Sometimes the best connections happen completely by chance.
Case in point: at a recent gala, I just happened to sit next to another physical therapist – and what started as casual small talk turned into one of the best, most energizing conversations of the night. It was the perfect reminder that magic happens when you’re in the room where it happens.
These kinds of unplanned, real-life conversations matter so much in oncology rehab – but you can’t be a part of these convos, if you’re not there.
Which is exactly why you need to be in the (virtual) room at The Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025.
Because #TCRCC2025 isn’t just a conference — it’s where oncology rehab professionals connect, collaborate, and spark the next wave of change in our field.
Save your seat at The Cancer Rehab Community 2025 today!
Want to watch the episode instead?
Watch this week’s episode of TheOncoPT Podcast on our YouTube channel!
Transcript
Elise Cantu (00:19)
Hey, Onco PT and welcome to this episode of the Onco PT podcast. A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful experience of attending a gala here in Fort Worth. Now, if you don’t know, galas are like my jam. I love, ever since I was little, I have loved getting dressed up and pretending that I was a princess. Like, no joke. There are countless pictures in photo albums at my parents’ house of dressing up. And that was one of my favorite things to do. ⁓
And I have found that in adulthood, while I can’t maybe necessarily do that all the time, like I wish I could, this is the perfect opportunity for me to still live out that fantasy in a very like grownup capacity. I get to be all dressed up. I wear these beautiful gowns, not to brag, like Rent the Runway is totally my friend here. Not sponsored, this is not an ad. But getting dressed up in these gowns and doing my hair and doing my makeup and getting out of the…
the rut, the routine of daily life and going to these fabulous locations. There is usually dinner, there’s drinks, there’s dancing, which is absolutely one of my other jams. And it’s just a great place to like catch up with friends. I always go with my husband and we hang out and that’s like one of our really big family traditions that we do. And so it’s come to be something that we really love to do. And so this gala that we went to back in September, like kicks off the season for us. This season, I sound like I’m in Bridgerton. I’m not.
And so anyways, we’re gearing up, we’re getting ready to go to this gala and it’s, you know, it’s, we’ve been to this gala before, we know what to expect, but what I was so thrilled to have happen was something very unexpected. So when we go to these galas, every single gala is slightly different, but at this particular gala, ⁓
you can buy tickets, like you can purchase a table, like you can sponsor a table and then you get to invite friends and whatnot to fill up the table, or do what we do, which is where we buy a general admission ticket or whatever it’s called. And so there’s tables that are basically open seating for these general admission tickets. And so you go and it’s a toss up as to who you’re going to sit with. It’s other people who have purchased these general admin tickets, what have you.
And so it’s always interesting to see like, who is it gonna be? Who are you gonna sit with? And then who are you going to meet and get to know, et cetera, et So my husband and I get there and we sit down in our seats and we’re just kind of chit chatting back and forth as people are starting to come into the ballroom and take their seats for the evening to actually start. Wouldn’t you know it? There’s this other couple who comes and they sit right next to me. The lady sits next to me and then her husband sits on the other side.
and we start chatting back and forth, you know, like, ⁓ hi, I’m so and so, you know, like, who are you here with? Blah, blah, blah, blah. Come to find out, I kid you not, this other gal is a physical therapist in Fort Worth, newer to the area, and also owns her own practice. And it was, I mean, like the stars absolutely aligned in that moment. It was one of the coolest things. And again, totally surprised she could have sat at
any other of those general admission tables, but she chose to sit next to us, which was so lovely. And so we spent the whole evening, I mean, it was a couple hours over dinner and then when they were doing the program for the gala, because you know, it’s always about fundraising, we’re just talking about physical therapy and being a business owner and owning your own practice and working with patients and the challenges and the…
You know, the excitement that comes with that. ultimately, like swapping back and forth, you know, hey, this is working for me. Have you tried this? I haven’t thought about that before. Oh, well, if you’re looking for blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, here’s what I would recommend kind of situation. It was fantastic. It’s hard to describe in words just how like magical it is to see that all come together and to have such a beautiful, wonderful evening. Getting to share in that fellowship and that kind of that camaraderie.
of we’re physical therapists, we’re in this area, we’re working with our patients, even though we have very different patient niches, right? I’m obviously in oncology, right? You’re listening to the Onco PT podcast. She does a slightly different ⁓ area. And it was so, it was just so cool to see that all come together. It was totally unplanned, but it was really invigorating.
