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What happens when burnout becomes a turning point instead of an exit?
In this episode of Acute Conversations, Abby Catamas joins co-host Nicole Neveau and host Leo Arguelles for a candid and energizing conversation about identity, advocacy, and growth as a physical therapist assistant in acute care.
Abby shares the pivotal moment when she nearly stepped away from the profession—and how stepping into leadership as PTA Member at Large helped her rediscover purpose. Together, they unpack what it means to practice at the top of your license, the evolving role of PTAs in high-acuity environments like the ICU, and why representation and voice matter now more than ever.
This episode also dives into the Advanced Proficiency Pathway for PTAs, highlighting opportunities for clinical growth, recognition, and long-term career development. From navigating interprofessional dynamics to building trust within PT/PTA partnerships, Abby offers a grounded perspective shaped by real bedside experience.
If you’ve ever questioned your “why,” this conversation is a reminder that it can evolve—and that growth often starts with using your voice.
Today’s Guests:
Abby Catamas, PTA
APTA Acute Care PTA Member At Large
johnsonabby96@gmail.com
IG: @rose17abby
Guest Quotes:
6:55 “ I think my best advice is just. You don’t have to give up your initial why, but maybe try to find a different why. It’s part of growth. It’s part of developing in your career too.”
25:46 “ Archana and I presented on APTA conference actually about like improving PT-PTA collaboration for like bi-directional mentorship and Partnership for improved patient outcomes. It all comes down to communication too. If I never communicate with my PT about what’s going on or questions I may have, how is my supervising PT on that floor? Going to feel comfortable that I’m doing an adequate chart review or that I know what I’m doing with my patient if I never update them with how a patient’s doing.”
30:32 “ She’s even though we supervise the PTAs, we are not like, you’re not above or below anybody. We’re supposed to work together. And that is the truest that is the truest statement I’ve heard as far as our profession is concerned, especially in acute care.”
Rapid Responses:
Give us another podcast that you would recommend for our listeners to listen to.
“Morning Cup of Murder: It’s this day in history of what happened in the past of like different unsolved mysteries.”
Breakthrough Insights Live at CSM: Inspiring Growth in Acute Care
Season 4 · Episode 4
Wednesday, April 1, 2026 • Duration 40:10
Show Notes
What does acute care physical therapy look like when you step outside your hospital and into a national conversation?
In this special solo-hosted episode, Dr. Leo Arguelles takes listeners on the floor at APTA’s Combined Sections Meeting (CSM), capturing real-time conversations with clinicians, leaders, and innovators across the profession. Through a series of candid, unscripted exchanges, this episode highlights the energy, ideas, and evolving perspectives shaping acute care today.
From discussions on professional identity and clinical growth to reflections on where acute care fits within the broader rehabilitation landscape, a common thread emerges: connection drives progress. These conversations reveal how clinicians are thinking differently about their roles, advocating for their patients, and pushing practice forward in meaningful ways.
Rather than focusing on a single topic, this episode offers a mosaic of insights—each voice adding depth to the bigger picture of acute care practice in 2026.
Whether you attended CSM or not, this episode brings the experience to you—capturing the momentum, curiosity, and shared purpose that define our profession.
Unlock Your Passion For Change With New Co-Host Danny Young
Season 3 · Episode 12
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 • Duration 43:14
Show Notes
What inspires someone to change the course of their career — and, ultimately, their profession? In this episode of Acute Conversations, we introduce our newest co-host, Dr. Daniel (Danny) Young, PT, DPT, PhD. Danny shares the moment a chance encounter sparked his passion for physical therapy, his early experiences pioneering ICU mobility at Creighton, and his transition into academia at UNLV.
Alongside host Dr. Leo Arguelles, Danny reflects on the role of mentorship, the challenge of building confidence in new clinicians, and why generating stronger evidence is essential for advancing acute care practice. From personal stories to research insights, Danny brings both candor and vision to his new role on the podcast team.
