Do you want a Mac or a PC?

This was the simple question I was asked before I started working for RPI. I remember thinking to myself, “What a nice perk.”  I didn’t think much of it and chose a PC (the wrong decision, according to most of my co-workers). 

Yet over the last year, I realized that question wasn’t a nice perk at all. It was something so much more significant.

That question represents a core part of RPI’s culture. We are individuals. We have preferences and want different things from life and our careers.

We are unified in our desire to build healthier and happier communities, our quest for clinical excellence, and our support for each other. Yet we are individuals, and how we accomplish that, looks different from person to person.  

Some want a variety of patients, some want to treat all endurance athletes, some want to see the aging population, and others want to treat specific conditions.

Some want to work long days and have a day off, others want to be able to coach sports, some want to work around their kids' schedule, and others like working the typical 8-5 hours.

Do you want a Mac or a PC was not a question about a computer.  It was an opportunity to choose. It was one of many representations of how RPI supports each of us in who we are as individuals and helps us develop into the best version of ourselves.

I spend a lot of time talking to others about creating the career they want in physical therapy despite some of their work difficulties.  I think we’d have the conversation a lot less if more places treated their PTs like this. There is so much sharing of negativity and discussing the bad companies to work for. I want to hear more about good companies. 

Please share or comment and help other PTs find the great places to work in our field.