Phil Tygiel Memorial

[00:00:01] Alright, so welcome to our special episode today in this Memorial episode of our podcast of Hands Off Hands On.

[00:00:09] We want to dedicate this to celebrating a former

[00:00:13] member of our AMP community, Phil Tygiel and his life and his legacy.

[00:00:17] And so we invited some special friends of his to have a conversation together today

[00:00:22] to really think about his life, his legacy as a distinguished professional,

[00:00:27] but not just as a professional, as a mentor, as a friend and an inspiration to many.

[00:00:32] So in our episode today,

[00:00:34] we're going to hear a little bit more from me to the individuals that we've invited to share their memories,

[00:00:39] reflection on his journey, his achievements and definitely the marks that he left on a profession, maybe even specific to AMP.

[00:00:46] So whether you knew Phil personally or professionally,

[00:00:50] maybe just learning about him the first time, we invite you to join us in this legacy,

[00:00:54] understanding his influence, finding inspiration and dedication from his spirit and his passion.

[00:01:00] And I just want to say thank you to our panelists today that

[00:01:03] for sharing their stories and their heartfelt time in remembering Phil.

[00:01:09] So thank you guys for being here, appreciate it.

[00:01:12] So I'm going to kick us off with six questions

[00:01:14] and I certainly would love to have some just back-and-forth conversations with you guys hearing more about your interactions with Phil

[00:01:21] over the years and we're going to kind of go chronologically.

[00:01:24] So starting from the beginning,

[00:01:26] so maybe you can first share some of your first memories that you had of Phil

[00:01:30] and maybe how he began or how your interactions began with Phil in physical therapy.

[00:01:36] So anyone can kick us off here.

[00:01:46] So I would probably be the last in line.

[00:01:52] But I think my first memory kind of interacting with Phil was

[00:01:58] interesting.

[00:01:58] It was it was probably at AOMT actually and I was at the conference

[00:02:04] and it was just one of those, you know,

[00:02:07] it was maybe like two years out as a new PT going to this conference for the first time

[00:02:12] and Phil was just like stuck to my side the whole time at the conference.

[00:02:17] And I'm like, who is this guy?

[00:02:18] Other than I knew him a little bit that he's he and I both practiced in Tucson.

[00:02:23] But I think that just that experience of here's this guy

[00:02:29] that has been involved with the APTA and even AOMT for such a long time

[00:02:33] and to have him be right next to me explaining things,

[00:02:38] talking to me about what was happening at the conference

[00:02:41] and just the bigger broader context of what's going on.

[00:02:45] I think it was emblematic of his whole career.

[00:02:48] And so this was probably like 2015 or something like that.

[00:02:53] But I know, you know, the other two have experience with Phil going,

[00:02:59] you know, a lot further back than that.

[00:03:01] So I'm interested to hear kind of those experiences.

[00:03:05] Bill? Yeah.

[00:03:07] Phil, I go back probably about 30 years or so.

[00:03:11] I was the I was with the Academy kind of at the beginning.

[00:03:15] It was one of the first

[00:03:17] of the four original examiners prior to

[00:03:22] back when Barb Stevens was the exam chair.

[00:03:26] And Phil, Phil was our

[00:03:30] rules of Robert's guy, you know, a guy was it was so on top of thing.

[00:03:36] He was so smart.

[00:03:37] I mean, I don't know how you keep track of all of this kind of stuff, you know?

[00:03:40] You know, I

[00:03:42] I and Phil was always, you know, he feels a little younger than I am.

[00:03:49] But we we always we always end up seem to hook up, you know,

[00:03:55] during the breaks or after or, you know, he was always arranging

[00:03:58] dinners and stuff and great sense of humor.

[00:04:04] He was involved in the in a lot of the stuff that was going on in Arizona.

[00:04:09] You know, the he mentored

[00:04:12] a lot of people he and he was responsible for a lot of this

[00:04:18] the stuff that later

[00:04:23] occurred in as far as the advent of physical therapy,

[00:04:28] the Open Practice Act and things like this.

[00:04:31] He he was on the he was in the House of Delegates.