11:28: “…the lack of confidence is a reflection most often of just some. Some humility that the students have. And so I try to reassure students that it’s a good thing that they feel a little bit hesitant and unsure of themselves. That it’s a recognition of the things that they don’t know. So I, I just first want to acknowledge that not feeling confident is okay. Yeah. And is actually something that’s probably reflects some good attributes.”
15:40: “ One of the things that fairly quickly started to really bother me was the debates that I would have with nurses or physicians… I’ve received such opposition for so many patients about early intervention. That I, I went and did a literature search, you know, because I didn’t get any training in school about early intervention. Like I said, it wasn’t a common part of practice then. Right. And. So I do a literature search and I find nothing, there was no evidence. Now there was evidence that bedrest was bad, right? Right. So we had evidence that staying in bed was a problem. What we didn’t have was evidence that it was safe or helpful to start mobilizing those people earlier. And most of the physicians and nurses at that time just assumed that there’s no way around the negative effects of bedrest for these people who are really sick. There’s no evidence to inform these decisions that I have to make every day. And that’s gotta change. And. Why am I not the person to try and answer those questions?”
Ethel Frese On Acute Care: Pearls That Will Energize Your Practice and Growth
Season 3 · Episode 11
Wednesday, August 13, 2025 • Duration 51:03
Show Notes
Ethel Frese, PT, DPT, MHS, CCS, FAPTA is one of the most respected voices in acute and cardiopulmonary physical therapy. In this episode, she shares the pearls that will energize your practice and growth—from building stronger patient connections to fostering collaboration with the healthcare team. Whether you’re new to acute care or a seasoned clinician, her insights will challenge, inspire, and remind you why this work matters.
Today’s Guests:
Ethel Frese, PT, DPT, MHS, CCS, FAPTA
Professor Emeritus Saint Louis University, Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Certified Clinical Specialist
ethel.frese@health.slu.edu
Guest Quotes:
17:46 “ the therapist who took my place in Chattanooga… she’s always told students and people that I’ve worked with that one of the best gifts to me as a teacher is to have someone you’ve taught do better than the teacher. And I have a lot of really good gifts that way. Lots of people I’ve seen have gone way beyond their teacher and, and that’s huge to me.”
28:54 “ I think that’s a value of teaching. You have to go back and think, now, why do I do it that way?”
Rapid Responses:
Name one therapist that has been influential in your career.
“Oh, that’s an easy one. Her name is Mary Chrisman. She was the therapist that I went to at the hospital when the other therapist would not answer my questions. And she’s a friend even to today…
You know you work in acute care when…
“When you can manage. I’m gonna say acute illness, but you know, ill patients who need specialist, very specialized care. And that you can manage the, the really sick patients and the not so sick. Yeah. And you know, you’re good at vital signs and ECG and ventilators and all the machinery that you see in acute care. Yeah. So, I guess that’s my answer.”
Oncologic Acute Care: Informative Care That Will Keep Them Strong
Season 3 · Episode 10
Wednesday, July 23, 2025 • Duration 36:39
Show Notes
What does it mean to practice “informative care” in the hospital setting—and how can rehab providers help patients undergoing cancer treatment stay strong throughout their hospitalization?
In this episode, we speak with Galen Schram, PT, DPT, a board-certified clinical specialist in oncologic physical therapy and faculty member of the Acute Care PT Residency Program at NYU Langone Health. Galen shares his journey into acute care, his passion for serving hematology/oncology patients, and how he leverages interdisciplinary collaboration to support patients across phases of survivorship—including during hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT).
We also touch on his background in narrative medicine, and how storytelling can enhance connection and meaning in clinical work.
🔗 Learn more about the July 30th APTA Acute Care webinar Galen is co-leading with OT colleague Emma Kiernan, hosted by the Practice Committee:
12:58 “ But it’s still worthwhile for us to, to go in and do an assessment, provide some much needed education. I have all staff that work on the oncology population screen. Every single patient for CIPN ( Chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy) . This is often like something that can go under diagnosed. And, and just provide education about what maybe to expect….When a patient’s admitted to the hospital education is one of our most important interventions, for sure.”
