STEM Certificate Series: Kali Leibrand

This past summer, I interned with Dr. Ben Heafner, a physical therapist at Rehab to Reform (R2R) in Tysons Corner, Virginia. During my internship, I learned how to interact with patients and explored how to develop exercises for different injuries. 

Dr. Ben Heafner became a physical therapist because he grew up playing baseball and dealt with many rotator cuff injuries throughout his baseball career at Sam Houston University and the University of Buffalo. In May 2021, he graduated from the University of Buffalo with his Doctorate in Physical therapy. Through this experience of graduating from PT school, he gained a wealth of clinical knowledge, but most importantly, he gained a broadened perspective on life and a clearer understanding of himself. 

Being both one of Ben’s patients through several years of my injuries and having the opportunity to be on the ‘inside’ was such a surreal experience. I always wondered how he constantly thought of new exercises to challenge me. “It is like a puzzle,” said Heafner. “Some patients do well with certain exercises, and others do not. I enjoy trying to figure out which piece fits with each patient.” 

Dr. Heafner also enjoys building connections with the patients. Most patients come in twice a week, so you get to spend 2 hours with them. Many of his patients had rotator cuffs and upper extremity injuries and since Dr. Heafner played baseball his whole life, he was able to uniquely understand them and connect with those patients. I, too, enjoyed building connections with Dr. Heafner’s patients, but because I have not had upper body injuries, I enjoyed learning about something I am not that familiar with.

This opportunity and experience is something that I carry with me every day in connecting and empathizing with people and technical knowledge. Not only is this area of work interesting to me but it is something I am very familiar with due to my injury history.

It was such a pleasure working with Dr. Ben Heafner!