FPPTNEWS

Liza Tan, DPT, CEO & Owner

Columbia University Teachers College
Master’s Degree – Applied Physiology 1999 – 2001
MGH Institute of Health Professions
DPT, Physical Therapy 2007 – 2010

English, Chinese and Tagalog

Kariz de los Santos, PT

Kariz earned her Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Mariana Marcos State University in the Philippines. She is currently completing her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Utica College.

Kariz chose Physical Therapy as her profession because she wanted to challenge herself to be creative, innovative, and competent in providing quality care to patients. She always strives to be updated on recent practices and research – devoted to a lifetime of learning – to deliver a more efficient and effective health care service.

“I want to improve my ability to help my patients to get better and assist them to attain their highest functional goal. My principle in treatment is to provide treatment and care to my patients as if they are the member of my family. To my patients – Let us work together not to prevent illnesses but to improve quality of life.”

Bryan Rivera, PT

Bryan graduated from the University of Perpetual Help System in the Philippines earning his Bachelor degree in Physical Therapy. He now has over 16 years of out-patient experience, providing a personalized treatment and rehabilitation plan for each patient. Bryan is currently finishing up his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Montana.

Bryan always wanted to pursue a profession that would allow him to help people’s medical needs. Early on in his educational career he learned about Physical Therapy, and the unfolding opportunities this career choice had to help patient’s recovery. Bryan found his passion for Physical Therapy, treating Geriatric patients, neurological conditions such as stokes, spinal cord injuries, and Parkinson. Also, as an athlete Bryan has experience treating a wide range of sport injuries.

“I’m very passionate in taking care of other people. Therefore, I pursued this passion through Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation. As an experienced Physical Therapist, I help people regain their abilities and achieve their optimal function. I have extensive experience in neuromuscular cases and sports related injuries.”

During his spare time Bryan maintains an active lifestyle by running and hiking, and playing his all-time favorite sport, basketball.

Anita Lee, PT, DPT

English, Mandarin, Cantonese

Anita earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) as valedictorian from Columbia University. Prior to her graduate studies, Anita graduated valedictorian and summa cum laude from Stony Brook University, earning her Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Anita’s passion for Physical Therapy rooted from her desire to build relationships with people and be there for them. In particular, she wants to support the elderly which comes from her love for her grandparents. She aspires to focus on Geriatric Physical Therapy to support the elderly population achieve their goals, maintain their quality of life, and value their roles in society.

Her principles of treatment to her patients involve treating others and life with love and kindness. Anita’s journey has filled her heart with memorable moments with her patients, building relationships of trust.

“I have shared tears of joy with patients, sadness, and gratefulness for the time we got to be together. I have shared many moments of laughter that filled the gyms. I have supported them, and they have supported me in my moments of doubt. I also have a little glass angel that one of my patients surprised and gifted to me on my last day of that rotation to remember her by that I have hung on my wall in my room since that day.”

In her free time, Anita brings out her creative side by painting and drawing, along with ice skating and figuring skating. She enjoys singing and even self-taught herself to play the piano!

Czarissa Casalme, PT

Czarissa, received her Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Velez College in the Philippines. She is currently completing her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of Arcadia, Philadelphia to advance her expertise, ultimately to help more patients reach their goals.

She fell in love with Physical Therapy as a profession because of the never-ending learning. Czarissa feels every day she gets to learn new things from patients, colleagues, research conducted by other medical professionals. She gets to apply these learnings to help improve her patient’s quality of living. Although physical therapy is a difficult job, she believes it is very rewarding because she sees the impact of changing people’s lives. She believes it is important to try to be in her patient’s shoes and understand how they are feeling. Czarissa values the importance of building a good relationship and having great communication with patients to improve the outcome of their physical therapy.

Czarissa experiences growing up with grandparents guided her passion for Geriatrics, treating the elderly community. She loves having conversations with them and learning new things from their experiences. Czarissa’s most memorable experiences with her patients are when they see her as part of their family.

“I’ll never forget when a patient told me that he sees me like a daughter. This is one thing I love about physical therapy, is when patients see you like family because you have helped them through their pain. I love when their frowns turn into smiles because they are now able to do the things they love without the fear of experiencing pain.”

In her free time, Czarissa loves to read her favorite books.

Noreen Lagman, PT

Noreen received her Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy from Our Lady of Fatima University in the Philippines.

She has over 24 years of experience in Physical Therapy, treating a wide variety of conditions including musculoskeletal conditions for Geriatrics, Pediatrics, and Young adults. She also has experience helping patients with post-operative sports injuries. Noreen’s passion for Physical Therapy rooted from her love for science and human anatomy, now helping patients along their journey to recovery.

Mahmoud Ali, PT, DPT, MSc, PhD

Mahmoud Ali went to Cairo University in Egypt, where he graduated with a Doctoral in Physical Therapy (PhD). Upon coming to America, he obtained his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) from the Dominican College in New Jersey. He also holds a Master and Bachelor in Physical Therapy from Cairo University.