[00:04:35] So he always had something

[00:04:40] insightful to say, you know,

[00:04:42] when it was it was like when he, you know,

[00:04:45] some people can open their mouth and stuff doesn't come out right.

[00:04:48] Phil was always

[00:04:50] Phil was always one of these guys who was just kind of a sage,

[00:04:53] you know, when he make a comment and it was well thought out.

[00:04:57] He was a very

[00:05:00] organized and well thought out human being.

[00:05:05] We had some great times together,

[00:05:08] you know, right together and, you know,

[00:05:11] socialize and, you know, we would sit up late

[00:05:14] outside like a CSM and some of the other places.

[00:05:17] And, you know, you know, he'd always have his hard liquor.

[00:05:20] I was always with I had beer.

[00:05:23] I couldn't keep up with a guy like that, you know,

[00:05:27] but just a just a just a great guy, you know,

[00:05:30] we got closer as, you know, at the time

[00:05:34] as the years passed, we got closer, you know,

[00:05:36] and he invited me to a celebration of life.

[00:05:38] And, you know, that was that tore me up, you know,

[00:05:41] but he had told me a year ago that, you know,

[00:05:44] he was having problems, you know, he had cancer and stuff.

[00:05:47] And this is before he started to decline.

[00:05:52] And, you know, when I went and saw him

[00:05:56] at his celebration of life and, you know,

[00:05:58] one thing that didn't change with him, he was always

[00:06:01] he was always positive.

[00:06:02] He's always he was always deflecting

[00:06:07] I would say, deflecting praise on other people.

[00:06:12] You know, he was very selfless guy.

[00:06:15] And he was always so pro PT, you know,

[00:06:18] it was always in just, you know,

[00:06:21] and you listen to the people that were there

[00:06:24] that had had praised him.

[00:06:28] And it was just amazing, the amount of people

[00:06:29] that were at his at this thing.

[00:06:31] Anyway, I've said enough.

[00:06:33] So I love that.

[00:06:34] Let's say Colette.

[00:06:38] Well, like Seth, I met Phil first at my first conference

[00:06:43] and it was before the conference at a deli.

[00:06:46] And I don't even know how he knew I was a physical therapist.

[00:06:50] And I didn't know he was a physical therapist.

[00:06:53] And I thought, who is this guy?

[00:06:54] And, you know, and I see him at the conference

[00:06:56] and he's attached to me the whole day, the whole conference.

[00:07:00] And he invited me to dinner with the group of people

[00:07:03] that he was arranging.

[00:07:04] And, you know, it just like brought me in.

[00:07:08] And I wasn't going to go to the business meeting

[00:07:10] because I was kind of tired.

[00:07:11] And he goes, no, the business meeting is the best part.

[00:07:16] And, you know, he was really right.

[00:07:18] You know, like this is where things happen that often,

[00:07:21] you know, decisions are to be made.

[00:07:23] And he just kind of included me there

[00:07:26] and we kept in touch.

[00:07:28] And randomly he would call and say, hey, you know,

[00:07:31] the APTA needs this and I volunteered you.

[00:07:34] So you're it.

[00:07:35] And I mean, like, how do you volunteer people

[00:07:38] for these positions?

[00:07:39] Always super positive and so,

[00:07:44] so present in everything he did.

[00:07:47] And every time you're talking to him,

[00:07:49] you just felt like you were the only one.

[00:07:51] And I know he did that with so many people.

[00:07:54] That's what made it so magical.

[00:07:57] And, you know, like at the last conference,

[00:08:01] it was really tough because he wasn't there.

[00:08:04] And in 15 or 16 years of, you know,

[00:08:08] hanging out together and I just look for people who looked lost.

[00:08:12] Yeah.

[00:08:13] And I just put that in my memory, like, you know,

[00:08:16] people who are new to bring him in, you know, yeah.

[00:08:20] It's so inspirational and everything he did.

[00:08:22] Well, and that just totally resonates

[00:08:24] to you and Seth's story, but then turn around

[00:08:26] and have Bill hanging out with him

[00:08:28] for a while doing the same thing,

[00:08:29] which is just total authentic connection, right?

