AAOMPT Fellow and educator Laura Wenger joins us to explore the future of membership, community, and belonging within orthopaedic manual physical therapy.

Laura teaches foundational clinical reasoning at the University of Utah’s hybrid DPT pathway, treats patients weekly in a rural outpatient ortho practice, and serves as Co-Chair of AAOMPT’s Inclusive Membership & Engagement Committee (IMEC). Her work sits at the intersection of education, patient care, and organizational leadership.

In this episode, Laura shares what IMEC is working on, how AAOMPT can better serve clinicians across training levels, and why belonging and representation matter for the future of the profession.

In this episode, we cover:

???? Who AAOMPT members actually are — and who we want to reach

???? The biggest opportunities for member engagement year-round

???? How AAOMPT supports professional + personal growth

???? The value of SIGs, committees, and leadership pathways

???? Fellowship pathways & mentorship: where they shine

???? Why DEI work is essential for OMPT’s long-term health

???? How Laura teaches clinical reasoning to a new generation of DPT students

???? Practicing in rural settings + hybrid education insights

This one is essential listening for current AAOMPT members — and anyone curious about joining.

The worst pain is unexplained pain. In this episode of the Hands-On, Hands-Off Podcast, physical therapists Amy McDevitt and Paul Mintkin explore why pain without a clear diagnosis is often the most distressing—and how physical therapists can communicate pain more effectively when imaging, MRI findings, and pathoanatomy don’t provide clear answers.

This conversation dives deep into pain science, musculoskeletal pain, low back pain, and the limitations of medical imaging in explaining symptoms. We discuss how over-reliance on MRI results can increase fear, catastrophizing, and confusion for patients—and how language, context, and functional diagnosis can dramatically change outcomes.

Learn how to reframe pain using the ICF model, why pain does not equal tissue damage, and how PTs can shift from chasing a pain generator to treating the whole person. The episode includes a real-time patient role-play, practical communication strategies, and insights on direct access physical therapy, lifestyle factors (sleep, stress, activity), and the future of PT education.

This episode is essential listening for physical therapists, manual therapists, rehab professionals, and students looking to improve patient communication, reduce fear, and deliver truly person-centered care.

Damian Keter joins the show to unpack manual therapy treatment mechanisms and how our profession needs to evolve its education around MT.

Damian is a clinician specializing in complex pain at the VA and a clinical researcher whose work centers on MT mechanisms and manual therapy training paradigms. If you’ve ever wondered what actually happens when we deliver manual therapy — and how to teach it more effectively — this episode delivers clarity.

• Manual therapy mechanism research

• Contextual effects and clinical reasoning

• How MT education needs to evolve

• Helping clinicians move beyond outdated models

• The future of manual therapy in PT

Mark Shepherd joins the podcast to discuss person-centered clinical reasoning, lifestyle medicine, and how to improve the way PTs make sense of pain.

Mark is Program Director of the Bellin College OMPT Fellowship, a DPT faculty member, and a clinician who blends manual therapy, patient values, and lifestyle-based interventions to build clearer clinical hypotheses. His recent publication introduces an updated reasoning model: the person-centered hypothesis, which emphasizes individualized sense-making over rigid diagnostic categories.

• What “person-centered hypothesis” means in practice

• How lifestyle medicine empowers rather than dilutes OMPT care

• Improving reasoning in complex pain cases

• Why clinicians should anchor decisions in patient values

• Mark’s journey through education, teaching, and fellowship leadership

A must-listen for clinicians and educators who want a more modern, human approach to reasoning.

What role does IFOMPT play in global manual and musculoskeletal physiotherapy?

In this episode of the Hands-On, Hands-Off Podcast, leaders from AAOMPT sit down with IFOMPT President Dr. Paolo Sanzo to discuss international education standards, evidence-informed practice, and global collaboration. The conversation explores how IFOMPT supports clinicians, educators, and researchers worldwide—and why global consistency ultimately improves patient care.

