In this episode, Jimmy McKay and David Fathalikhani announce one of the biggest experiments the PT world has ever seen: a completely free, crowd-sourced MBA-style curriculum built specifically for physical therapists.
If you’ve ever said:
“PT programs should’ve taught us business…” — this is the episode you’ve been waiting for.
Jimmy and David break down:
Why the profession desperately needs business education
How 30+ industry leaders jumped in to create a year-long curriculum
The structure of the “PT MBA” — monthly focus areas, mini-courses, and guest experts
How PTs can finally learn finance, hiring, operations, strategy, leadership, and more
Why this entire project is 100% free
📌 Full Syllabus & Volunteer Teacher Thread:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7391201997661786112/
00:00 It looks legit (Canva praise + cold open)
00:28 Introducing David Fathalikhani
00:52 Origin story: second-career PT meets first-career PT
02:15 David’s sports background + first clinic build
03:00 Pivot to senior living + scaling operations
05:40 Exiting the business and climbing Everest
07:55 Basecamp conversations + idea generation
09:40 The spark: “We need more business education in PT school”
10:35 Crowd-sourcing a syllabus on LinkedIn
12:40 How fear stops PTs from launching businesses
14:20 The structure: monthly modules & 30+ volunteer instructors
15:45 Foundations: healthcare economics & strategy
17:20 Finance module: KPIs, P&L, valuation, capital
19:40 Operations: systems, hiring, firing, workflows
20:30 Leadership & culture done right
22:10 Legal modules: leases, liability, contracts
24:20 Real estate horror stories PTs need to hear
25:55 The “wow” guy vs the “how” guy dynamic
27:40 Community, masterminds, and peer learning
29:18 The shocking price: $0
31:00 What makes this different from conferences & paid courses
32:20 What’s coming next + how to participate
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Keywords: physical therapy business, PT business course, DPT education, PT entrepreneurship, cash-based practice, PT operations, PT finance, PT private practice, PT leadership, PT hiring, PT culture, PT reimbursement, MBA for PTs, PT business strategy
