“Find your True North.” What does this mean? I “googled” the definition and according to dictionary.com the definition for finding your true north is: get on the right course, proceed in the right direction. Of course, the phrase “find your True North” is actually an idiom and yes, the definition I provided is the correct definition for that idiom. The “true” definition for “true north” is thus: (noun) north according to the earth’s axis, not magnetic north.
I was reading through the October 2015 issue of the PT in Motion magazine I receive for being a member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), and found a section that was an interview of the new APTA President. Within that interview article, the president, talks about the APTA vision, and physical therapy’s “True North” among other topics. When asked to define physical therapy’s “True North”, she states, “Our True North, and it’s true about everyone who chooses to be a PT or PTA, is our fascination with the human body and how it works, combined with the strong desire to help people.”
Many people have asked and still ask me, “What got you into physical therapy? Why did you choose physical therapy? Why are you in physical therapy? What made you choose physical therapy?” I often hesitate to answer because I don’t know where they are going with that question. Are they really just curious? or are they going to try to give me their opinion on why I should or should not be in this field? Honestly, they are just curious. They want to know why you have chosen this path. After all, most of the people that ask the questions usually end up being your patients and they are just curious as to why you chose this field. They want to be assured that they are in ‘good hands’, that they are cared for and that their best interests are at the heart of the situation.
I couldn’t always find the right words to describe why I chose physical therapy as a career choice, but I chose physical therapy, to be a PTA, because, it is true, I am fascinated with the human body and how it works along with a strong desire to help people. Looking back over my life, I have always had a strong desire to help people in whatever way I can. I also remember having this curiosity about the human body and how it worked. The curiosity was not fully explored until college when I had specific courses that talked about the human body and how it worked. Even still, after all those courses, and having a greater knowledge on how the human body works, I still have that curiosity to continually learn how the body works and how to use that knowledge to helping people.
I have chosen physical therapy because I believe I have found my “True North-the insatiable curiosity about the human body, how it moves, what makes it work, and how I can channel it into the 1-on-1 personal interactions I have with my patients.”
Griz 