20:30 “ …One example is I attend interdisciplinary rounds every Tuesday. So I hear from the nurse practitioners medically how the patients are doing. Based on my own chart reviews and hearing the nurse practitioners and the bedside nurses describe how the patients have been lately, I make a decision about which of my patients are candidates to go to my gym class.
How Mentorship Fuels Confidence and Growth in Acute Care
Season 3 · Episode 9
Wednesday, July 2, 2025 • Duration 33:28
Show Notes
What happens when acute care PTs create space to support, challenge, and elevate each other?
In this episode, hosts Nicole Neveau and Leo Arguelles speak with Tricia Healy, PT, DPT and Kim Levenhagen, PT, DPT about the Aspire & Achieve mentorship program—its origins, its impact, and the intentional matchmaking that has helped over 65 mentor-mentee pairs grow together.
They explore lessons learned from the first two cohorts, what makes mentorship meaningful, and how the program is evolving to support students, new grads, and seasoned clinicians alike.
🔍 Topics include:
The story behind the program’s creation
How mentor-mentee matches are made
Feedback from the first two cohorts
Success stories and future goals
The difference between mentorship, coaching, and clinical education
Practice Committee Member, Critical Edge Email Coordinator
Coordinator, Aspire and Achieve Mentor Program
📧 triciahealy@townisp.com
Kim Levenhagen, PT, DPT
Chair, Membership Committee
📧 kim.levenhagen@health.slu.edu
Guest Quotes:
6:11 Tricia “ survey data has been pretty consistent and people with or have been highly satisfied with the program…big part of it is the mentee’s commitment. The mentee really has to have goals to drive the relationship, and we stress that it’s mentee led, so the mentee leads the meetings, has the goals. So when that happens, when there’s. Good communication and a really motivated mentee and a mentor who’s willing to guide. It’s been really a really successful relationship for the pair.”
Powerful Lessons From a First Acute Care Rotation
Season 3 · Episode 8
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 • Duration 38:49
Show Notes 2025
What do you really learn in acute care—and what does it feel like to use what you’ve learned in the classroom?
In this episode, we speak with Mika Mendoza, a recent UIC DPT graduate, who reflects on the clinical rotation that changed her perspective on physical therapy. From managing a complex discharge for a newly blind patient to navigating transplant floors and collaborating with interprofessional teams, Mika shares powerful insights on growth, uncertainty, and finding purpose in acute care.
This episode also marks the debut of our new co-host, Dr. Nicole Neveau, PT, DPT, who brings her experience as a CI and clinical leader into the conversation. Together, she and Leo explore mentorship, first-hand learning, and why exposure to acute care should be standard in DPT education.
Whether you’re a student, educator, or practicing clinician—this conversation will resonate.
Guest Quotes:
8:21 “ Interdisciplinary collaboration is, is key to acute care. It’s not just walking and it’s not just standing.”
19:33 “ …not all things were as straightforward as we had learned it in didactic.”
28:45 “ I feel like having students go into an acute care clinical rotation I think it’s just so important because you will never know. If you don’t try it, right? …Uou miss a hundred percent of the shots that you don’t take.
And I think it’s the same with acute care, especially because there are so many things that get debunked when you’re in an acute care clinical rotation.”
Rapid Responses:
What kind of shoes do you wear in acute care?
“Not White Ones”
You know you work in acute care when…
“ When you try to swipe your badge to get into your house”
Links:
https://www.aptaacutecare.org/page/2026Elections
What They Don’t Tell You About Acute Care: Honest Stories from Two DPT Students (and Our New Co-Host!)