It was really energizing and it kind of, you know, I didn’t really realize it at the time. It’s one of those like, Oh, hindsight’s 2020. But after that experience at the Gala, you know, we come home, my husband and I immediately change into our pajamas. We prop our feed up because our feet are swollen, feet are swollen a little bit from being on our feet. I’m in high heels. He’s in dress shoes, um, you know, and just like, Oh, wow, what a great evening. But getting to do that and then come back and be like, wow.
I didn’t know how much I needed that, to be perfectly honest. September is always a lovely, cool, but crazy busy month. Start of school, know, people are back to school. That’s usually when my practice kind of picks back up after a summer lull because everybody goes on vacation. You know, we’re really getting down to, you know, planning and getting stuff ready for the conference, which is coming up. And it was so lovely to be in that community.
with this other physical therapist and getting to share our experiences and talking about again, what’s working, what’s not working, and what are we then trying to do to get around these obstacles that we’re experiencing. This was not scheduled networking for me. Like when I go to these galas, yes, there’s always an element of, know, like shaking hands, I guess rubbing elbows to an extent.
But I really go for the enjoyment of the event. Like I get to spend time with my husband, like I mentioned at the top, I love getting dressed up. I love doing my hair and makeup for these kinds of events. So this was such a perk on top of all of that. Such a, as Bob Ross says, such a happy accident. And it was, it turns out one of the most valuable parts and experiences of that entire evening for me. I now have a new colleague.
in Fort Worth who is in the trenches with me doing very, very similar work to what I’m doing. And ultimately I have a new professional acquaintance who I can refer patients to, which is always something I’m looking for here. ⁓ She has someone that she can refer patients to, especially for oncology. And we now have a better understanding. And I think this is what was really, really cool for me is getting to explain like,
Yeah, so I am an oncology and this is what I do for my patients and whatnot and getting to hear about her niche as well. Absolutely, that connection alone was worth the entire evening. Again, the evening was already worth it, but really getting to have that chance encounter and make that connection just re-lit that fire underneath me to kind of keep moving forward.
And to pick myself up and say, all right, you know what, things are kind of crazy right now, but that’s what I needed. That was the interaction that I needed to be able to come back into the office on Monday morning and say, all right, let’s get down. Like, let’s get back into it. Let’s get down to it. ⁓ Or, know, Mulan here, let’s get down to business. And these chance encounters, again, reflecting on all of this and just what like a crazy, crazy interaction it was, because on the other side of that,
So, you I sat next to the physical therapist and then her husband is also helping her in her practice. My husband, there was a gentleman who sat next to him and he is in the ⁓ legal industry. And my husband does a lot of work in his physical therapy practice with like ⁓ LLP patients and whatnot. And so that was another connection that we got to make. And so again, we’re sitting next to each other. You know, the conversations are sometimes crossing, but then we’re also having our independent conversations.
And it was just such a beautiful illustration of like what the power of community can really do and how important it is to be in community and to be in the room where these conversations are happening. Because not only did that pour into me, that then pours into me so I can then go back and pour into my patients, right? I am better equipped to go back into my clinic, know, practice wherever you’re at.
to better show up and to better serve my patients in my community and what they’re dealing with at this moment in time. And man, if that is not, like that is so exciting to be able to do that. And so in reflecting on this and just what a like serendipitous encounter it was, it really reminds me and it reminded me of how important it really is to be in the room.
where it happens, not to steal that phrase from Hamilton the musical, but it is pretty perfect in this moment. You you do a lot of independent learning. And especially if you’re one of those clinicians who’s working largely on your own or kind of in a silo, or maybe you don’t have a lot of built-in community into your just natural practice environment, a lot of your learning and a lot of your growth and development really happens on an individual level.