00:00 – Introduction to the AAOMPT–IFOMPT collaborative series

01:29 – Introducing Dr. Paolo Sanzo and IFOMT leadership

03:19 – What IFOMPT is and its role within World Physiotherapy

04:12 – Paolo’s journey through IFOMPT leadership roles

05:21 – IFOMPT’s growth since 1974

07:11 – IFOMPT’s vision and mission explained

09:47 – Education standards and member organization requirements

12:10 – International monitoring and maintaining consistency

17:49 – Evidence-based practice and global context

20:16 – IFOMPT as a research and collaboration conduit

23:14 – Challenges and opportunities of global collaboration

26:18 – Working with international organizations and regions

30:35 – Strategic priorities and future direction

32:46 – Advice for clinicians pursuing excellence

34:02 – Final reflections and closing remarks

Professor Roger Kerry joins the podcast to unpack one of the most debated topics in musculoskeletal care: the risks and benefits of manual therapy for people with head and neck pain.

Roger is the lead for the physiotherapy program at the University of Nottingham, an interprofessional curriculum designer, researcher, PhD supervisor, and author of the new textbook The Head & Neck: Theory & Practice. His AAOMPT keynote focuses on cutting through decades of misinformation and helping clinicians understand what the evidence actually says.

• Cervical manual therapy: what’s risky, what’s not, and what’s misunderstood

• Why head & neck pain is still surrounded by outdated ideas

• The problem with the way we teach manual therapy

• How educators can break restrictive traditions

• What emerging PhD work is revealing about the future of physical therapy

• Roger’s personal journey from failed rehab patient → world-class academic

This episode is essential listening for anyone who treats neck pain or teaches manual therapy.

In this episode of the Hands-On, Hands-Off Podcast, Dr. Trenton Rehman sits down with Dr. Shane McClinton to discuss plantar heel pain and the role of physical therapy in both clinical outcomes and healthcare costs.

Dr. McClinton walks through a series of studies stemming from his doctoral research, including a randomized clinical trial, a detailed case series, and a three-year cost-effectiveness analysis. Together, they explore how adding physical therapy to usual podiatry care impacts pain, function, quality of life, and long-term costs.

Key themes include manual therapy, impairment-based exercise, proximal contributions to heel pain, interdisciplinary collaboration, and why plantar heel pain may deserve the same clinical mindset as low back pain.

Key Takeaways (Listener-Facing)

Plantar heel pain is a multidimensional condition with local and proximal contributors.

Adding physical therapy to usual podiatry care improved outcomes and reduced costs over three years.

Manual therapy and exercise were delivered pragmatically and tailored to impairments.

Strengthening may be underutilized in plantar heel pain management.

Collaboration between physical therapists and podiatrists benefits patients and reduces downstream burden.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPED CHAPTERS (YouTube + Podcast)

00:00 – Introduction to the episode and guest

00:01 – Dr. Shane McClinton’s background and research focus

00:03 – Why plantar heel pain referrals to PT are low

00:07 – Rationale for studying cost-effectiveness

00:10 – Study design overview (RCT + pragmatic approach)

00:15 – Description of podiatry-only vs podiatry + PT care

00:17 – Inclusion and exclusion criteria

00:22 – Case series: why eight different heel pain presentations

00:26 – Manual therapy strategies used in the study

00:30 – Clinical practice guidelines and decision-making

00:32 – Pain mechanisms, education, and chronicity

00:35 – Proximal vs local treatment decisions

00:38 – Three-year cost-effectiveness results explained

00:44 – Implications for referrals and collaboration

00:48 – Final take-home message from Dr. McClinton

Andreas Remis joins the podcast to unpack low back pain in a way that finally makes sense — bridging APTA CPG classifications, real-world clinical diagnosis, and the confusing world of radiographic findings.

As faculty across multiple fellowships and residencies within the Duke Health System — and an educator shaped by his own poor rehab experience as a patient — Andreas brings a thoughtful, grounded approach to one of PT’s most complex conditions.

• LBP classification: CPG vs imaging vs clinical reasoning

• How expert clinicians simplify diagnosis

• Why radiographs often mislead clinicians and patients

• The turning point when PTs begin to feel “value-confident”

• Teaching LBP across OMPT pipelines

• Lessons Andreas learned from being a failed patient

It’s a must-listen episode for clinicians, residents, and fellows treating low back pain.