Mahmoud has clinical experience in various settings including Orthopedic Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation of post-operative conditions. He has experience treating several populations in English and Arabic.

He believes Physical Therapy is the best job for him because he can use what he learned to increase patients’ quality of life and function. Mahmoud is proud to play an important role in helping others stay active and participating in the activities they enjoy. He expresses the best moments with his patients when they can progressively go back to living their life by regaining their strength.

“The best memory was and will always be the moment when I see my patient not suffering anymore and has a better quality of life.”

In his free time, Mahmoud enjoys reading and learning about new methods of Physical Therapy treatment. He also likes to watch soccer games and spend time with friends.

Kyungjun Lee, PT, DPT

Kyungjun started his Physical Therapy education at Korea University, receiving a Master’s in Rehabilitation Science. Afterwards, he completed his Doctorate in Physical Therapy at Touro College School of Health Science, New York.

He likes to help people return to their normal routines and activities. With 6 years of experience, Kyungjun makes a positive change in people’s lives and improve their quality of life.

“I can’t explain how gratifying it is to know how to and be able to alleviate a person’s pain. To get a person back to what they want to get back to, whether it’s something as simple as sitting at work without excruciating pain or running a marathon.”

Kyungjun describes the gratitude from his patients at the end of the day is what makes his job worth every second he puts into it.

In his professional career, Kyungjun has published academic papers on topics such as the body mechanics of people dealing with chronic low pain, coordination of the torso and pelvis and multi-joint force interactions. He has experience treating Spinal stabilization and management, Myofascial Release Manual Therapy, Orthopedic Manual Therapy, and Evidence based Lumbar Spine Movement Syndrome.

During his leisure time, you’ll find Kyungjun exploring museums and galleries. His passion for helping people and explorative spirit contributes to support his patient’s well-being.

Radha Joshi, PT, PPDPT

Radha graduated from Loma Linda University in California with a Post Professional Doctorate in Physical Therapy and a Bachelor in Physiotherapy from MAEERS College of Physiotherapy in India.

Radha’s childhood experiences laid the foundation to choose Physical Therapy as her career. As a child, she saw her grandmother undergo a knee replacement surgery at the age of 82. She recalls her frustrations at being less ambulatory than she was before the surgery and doggedly undertaking physical therapy to get back to normal. Radha saw her grandmother’s Physical Therapist painstakingly bring her to her feet – patiently, gently and yet firmly, fully understanding the pain behind her irritability, and handling it with a smile. After this experience, Radha desired to be in the position to help others recover, just as her grandmother’s physical therapist helped her.

“I realized that Physical Therapy is a holistic, non-invasive yet profoundly life changing form of treatment”

Radha values empathy, compassion, determination, and efficiency with all her patients. Her values have led to many satisfying and fulfilling moments where she saw her patients progress towards their goals. Radha has extensive clinical experience treating cervical and lumbar spine disorders, knee injuries, post-operative rehabilitation, pediatric conditions, shoulder disorders and sports injuries.

During her free time, Radha focuses on her body, mind and nutrition — focusing on her health. She maintains an active lifestyle by doing weights, cardio training, dancing, traveling and exploring methods of treatment for her patients.

Ruchi Modi, BPT, MPT in Orthopedic Physical Therapy, PPDPT

Ruchi received her Post Professional Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Loma Linda University in California. Prior to this, she earned her Master in Orthopedic Physiotherapy and Bachelor in Physiotherapy from Patil University in India. Ruchi is currently pursuing an executive Master of Business Administration with a specialization in healthcare.

Ruchi first learned about Physical Therapy though watching her mother get shoulder treatment to alleviate her pain. She was amazed how someone’s pain could improve without medication and how they could get back to a normal life prior to an injury. In particular Ruchi grew up with her aunt as a role model, who healed people through physical therapy. She decided she wanted to carry her aunt’s legacy forward and help people reach their goals by supporting their recovery journey.

Her clinical experiences involve treating orthopedic and sports injuries from pre- and post-surgical cases, geriatric care, disability and pediatric care. Ruchi’s principles of treatment towards her patients are compassion and empathy, holding a famous saying by Leon Brown, a Major League Baseball player.

“Healing is not an overnight process, it is a daily cleansing of pain, it is a daily healing of your life- Leon Brown”

Her passion for her career of being a Physical Therapist, roots from her belief that the service to humanity is the best work of life. Ruchi enjoys living an active and creative lifestyle with her hobbies of dancing, traveling, and watching movies.

Donghwan Park, PT

Donghwan Park has been a licensed Physical Therapist in both New York and Colorado for the past 10 years. His first ever patient interaction through physical therapy was in his country, Korea.

He began taking interest in this practice through the encouragement of his mentor. Donghwan is 100% sure that he couldn’t be happier fulfilling a different occupation — treating his patients and actually witnessing the changes that he worked on throughout their recovery process is beyond rewarding.