[00:08:32] And I mean, in that he took you out,

[00:08:35] took you to get you under the arm and the wing

[00:08:37] and just hung out with you.

[00:08:39] And Bill, if you can hang out with him,

[00:08:41] you got to drink with them, right?

[00:08:42] That's, I mean, that's sometimes a conference life.

[00:08:45] And he definitely did it well.

[00:08:48] And so I truly appreciate your three stories

[00:08:50] and sees a lot of similarities

[00:08:52] already showing in the way that Phil's life really was, right?

[00:08:57] Totally professional connected,

[00:08:59] willing to take risks and meet new people.

[00:09:02] And sometimes we don't get out of our own shell.

[00:09:04] So I love that.

[00:09:05] I'd like to take it this little further

[00:09:07] and I want to ask you, is there a particular moment

[00:09:10] that stuck out to you in interactions with him

[00:09:13] or something that was just really meaningful

[00:09:15] that you would want to share with the audience?

[00:09:25] I'd say, you know, there's a lot of incidents

[00:09:28] where Phil stood out, you know, at the meetings,

[00:09:34] you know, he was a, you know,

[00:09:36] he'd bring up stuff that none of us, you know, even thought about.

[00:09:41] I mean, yeah, I mean, you know, in the back of our minds,

[00:09:44] but you know, he verbalized a lot of the stuff

[00:09:46] that we were thinking and, you know, he was just,

[00:09:54] he was very, he was a very inspirational guy.

[00:09:57] I mean, yeah, but there was wasn't a single incident

[00:10:00] that that that I can name, you know,

[00:10:04] specifically there's a lot of incidents.

[00:10:05] I mean, that I saw him in action, you know,

[00:10:10] and I when I first met him, you know,

[00:10:13] I didn't know much about him and stuff, you know,

[00:10:16] we got to know each other probably even more socially,

[00:10:22] you know, because he would always invite,

[00:10:24] you know, he'd always set up these things

[00:10:26] to invite different groups of people to dinner.

[00:10:30] And, you know, he just, he was a very,

[00:10:34] he had a great sense of humor, you know,

[00:10:37] and he and I, you know, I found out later in life

[00:10:39] that I was part Jewish.

[00:10:43] And so that was another thing that he and I had in common.

[00:10:46] You know, I was a member of the tribe, you know,

[00:10:51] and so we got to kick out of, you know,

[00:10:54] we would use Jewish sayings between each other,

[00:10:57] you know, like Moseltof and, you know,

[00:11:00] I'd call them a mensch, you know,

[00:11:02] and, you know, it wasn't just one thing with Phil

[00:11:09] as far as my experience with him, you know.

[00:11:13] He was very supportive of the organizations

[00:11:16] that he belonged to and he took an active participation.

[00:11:20] He wasn't somebody that you're gonna see

[00:11:22] sitting on the sidelines.

[00:11:25] And that's, you know, you gotta admire,

[00:11:28] you know, a lot of people are very, very bashful

[00:11:30] getting up and talking.

[00:11:32] Phil was never bashful.

[00:11:35] I love that.

[00:11:42] So, so many things like Bill said

[00:11:44] that just really stuck out to me,

[00:11:47] but really like two things was his attitude

[00:11:52] about burnout and physical therapy.

[00:11:55] And he always said, physical therapists

[00:11:57] who burn out were never lit.

[00:12:00] He's just so passionate about the profession,

[00:12:03] you know, all the way throughout his life really.

[00:12:06] And one of the last trips he did was in November,

[00:12:10] he went to India on a trip that was designed

[00:12:14] for physical therapists, occupational therapists,

[00:12:17] other healthcare providers and to see him

[00:12:20] like in some ways like work the room, right?

[00:12:24] But like such deep connection that people

[00:12:27] in that group just really loved him

[00:12:29] and appreciated him.

[00:12:31] And he just worked with everybody

[00:12:33] to like inspire them in their own area

[00:12:35] and encourage them.

[00:12:37] I mean, just at a time where he was really, you know,

[00:12:40] in some ways physically weakening,

[00:12:43] but the rest of them was just like

[00:12:45] still as passionate as ever.

