Strength in Knowledge is a performance-driven podcast for physical therapists, coaches, and athletes who refuse to separate rehab from performance.
Hosted by Dr. John Allan Furgeson, DPT, a performance physical therapist at Rehab 2 Perform, each episode delivers evidence-based conversations on sports rehabilitation, return to sport, and the clinical frameworks that bridge the gap between the training room and the treatment table.
Permission to Be a Student: 10 Tips for Student Physical Therapists
Nobody walks into their first clinical knowing everything. The students who grow fastest are the ones who stop acting like they should.
Dr. Sydney Williams joins us to break down the 10 tips she wishes she’d heard as a student. A sports certified, residency trained PT, Sydney started at Rehab 2 Perform as a tech and now leads student education across the company as Director of Student Experience.
What we cover:
You’re allowed to be a student. Knowledge gaps aren’t the problem. Hiding them is. How CIs build psychological safety so students keep asking questions.
Clinicals don't always have to be an audition. Confidence is built through reps and feedback, not brought in on day one. Your CI evaluates professional behavior, not personality.
Knowing the what vs. knowing the why. Two post-op ACL patients, same quad weakness, different plans. How to ask questions that show your reasoning instead of asking for the answer.
You don’t need your career figured out. Why exploring settings beats locking in early, and why your behind-the-scenes uncertainty shouldn’t be measured against someone else’s highlight reel.
Where to start. Self-reflect, pick one tip, and work on it today.
The goal of PT school isn’t to graduate as the perfect physical therapist. It’s to graduate ready to keep becoming one.
Social Media:
Rehab2Perform (https://www.instagram.com/rehab2perform/)
R2P Academy (https://www.instagram.com/r2pacademy/)
Sydney Williams (https://www.instagram.com/dr.sydwills/)
26 Oct 2026
Movement Patterns Shape Knee Kinetics: Late-Stage ACL Rehab Implications
ACL rehab doesn’t end when your quad strength hits a number. That’s where it starts getting real.
Dr. Kevin McNamara joins us to break down why basic testing criteria are not enough to send an athlete back into a sport that demands braking, cutting, and reacting.
What we cover:
Rethinking ACL rehab. A recent article on curve decelerations and knee kinetics shows that changing movement strategy changes knee loading. Range of motion and quad strength alone won’t prepare an athlete for sport-representative environments.
What late-stage rehab actually needs. Braking capacity, rate of force development, eccentric strength, and exposure to reactive, unpredictable movement.
His late-stage testing battery. Isometric dynamometry for peak torque and rate of torque development, plus isokinetic testing. Drop jumps and countermovement jumps unloaded and loaded at 30% and 60% body mass to catch eccentric deficits. The 505 test to evaluate high-speed braking.
The limits of LSI. It got us away from time-based clearance, but it measures symmetry, not preparedness. Build the full physical profile instead.
Psychological readiness. Trust and confidence are built across the entire rehab process, not screened for at the end. Return to sport means high-risk environments, so the day-to-day process is what prepares them.
If you rehab athletes, this is the standard to build toward.
Social Media:
Rehab2Perform (https://www.instagram.com/rehab2perform/)
R2P Academy (https://www.instagram.com/r2pacademy/)
Dr. Kevin McNamara (https://www.instagram.com/kevin.j.mcnamara/)
Article Referenced (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42269237/)
Galmiche L, Kersting UG, Bill K. Curved decelerations result in greater frontal-plane knee loading than straight-line tasks. Knee. 2026;62:104534. doi:10.1016/j.knee.2026.104534
5 Oct 2026
Skills That Travel: The Ins And Outs Of Travel Physical Therapy
Travel PT is the fastest way to find out what kind of clinician you are. Most new grads jump in blind.
Dr. Payne Harrison explains how to do it right. In this episode, we break down what a travel PT career actually looks like, from contract math to holding your clinical standards in clinics that don't share them.
What we cover:
Staff first or travel first. A year as a staff PT buys you mentorship and a slower caseload ramp. New grads can still make travel work if finances or goals demand it, but the lack of onboarding hits hard.
How to evaluate a contract. Target $2,000+ per week, then factor in housing costs, state income tax, and reimbursements for licensure and moving.
What to ask before you sign. Patient volume, onboarding, documentation systems, and protected documentation time. Compare 401(k) match timelines too, since some agencies match 4% immediately and others make you wait 6 to 12 months.
You are never locked in. Switch agencies between 13-week contracts.
Keeping your standards on the road. Active care, strength and conditioning, and education over modalities and passive treatment. Plus how to adapt from young athletes to older post-op patients, and how to track progress with baseline tests like the 30-second sit-to-stand and plank holds when the clinic has no high-tech equipment.
If you're weighing travel PT or already on the road, this is the playbook.
Social Media:
Rehab2Perform (https://www.instagram.com/rehab2perform/)
R2P Academy (https://www.instagram.com/r2pacademy/)
Dr. Payne Harrison (https://www.instagram.com/oliver__payne/?hl=en)
Who has been a guest on Strength In Knowledge
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Dr Caitlin Rublee
Erika Zemkova
Mohamed Z Ramadan
Sultan N Al-Tayyar
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
20 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
13 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 58 / 100
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