Season 3 · Episode 7
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 • Duration 35:37
Show Notes:
🎙 Episode Description:
What’s it really like stepping into acute care as a DPT student? In this episode, we hear honest, eye-opening reflections from Fiona Kearns and Hannah Brandt, two near-graduates from UIC who just wrapped up a transformational clinical rotation. They share what surprised them, challenged them, and ultimately shaped their career paths.
PLUS—meet our new co-host, Dr. Danny Young! He brings his academic and clinical lens to the conversation, unpacking burnout, mentorship, and the deeper meaning behind acute care practice.
👂 Listen in for: • First impressions from a high-acuity hospital rotation • Navigating burnout (as students and clinicians) • Why acute care needs more visibility—and more students • Danny’s debut on the mic 🎤
Today’s Guests:
Hannah Brandt, SPT
hannah24brandt@gmail.com
Fiona Kerns, SPT
fkkearns2000@gmail.com
Guest Quotes:
On early exposure to Acute Care through Integrated Clinical Experiences (ICE):
Hannah 9:44 “ So definitely I think it’s very good we get early exposure to it. Especially ’cause I, for me, at least when I was applying to PT schools, was during covid. So a lot of shadowing hours in hospitals was not available just because of Covid experiences. So like while I would’ve liked to have experience before coming into PT school in that setting, I didn’t get any. So while I was like eager and excited to see it, it does come with a lot of nerves.”
Fiona 11:46 “ …And then my second ice visit experience. My patient had three seizures while we were in the room with him, and obviously like that can happen in the acute care setting. It’s not out of the question, but that was just kind of like a big like welcome to acute care for sure. Like this is, this is what it’s like to be here. So definitely like high paced, A lot of like adrenaline from those experiences, but definitely learned a lot and I really enjoyed them so.”
Tips For Making Mentoring Successful: Taking The Active Route
Season 3 · Episode 6
Wednesday, May 14, 2025 • Duration 41:58
Show Notes
Today’s Guests:
Jamie Dyson PT, DPT
jamiedyson224@gmail.com
Constanza Aranda PT, DPT, MSPH
carandadpt@gmail.com
Guest Quotes:
3:34 Connie “ And that was when I said, wow, like, it would be so cool one day to be able to present in a such a big stage like CSM. And Jamie being the mentor that he is, he said, noted a little mental note and he said, I think we have just written our first goal as mentor mentee.”
7:07 Jamie “ It’s easier to be a mentor when your mentee takes an active role. Yeah. In, in the relationship. Too many mentees try to take a passive route.”
21:35 Jamie “ If you try to be too prescriptive as a mentor, I think that kind of turns the mentees off. If I had told Connie exactly what she needs to do every single day, she probably would’ve said, all right, enough of this guy, I’m outta here.”
Rapid Responses:
Before you walk into a patient’s room, what would be your theme song as you walk into that patient’s room?
What happens when physical therapy enters the high-risk pregnancy unit? Erin Locati, PT, DPT, joins us to break down how acute care therapists can make a meaningful impact on maternal health—far beyond what most expect.
In this episode, Erin shares her unique path from chemical engineering to acute care PT, and how her own pregnancies shaped her clinical mission. We explore the misconceptions around bedrest, how to support OB teams without overstepping, and why physical therapy should be standard in high-risk pregnancy and postpartum care.
Whether you’re a hospital-based PT, student, or someone curious about expanding care for pregnant patients—this episode will challenge assumptions and spark ideas.
9:11 “ …So I really felt alone navigating. Kind of my postpartum recovery and my injuries and return to activity and exercise. And then during my second pregnancy, I was diagnosed with a couple serious complications. And again, I just really felt alone and frustrated and not really knowing, well, what does it say for me to do? I don’t wanna accidentally hurt my baby by doing too much, and my doctor wasn’t super helpful about it. I knew that pelvic physical therapy was a specialty that existed. Where PTs work with pregnant and postpartum patients, but it was really more of an outpatient specialty as far as I knew.
And I was in acute care and I wanted to stay in acute care. Yeah. So I thought about, well, how can I help these populations where I am?