[00:12:48] And that, I think, I mean, it's interesting

[00:12:52] because as sometimes as you get older

[00:12:55] I've observed in your career

[00:12:56] you get a little more stuck in your ways.

[00:12:58] And it was interesting to see the opposite

[00:13:00] almost happened with Phil,

[00:13:02] where he was constantly trying to push the profession forward.

[00:13:07] So one of the things he said to me that I remember

[00:13:09] as I was early in my career as a delegate

[00:13:14] was if you have a motion and it passes

[00:13:17] because everyone votes for it, it was a bad motion.

[00:13:20] And that made me think what I think

[00:13:23] what he was saying was it should have been passed

[00:13:26] a long time ago.

[00:13:28] And what we really need are people to look into the future

[00:13:32] and maybe come up with some motions

[00:13:34] that are maybe a little controversial.

[00:13:36] Maybe they don't pass the first time or two

[00:13:38] but they get people thinking.

[00:13:40] So that was something I've kind of rolled over since then.

[00:13:44] And then during a few conferences

[00:13:46] we'd go back and forth about different opinions.

[00:13:51] He was just a strong believer in the profession in general

[00:13:55] and that patients don't get to physical therapy fast enough

[00:13:58] or that we don't end up seeing a lot of the patients

[00:14:02] that we can help.

[00:14:03] And so he, I mean a lot of his career

[00:14:06] especially towards the end was devoted towards that.

[00:14:09] And you can see his work there

[00:14:11] but we'd go back and forth about the quality

[00:14:13] of physical therapy.

[00:14:14] So I'm kind of a strong believer and it matters

[00:14:17] the skill that that physical therapist has

[00:14:19] and the knowledge.

[00:14:21] And he was maybe less convinced of that.

[00:14:24] He just wanted people to get to PT.

[00:14:26] So we had a few lively discussions about that.

[00:14:29] I love that.

[00:14:30] He would probably like the house this year, you all.

[00:14:33] There's a lot of primary care conversations going on

[00:14:35] and getting patients into care.

[00:14:38] Obviously a little faster and looking at ways to do that.

[00:14:41] I was in the house with Phil quite a bit

[00:14:44] and just obviously my roles.

[00:14:47] He was a parliamentarian for AOM for like ever.

[00:14:50] And by the way, that is not a skill set

[00:14:52] that most people like to have.

[00:14:54] But the fact that he had that, I think made him,

[00:14:57] I always call it a double threat in the house

[00:14:59] because if you know how to work the room

[00:15:01] and you know policy procedures,

[00:15:03] like he was well skilled in terms of how to handle the house.

[00:15:08] And so I loved his lively discussions.

[00:15:11] I loved his contributions always.

[00:15:13] And I call them, again,

[00:15:14] you have to find people in the room

[00:15:16] who are comfortable poking the bear.

[00:15:19] And he was comfortable poking the bear.

[00:15:22] And I appreciated that about him.

[00:15:23] He would definitely ask questions.

[00:15:27] And so I hear that again in your stories where,

[00:15:29] you know, his passion resonated and you felt it.

[00:15:35] And so again, Colette's saying,

[00:15:37] if you were burned out, you were never lit.

[00:15:40] He was lit all the way till the very end, right?

[00:15:42] He was very passionate and we all benefited for sure.

[00:15:47] Oh, I wanna ask another question if it's okay.

[00:15:50] I wanna hear a little bit more about

[00:15:51] what do you know that he struggled with

[00:15:53] or what challenge did he have to overcome,

[00:15:56] maybe throughout his career,

[00:15:58] or maybe something that you're aware of

[00:16:00] that he would want people to know

[00:16:02] that this really was something that he was passionate to serve

[00:16:05] or to overcome.

[00:16:07] Maybe he didn't overcome it yet.

[00:16:09] You know, obviously we know some of his end times

[00:16:12] are very challenging,

[00:16:13] but he still handled them with great grace.

[00:16:16] But any other stories that you have about his life

[00:16:19] and challenges that maybe he overcame

[00:16:21] that would help our audience get to know him a little better.

