullshitting you? How can you reduce your susceptibility to bullshitting and call someone out on it? There is surprisingly a large amount of research on these questions. I came across…

It’s one of the most valuable documents on my computer. — I am the National Director of Research for one of the largest physical therapy practices in the united states. Here are my accomplishments in a span of four years in the role: 21 rejections as the lead author of a research study 26 conference session rejections 3 elections lost (running…

You will get more value if you limit your focus. — Who doesn’t love the idea of an extra $1000 dollars a month from a side hustle? What’s another strategy to gain $1000 dollars a month? A promotion. I bring this up because side hustles are all the rage. The pandemic has increased their allure. …

The most thought-provoking question a professor has asked me. — “Whose am I?” This was the primary question provided me prior to speaking to a group of graduate students at Kennesaw State University. Every year, Dr. Calloway, the professor of the leadership course, invited local leaders to share their stories for the benefit of the students. …

Don’t sacrifice your health and family chasing the survivors — Was 2020 the best time to start a side hustle? I have read the arguments for both sides and internally wrestled with the question for several months. Here is my conclusion: it depends. Profound? Hardly. But absolutes are dangerous. …