I mean, all these patients are here in the hospital. Almost everybody gives birth in a hospital in the US. So maybe there’s a way that I can provide skilled care in the setting I’m already in to pregnant and postpartum patients, and that’s really where it started.”
35:26: “ I think we’ve got to have better evidence and I’m. I’m committed to trying to help to create it.”
Rapid Responses:
What’s your most favorite way to exercise, Danny?
“ I commute by bike. I spend between two and two and a half hours every day riding a bike to and from the campus here.And I love mountain biking as well. So commuting is, is how I get most of my fitness. But I, every time I can get out on the dirt trails, I do that too.”
You know you work in acute care when…
You wear different clothes home than you wore when you went in. You have to change during the day.
So every Tuesday we host a gym class for patients who are medically appropriate and have the approval from their medical providers. So based on. My input from the nurse practitioners, that’s how I help decide which patients will make the best can candidates for that gym class, who will have the most success, who’s getting close enough to discharge that I really wanna optimize their strength for a home discharge.”
26:19 “ I always say like, I’m a human before, I’m a physical therapist. And I think my writing is one way that I’m able to reflect both of those things.”
Rapid Responses:
If you had a theme song before you walk into a patient’s room, what song would that be?
“The opening theme song to the show, the Mindy Project, which was a great show. I just love that song. So that would be it. It’s very upbeat and whimsical.”
You know you work in acute care when…
“ You are unfazed by. Am I allowed to curse by? By shit.”
10:22 Kim “ I think that’s something that we need to continue to hone in on to find out what is the best way to match people. But there is a lot of intentionality, Tricia and I, it’s like a dating game almost.
Like we’ve got our Excel spreadsheets out, we’re matching people… and so what happens is, and we put a lot of thought into it, it’s not just random.”
Rapid Responses:
If you did not work in healthcare, what would your career be?
Kim: “Bartender”
Before you walk into a patient’s room, what would be your theme song?
Tricia “Don’t Stop Believing”
You know you work in acute care when…
Kim: “ When you correct a physician’s office about how they take vital signs”
Tricia: “ I have to go with you, keep a separate pair of shoes at work, that that doesn’t come home with you. That would be my danzko clogs”
Connect with our host and the podcast!
Leo Arguelles (LEE-O R-GWELL-IS)
largue2@uic.edu
Twitter @LeoArguellesPT
Nicole Neveau
ngunder1@gmail.com
LinkedIn
Danny Young
daniel.young@unlv.edu
X – @DLYoungDPTPhD
Bluesky – @dlyoungdptphd.bsky.social
Interested in being a future guest?
Danny 28:42 “ One of my favorite quotes comes from Viktor Frankl’s book man’s Search for Meaning. And he says he who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. And I think one of the problems that we have is. That we aren’t finding enough meaning in what we’re doing. We think what we need is ease and happiness in our jobs. And instead I think what we need is to recognize how meaningful what we’re doing is. And if we focus on the meaning in what’s happening, I think it will combat a lot of the burnout that we see.”
Rapid Responses:
Name a PT that’s been influential in your PT career so far.
Fiona: “Sarah and Julia are cis from this past clinical, for sure.”
Hannah: “ Dr. Jones, our neuro professor in our program.”
You know you work in acute care when…
Hannah: “ I would say when you’re reorienting your patient, but you don’t even know what day it is.”
Fiona: “ I say your friends stop letting you talk about your day during dinner, right?
25:52 “ It’s looking at their restrictions and deciding, you know, with your skilled assessment, what level of exercise could they probably be doing within the restrictions they have. And again, going up to the max that it restriction allows them.
So that they can minimize the losses they’re gonna have from being on bedrest.”
Rapid Responses:
Do you have any good book recommendations?
“… My favorite book, love In the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.”
You know you work in acute care when…
” You can treat everything. You go from a cabbage to a knee replacement, to a stroke, to a pregnant patient.”