[00:16:30] You know, I don't know if this was a huge challenge,

[00:16:33] but when I interviewed Phil a little while ago,

[00:16:37] he talked to me about the beginning of his career

[00:16:39] and how he started in Tucson at TMC,

[00:16:42] even though he's a New Yorker.

[00:16:44] He said he realized that was a mistake of birth.

[00:16:47] I said that was a great quote.

[00:16:49] So he moved out west and ended up in Tucson.

[00:16:51] And he did comment how he felt like he was lucky

[00:16:55] and that he ended up in Tucson Medical Center down here

[00:16:59] at a time where there were some other physical therapists

[00:17:02] who were kind of hungry to learn,

[00:17:05] but that outside of that,

[00:17:07] kind of the maybe connection with the larger association

[00:17:14] wasn't as much there.

[00:17:16] And then later on,

[00:17:18] he's commented about how that has kind of become

[00:17:21] more of a glaring issue.

[00:17:23] I think you see this nationally where just,

[00:17:27] and we could list off a whole lot of problems

[00:17:30] with the profession, but that's one of them,

[00:17:31] I think where these local meetings

[00:17:33] have kind of died out in a lot of instances.

[00:17:36] We're definitely seeing that in Arizona.

[00:17:37] And so that was another thing he kind of,

[00:17:41] that maybe came full circle a little bit in his life.

[00:17:45] Thank you.

[00:17:46] Yeah, I agree with you Seth.

[00:17:52] I do see that was being one of his major struggles

[00:17:56] was not really like a personal struggle.

[00:18:00] I think his struggle was like the profession as a whole

[00:18:05] and helping it advance to really become

[00:18:08] what it should be.

[00:18:09] And that was so evident.

[00:18:12] And one of the ways he addressed it was like,

[00:18:15] at the local level and the national level

[00:18:20] and being really involved

[00:18:22] and being really the ultimate networker

[00:18:25] and really bringing in other people to help that grow.

[00:18:30] And he told me things that he did in Arizona.

[00:18:34] And I used to always beg him,

[00:18:35] please, please come out to California, we need you.

[00:18:40] But that I think,

[00:18:42] I mean, I did see him struggle toward the end of his time

[00:18:46] like when you're especially in India.

[00:18:51] Like I had seen him in the summer in August

[00:18:54] and I heard about the trip and I realized I'm gonna go.

[00:18:59] And I didn't realize how much weaker he had gotten physically.

[00:19:06] But like he just took it in stride.

[00:19:09] He's like, I know this is what I need to do.

[00:19:11] I know this is what I need to know how I need to adapt.

[00:19:15] And then in my mind, like every walking surface in India

[00:19:20] is made out of high-polished marble

[00:19:22] and he's on crutches.

[00:19:24] I'm like, oh my gosh.

[00:19:25] You know, like, but he was just taking it all in stride

[00:19:30] because I don't think that was his struggle.

[00:19:33] I think his struggle was more of like

[00:19:35] the perspective of the profession

[00:19:37] and how does he make an impact?

[00:19:39] And yeah.

[00:19:42] Love that.

[00:19:46] Phil, the thing about Phil,

[00:19:48] Phil, I don't know if you'd call us a challenge or not

[00:19:52] but just the way that he was driven.

[00:19:54] He was a lifelong learner.

[00:19:56] He was a voracious reader.

[00:20:00] I taught with Lori Hartman for about 20 years

[00:20:04] and I had a bunch of,

[00:20:06] this was an invite only in Las Vegas.

[00:20:09] And I invited Phil and he was so excited

[00:20:17] about being able to sit down.

[00:20:19] We had Joe Farrell and Greg Johnson,

[00:20:23] pretty heavy duty people from all over the country

[00:20:26] that were personal friends.

[00:20:27] And Phil was there and somebody had mentioned

[00:20:30] that he would attach himself to somebody

[00:20:34] and we had one of my fellowship students,

[00:20:37] Sarah Anderson was there and Phil kind of hung with her.

[00:20:43] And when Sarah found out that Phil was dying,

[00:20:49] I mean it hit her pretty hard because

[00:20:51] their relationship was kind of a funny relationship.

