President's Note

Going Far, Together

As we turn another calendar page to August, I hope that you have found ways this summer to rest and relax. Even being decades out from my school days, I have always enjoyed the longer days of summer. With vacations over, we are ready to approach our work lives with renewed vigor. Perhaps you will even begin new projects or create innovative collaborations.

In last month's President's Note, I shared ways in which APTA builds connections and community: through APTA Leadership Congress, chapters, sections and academies, and special interest groups. I'm very excited to announce that we have also recently launched a new way our members can connect with each other virtually: the APTA Community.

The APTA Community, formerly known as the APTA Hub, has a more modern user interface, which is designed to enhance your ability to connect and collaborate with other APTA members. Access to the APTA Community works seamlessly with your APTA membership login credentials. If you haven't yet checked out the new APTA Community, I invite you to do so at communities.apta.org. I look forward to welcoming you there.

In this issue of APTA Magazine, we are celebrating the unique ways in which our members collaborate. In "Health and the Environment: The Role of PTs and PTAs," Christine Scalora, an APTA staff writer and editor, tells the story of two APTA members who established the Environmental PT Catalyst Group within APTA Leadership & Innovation. These two PTs separately approached the section to create a group focused on environmental issues but worked collaboratively to launch it.

"Career Paths in Physical Therapy" highlights various nonclinical roles that PTs may enter into. APTA Magazine Editor Leah Kerkman Fogarty connected with a consultant, an educator, a researcher, an administrator, and an entrepreneur about how their skills as physical therapists transferred over to jobs outside of the clinic walls. Read more about how these PTs forged interprofessional collaborations, including training and mentoring, to establish their career paths.

And, of course, we cannot overlook the collaborations that happen through our professional journal, PTJ: Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Journal. In "Addressing Health Disparities in Physical Therapy Care," writer Jackie Conciatore takes a look at some of the research and perspectives that will be featured in two upcoming special issues of PTJ. One of the themes of these studies shows the need for collaboration in order to address health disparities — through advocacy, community partnerships, and pro bono clinics, among other initiatives.

Perhaps these stories will be the impetus you need to begin a new collaboration of your own. If so, I urge you to find other like-minded individuals within our community, either online or in person. After all, the proverb tells us, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

I look forward to going far with you, together.

Roger Herr, PT, MPA