Relationships Old and New

By Stacy M. Menz, PT, DPT, PCS

One of my favorite things about November is the Private Practice Section (PPS) Annual Conference. I still can vividly remember the first PPS conference I attended. It felt a bit like drinking from a firehose. Before I arrived, I did not know what I did not know (and it was a lot). I showed up at the conference not knowing a single person and by the time I left I felt like I not only had amassed an inordinate amount of new information, but that I had also developed an amazing network of people that I could call on with questions and collaborate with for future initiatives.

It is that network of colleagues, old and new, that keeps me coming back each year. While I continue to enjoy and benefit from the programming, luckily, I no longer feel like I am being bombarded with all new information. I usually find that I have a question or two that I am working on in my practice, and it is with that frame of reference that I listen to the sessions and engage in dialogue with colleagues. I have yet to leave an annual conference without feeling like I have gained a crucial piece of information and/or created a new relationship.

As we look to our annual conference and a time to gather as a PPS community, we would like to honor one of our members we have recently lost, Margot Miller. There will be an absence this year without her presence and smile. Please take a moment to honor Margot and read the words that her long-time colleagues Angela Wilson Pennisi and Laurie Johnson wrote in her honor.