I know you’re reading articles. I know you are taking the courses out there, you know, but it’s not quite the same as being in the room with a group of people who really get what you do and the work that you are involved in and the patient population that you are serving and the struggles and the barriers and the obstacles that you’re facing in your practice that your patients in your community are experiencing.
that you oftentimes have to work around. And I find that is especially true in oncology physical therapy, right? We know healthcare, there’s ample barriers, ample obstacles patients encounter, but especially when we put cancer into the mix, it just, I think, blows everything out of proportion of just how challenging it can be to really deliver the highest quality of care for our patients in an equitable fashion, an accessible fashion, right? Being in
the room with people who get it, people who are in oncology, who are in oncology rehabilitation, who understand the struggles that we experience, the challenges that our patients are experiencing. There’s something magical about it, right? People get it. It’s not like you have to explain yourself and kind of reintroduce yourself, reinventing the wheel ⁓ over and over again to communicate to somebody.
Yes, I’m a physical therapist, but I work with people who have cancer. well, what do you do there? People get it, right? Your community, your people, your world, they get it. This is also a great opportunity, which is something that I saw for collaboration, for opportunities. And in some cases, potentially even mentorship or jobs can come of this being in the room where it happens. And one of the things that I mentioned previously that I really
found value in of this recent experience at this gala is this spark of energy, of reinvigoration to help fight burnout. And I know that if you are in healthcare and you are paying attention right now to what is happening in our world, in our country, it seems more inevitable than ever that burnout is something that you are actively fighting against on top of all the other things that you’re trying to do in efforts to take care of your patients.
But being in the room where these conversations are happening really facilitates the opportunity for conversations to dive below the service level, to go deeper and talk about those topics that maybe are challenging, maybe are more nuanced. And it’s kind of hard to have with someone who’s outside of your field, outside of your industry, who doesn’t really get it. But then also to change the game for you and most importantly, your
patience. Now you can get this kind of experience, you know, again, if you get the chance to go to a gala, I highly encourage it. I have a great time and I love going to galas, but that might not be the right environment for you, right? That might not be what you’re looking for at this moment in time. If you are looking for a community, if you’re looking for a room in which you can come together with other cancer rehab professionals to bask in this community,
to ultimately challenge yourself to grow alongside and to develop professionally into the highest on copetie that you can be. You already know where this is going. The Cancer Rehab Community Conference is just around the corner. And this is exactly what we do. We bring in incredible speakers who are clinicians in the field who are doing this work.
who are seeing what is working, what is not working, and how to ultimately make things work better for their patients who are bringing this information in an easy to digest, easy to implement way so that you can ultimately go back to your practices, again, clinic, hospital, ⁓ inpatient rehab, SNF, home health, et cetera, and be able to actually implement this with your patients in your community, right? Whether that is…
Texas, Florida, Montana, New York, anywhere in between and far reaching from that. This is how we really get cancer rehab to leap forward instead of these baby steps that we’ve been doing a good job of taking, I think, over the last 20 to 30 years, learning in communion like this and challenging each other to try different things and to really…
up level how we practice and how we show up and how we serve our patients in our communities dealing with the unique challenges that only happen in your community and your patient population. This is how we make the leaps and bounds and just strides to really transform cancer rehabilitation and in my opinion, physical therapy and rehabilitation as a whole. Yes, the sessions are going to be incredible.
And again, you’ve heard already from a few of our speakers, you’re going to hear from a few more speakers in the next few episodes of the Onco PT podcast. But I think one of the coolest things about this conference is that community that happens at the conference, kind of in those moments in between, right? So instead of maybe sitting down at dinner, you know, by happenstance with another physical therapist in Fort Worth, Texas, which is what happened at the Scala for me.
We facilitate that in slightly different ways at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference. One of the things that really happened by accident, to be very truthful, at the very first conference we did was the chat. So this is a virtual conference, which you probably know by now. And so, you know, on your screen, as you’re watching this, in the comfort of your own home or wherever you choose to watch the conference, obviously we have our speaker on screen. They’re going through, you know, their presentation and it’s amazing. But we also…
have the opportunity for a lot more audience engagement. And so how that manifests is people can type in in the chat. And so it’s a really cool way to build that connection and build that excitement and that momentum. As again, these speakers are having conversations, we also have opportunity at the conference where we’re engaging back and forth in the chat. ⁓ But one thing that we’re also doing this year, this is new. This is a brand new thing that we’re doing at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025.
we’re doing networking breakout rooms on day one of the conference. And so what we found, again, the chat is always lit. It’s always incredible. And people like, we’ve had people who got jobs as a result of the chat at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference. It is so great. like clinical ⁓ internships and observations and different stuff like that, like those have been facilitated just in the chat at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference.
