Introduction to Functional Medicine for Physical Therapists
I'm bringing it back live on Zoom.
Couldn't make it to my session at the Florida Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference?
Join Dr. Bri Thornton, PT, DPT, CFMP for a live virtual presentation exploring how metabolic health, stress physiology, gut and immune health, micronutrient status, and other systemic factors can influence the patients we see every day in rehabilitation.
October 13th
7:00PM EST
Live on Zoom
90 minutes
Can't attend live? Receive a recording if you can't make it
You're treating the musculoskeletal system already...
But what if what's limiting recovery isn't only happening in the musculoskeletal system?
This is the question that changed the way I practice. As physical therapists, we're experts in movement, function, pain, and the musculoskeletal system but the patient in front of us doesn't leave their endocrine, nervous, digestive, or immune system at the door.
What happens when we're doing everything “right” from a rehabilitation standpoint and our patient still isn't getting better?
That's where learning to look beyond rehab can change the conversation and the results you are able to give to your patients.
What we'll cover
01
Functional Medicine Foundations
What functional medicine actually is, what it isn't, and how systems-based, root-cause thinking can complement traditional rehabilitation.
02
Metabolic Health & Rehabilitation
Explore blood sugar, insulin resistance, metabolic health, and how these factors can influence energy, exercise capacity, muscle function, connective tissue, healing, and pain.
03
Stress, Cortisol & the HPA Axis
Understand how a patient's total stress load can influence sleep, pain processing, exercise adaptation, tissue healing, metabolic health, immune function, and ultimately their capacity to tolerate rehabilitation.
04
Gut Health, Immunity & Micronutrients
We'll connect digestion, absorption, inflammation, gut-immune signaling, and nutrient status back to the body's ability to rebuild and recover.
05
Labs Worth Knowing
Learn how bloodwork and other objective information can add context to the patterns you're already noticing clinically and when findings warrant additional testing, collaboration, or referral.
06
Real-World Patient Cases
We'll bring the concepts together through patients who may look surprisingly familiar from your orthopedic, pelvic health, and post-surgical caseload.
07
Scope of Practice & Next Steps
Most importantly what can you actually do with this information as a rehab provider? We’ll discuss education, lifestyle-based factors, interdisciplinary collaboration, referral, certification, and ways to begin incorporating a root cause and systems based approach.
This presentation is for you if...
You're a physical therapist or rehab provider who has ever thought:
- “There has to be more going on here.”
- “I feel like I’m treating the symptom and missing the bigger picture.”
- “My patients keep asking me about bloodwork, supplements, and hormones and I don’t really know how to answer them.”
- “I want to practice more holistically but I don’t want to step outside my scope.”
Maybe your patient...
- isn't recovering at the rate you'd expect
- has persistent pain despite a solid plan of care
- is exhausted and struggles to tolerate exercise
- isn't building strength the way you'd anticipate
- has poor sleep, high stress, or difficulty recovering
- has metabolic, GI, hormonal, or inflammatory concerns alongside their MSK complaint
- keeps asking you health questions you weren't taught how to answer in PT school
You don't need to become your patient's primary care provider but you do need to recognize when the musculoskeletal system may not be the entire story.
About your instructor
Dr. Bri Thornton, PT, DPT, CFMP
Physical Therapist • Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner • Founder of Holistic Health PT & Wellness • Co-founder of Rooted Renewal Co
I started my career practicing traditional physical therapy. After experiencing my own health issues that only functional medicine was able to address, I started to wondering how many patients could have had better outcomes if I treated them that same way. That curiosity ultimately led me to functional medicine.
Today, I integrate a systems-based lens into my work as a pelvic and orthopedic physical therapist and functional medicine practitioner, and I teach other rehab providers how to better recognize the physiologic factors that may be influencing rehabilitation.
Ready to look beyond rehab?
Join me live on Zoom
Introduction to Functional Medicine for Physical Therapists
- Date
- October 13th
- Time
- 7:00PM EST
- Where
- Live via Zoom
- Cost
- Free
Can't attend live? Receive a recording if you can't make it.
Want to go deeper?
This 90-minute presentation is the introduction.
If you leave this presentation thinking: “THIS is how I want to start looking at my patients...”
I've created something specifically for you.
Beyond Rehab: Functional Medicine Foundations for Rehab Providers
A 6-Week Live Cohort Experience
Over six weeks, we'll go beyond simply recognizing that systemic factors matter and begin developing the knowledge and clinical reasoning to understand them.
Go deeper into:
Functional medicine foundations • lab literacy • metabolic health • inflammation • gut health • stress physiology • sleep • micronutrients • case application • scope • referral & collaboration
Live attendee bonus
Everyone who attends this Zoom presentation live will hear the full picture of the upcoming 6-week cohort: what it covers, who it is for, and how to enroll.
Seats for the cohort are limited to 20 people.