Jarrod Russ was seven years old when he was first introduced to physical therapy. His mother, a praise dancer at their local church, was injured during rehearsal. “She was walking backward on the stage, not paying attention, and she fell off the stage,” Russ said. “She tore her patellar tendon.”
Raised by a single mother, Russ tagged along as she attended her physical therapy appointments. “I remember going with her and not knowing what was happening, and the only thing I knew was that she would do better at home every time we left physical therapy.” While she can no longer praise dance, his mother fully recovered from her injury.
Russ experienced his fair share of injuries and treatment as a college football player, which also led him to consider a career as a physical therapist. The Columbia, S.C., native was applying to schools when he received a brochure from College of Saint Mary, “Because I’m from South Carolina, I didn’t recognize the name,” he said and set the brochure aside.
A week later, he picked it up again. “I looked at it, and it was something for PT school, and I saw there was an online information session coming up.” But Russ was hesitant. Did he want to move as far away as Omaha? “I told myself I could just go to the session and learn about the program a little bit. And I did,” he said. “That’s when I found out it was a hybrid-style program.” CSM’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program offers a blended-learning and competency-based model with core faculty certified in online instruction. This model allows students to study from the comfort of their own homes while attending six one week on-campus program sessions throughout the year.
Learning online was an adjustment for Russ, who finished his undergraduate degree online following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But he quickly acclimated to the program. “It was an adjustment I had to make, but I feel like I have a good support system, especially at home,” he said. “My mom converted one of our rooms to an office where I could do most of my work. I feel like it’s been a good adjustment.”
Russ also enjoys the on-campus program sessions, which allow him to build on the skills he has learned. “It’s a good experience. It’s intense, but it’s something we all look forward to,” he said. “We practice our skills at home, but it’s not as refined as our professors want it to be. And so, when we get to campus and have the hands-on instruction from the professors and refine our skills, it’s sort of like that lightbulb goes off in our head.”
The on-campus sessions have also allowed Russ to meet his classmates in person. “We’ve built a relationship online, but it’s nothing like coming to see everyone,” he said. “That face-to-face interaction -, you can’t match that online through group messages or Zoom. I love it.”
In their downtime, the students try to have some fun, too. Many sessions are held at the university’s new Lied Fitness Center Fieldhouse. “Sometimes, on our breaks, we shoot a little basketball. And sometimes our professors play music. We’ll sing along with the music and dance!” he said.
Russ appreciates the effort his professors make to ensure their students succeed. “They have an open-door policy. They want us to come during their office hours and ask questions.”
While Russ is scheduled to graduate in December 2023, he is still deciding what he would like to do after earning his degree. “I am thinking about becoming a traveling PT. I would be able to see different parts of the country and also be able to work in underserved areas of the country. Or I might want to stick to a regular outpatient clinic and start my career there.”