So we wanted to take it one step further and how can we really facilitate more of that face-to-face communication and collaboration and community? Because that’s ultimately what we’re about at the cancer rehab community is the community part of this. So like I mentioned, at the end of day one, we’re going to have these networking breakout rooms where you can go and actually network and chat with these other amazing clinicians across the country, across the globe.
even because this is an international conference, to really build more of that community, to understand like, hey, this is what I’m experiencing. What are you experiencing? What is working for you? What are some of these, I’m experiencing these challenges. How have you worked through those? I recently had a clinician out in Tennessee reach out to me on Instagram. And this clinician was asking me different questions.
which I always appreciate. First and foremost, you can always do that. This clinician was asking me different questions about, know, like, hey, here’s what I’m dealing with right now. And I’m really struggling with this, especially in getting patients from the cancer center to actually come and see me because I know they’re having impairments, but that connection, that bridge is not built. And so it’s really hard to facilitate that process.
And so while I have a lot of really good information, have been practicing for eight years now, my gosh, eight years, almost 10 years. And I have other clinicians that I can pull from where that magic really happens is in community with each other. And so expanding that network to be able to, you know, connect with much, much more, many, many more, excuse me, grammar here, many more clinicians.
across the country in different settings, in different niches, even within oncology physical therapy, to learn what is working for you. How have you navigated this challenge? What would you maybe recommend in this situation, et cetera? Like, that is priceless. That is where the gold, that is where the magic really happens in this case. And like I mentioned previously,
This is how we get to those deeper conversations and how we are ultimately changing the game both for you and your patients in your community. So if you want to be in the room where it happens for oncology rehabilitation, you need to be at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025. The Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025 is taking place Friday and Saturday, November 7th and 8th, 2025. It is an entirely
virtual conference, which means that you can pull up your, you know, open up your laptop, open up that desktop, however you’re watching this conference and sit within the comfort of your home and get the highest quality of cancer rehabilitation information that is pertinent to you as a clinician to be able to take these easy to digest, easy to implement action strategies and put them into practice on Monday morning with your patients.
in your area, in your community, right? We’re not just talking about the latest and greatest in research, which is incredible, which is necessary, which is absolutely a must in oncology rehab. But what we have found over the years, and this is well documented in the literature, is that it takes on average 17 years from when research is published initially to when it is truly integrated into clinical practice on the regular.
That is too much time. Our patients do not have 17 years. And my friend, if you think of where you are right now and you add 17 years on top of that, like I’m 33 right now, that puts me at 50. I don’t have time to wait for that to happen. And this is how we are shortening that timeframe to make research actually implementable and realistic.
in your community with your patients and what they are actually dealing with at this time. You can save your seat today for the Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025 at the oncopT.com slash conference. We are approved for CEUs both for physical therapists and occupational therapists, I know, and you can find all of that information at our website again, the oncopT.com slash conference. We do have
regular pricing available for just a couple more weeks and then we are going to be into our last minute ticket sales. So make sure to sign up now so that you can save as fast as possible. Seats are limited, seats are going fast. So please make sure that you save your seat now. And we cannot wait to see you at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025. Remember, you never know what is going to happen when you get yourself in the room.
I met another physical therapist who I hope to turn into a like long lasting colleague professional relationship and to have that back and forth referral, you know, pathway that we can have, but also someone who just gets it, who gets what’s happening in Fort Worth, Texas as a business owner, as a PT clinic owner, practicing in our special niches. That happened only because I was in the room and I took advantage of this.
of this opportunity that was presented to me. You can do the same thing at the Cancer Rehab Community Conference 2025, and I cannot wait to see you there. One more time, you can save your seat today at the OncoPT.com, whoops, at TheOncoPT.com/conference And until next time, this is Elise with the OncoPT. And remember, you are exactly the physical therapist that your patients with cancer need. So let’s get to work.