Michale Cromartie comes back on the show. The last time he was SPT Mike Cromartie, and now he’s Dr. Michael Cromartie.

He currently practices in Miami, FL at the Bruce Carter Miami VA Medical Center as an orthopedic outpatient physical therapist where he is able to serve our country’s veterans. A strong advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion in the PT profession, he has shared his personal experiences in his blog post “Code Switching” that was published in the PT in Motion magazine, which highlights his experience as the only African American male in his cohort.

Michael Cromartie is a physical therapist at the Bruce Carter Miami VA Medical Center and received his DPT in 2019 from the University of Miami. Michael is also a strong advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the PT profession.

In 2018, Michael won the NEXT scholarship of $1,000 with Aureus Medical Staffing to attend APTA’s NEXT conference in Orlando, FL. Listen to that episode here: https://www.ptpintcast.com/2018/05/02/whos-next-scholarship-winner-spt2-michael-cromartie/

Michael had the opportunity to speak to the DPT classes at the University of Miami about his article “Code Switching” and his experiences as an African American male in Miami’s PT program. Even with the resistance experienced, Michael believed it was important to tell his story. Check it out here: https://www.apta.org/article/2019/01/02/code-switching

He was also involved with APTA XchangeSA chat focusing on DEI and black students in physical therapy. Briana Scott, PT, DPT and Mark Agholor, SPT were also guests on this chat. Listen here: https://www.facebook.com/APTAStudentMembers/videos/251405559647536/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDEyMzMzMTU4NzozNDUyNzgxNTk4MDY5MjUx/?hc_location=ufi

Michael describes his experiences presenting as a new grad to students about the implicit and unconscious biases and its effect on DEI in physical therapy.

QUOTES

42:37 “Take a risk even if I’m not sure. Take a chance especially if there is something positive on the other side.” – MICHAEL

38:15 “I’ve never had to think twice about my tone, backlash, about what it could possibly do to my career… That bothers me that you did.” – JIMMY

35:24 “With unconscious bias, people can perceive certain things about you just based off of one when they see you and two when they hear you speak.” – MICHAEL

30:48 “This guy that I look up to so much is telling me that I inspired him just by using my voice.” – MICHAEL

28:25 “Accept every opportunity that is given to you.” – MICHAEL (for new grads)  

21:17 ”Implicit bias is neither good or bad. It is what you do after that.” – JIMMY

16:35 “As a person, you need to keep growing in life. Take on new challenges and new tasks.” – MICHAEL  

13:30 “Lift as we climb.” – MICHAEL

12:25 “It is good to see the next generation of PTs are so hungry for information.” – MICHAEL

8:52 “When Colin Kaepernick was kneeling, I was someone who was like absolutely that was disrespectful. I said it. I wasn’t paying attention.” – JIMMY

8:11 “Marathon or sprint? You do not want to have 10 sprints. Keep the gas pedal on now.” – JIMMY

7:32 “’I don’t know how this is going to end but I know how it is going to begin’ – The Matrix” – JIMMY

PARTING SHOT

1:36 “Stay committed to your goals.” – MICHAEL

1:10 “It is important right now while people are listening to use our voice because we don’t know what our voice is giving to others.” – MICHAEL