[00:20:54] It was a very friendly relationship

[00:20:58] and I think Sarah at the time was intimidated by Phil

[00:21:05] but she expressed her sadness when she found out about Phil.

[00:21:10] And then I know this is a little veering off

[00:21:14] a little bit from the topic

[00:21:15] but one of the things that really impressed me

[00:21:19] is when I went to his memorial,

[00:21:21] actually it wasn't, it was a celebration of life

[00:21:23] and this is Phil, this is typical Phil.

[00:21:27] It was, I don't want to be,

[00:21:29] I don't want to have to celebrate after I'm dead.

[00:21:31] I want to be able to...

[00:21:34] To have the party before.

[00:21:35] Yeah, yeah.

[00:21:36] And I mean it was so, that was just so Phil.

[00:21:40] He was such a social animal.

[00:21:41] And then listening to all of these people

[00:21:44] pay homage to this guy.

[00:21:46] I mean, and the amount of people,

[00:21:48] I mean some really heavy duty people in our field

[00:21:53] that had paid tribute to Phil at this thing.

[00:21:58] I was so impressed.

[00:21:59] I was kind of blown away.

[00:22:02] The people that he knew and the people who had played,

[00:22:07] listened to the stories that people had said about him.

[00:22:13] And I went up and I talked to him

[00:22:16] and he was pretty weak by this time

[00:22:18] but he got up from his chair

[00:22:21] and he gave just a great speech

[00:22:22] and he said, this is not a celebration just of my life.

[00:22:27] It's a celebration of our life.

[00:22:30] And it's also a celebration of yours.

[00:22:33] And I was like, I'm about ready to cry.

[00:22:38] I mean, you know, and it was so inspiring to listen to him.

[00:22:44] Anyway, that, like I said,

[00:22:48] he was a lifelong learner

[00:22:52] and any way that he could learn something new,

[00:22:57] he was all in.

[00:22:59] Yeah.

[00:23:00] And you kind of took us in the direction

[00:23:02] that I'd love to go next,

[00:23:03] which is obviously knowing him,

[00:23:06] having been maybe mentored by

[00:23:07] or being good colleagues with him.

[00:23:10] What are the aspects of his mentorship style

[00:23:13] that really made him so compelling

[00:23:15] to either follow, listen to or be mentored by,

[00:23:19] which made him so memorable?

[00:23:21] You say social, but what does that mean?

[00:23:23] What, why was he so good at that social connection?

[00:23:27] What was it about him

[00:23:28] that made it so personable and easy to follow?

[00:23:33] He, he was one of these guys

[00:23:35] that would sit down with you.

[00:23:38] He didn't have to know you very well,

[00:23:39] but he was, he was very inclusive

[00:23:42] and he would sit down and for some,

[00:23:45] he had kind of a sixth sense about,

[00:23:48] you know, when he would talk to people

[00:23:52] and, you know, want to bring them into the,

[00:23:55] he would meet people that he had never met before

[00:23:59] and, you know, he would sit there

[00:24:03] and talk with them and stuff

[00:24:04] and kind of fill them in with encouragement

[00:24:08] and, you know, give them the low down on things.

[00:24:12] You know, this is why we're doing this

[00:24:14] and, you know, provide some history,

[00:24:18] supply, you know, supply,

[00:24:22] some background on things

[00:24:23] and, you know, and get people interested.

[00:24:27] And he was just, he just had a way about him

[00:24:30] that made you gravitate toward him,

[00:24:34] especially if you were a younger PT.

[00:24:38] You know, he just had this sense about him

[00:24:43] that you knew that he was kind of a go-to guy

[00:24:46] and so people kind of gravitated toward him.

[00:24:49] That's great.

[00:24:54] Yeah, I think we kind of alluded to it a few times.

[00:24:57] I mean, I think he had a personality that was very outgoing

[00:25:01] and so he would end up reaching out to everyone.

[00:25:07] I mean, if you're like kind of sitting next to him,

[00:25:10] he'd start talking to you,

[00:25:11] which I think, you know,

[00:25:12] and we didn't talk about this in terms of challenges,

[00:25:14] but I think, you know,

[00:25:16] I didn't hear him talk much about this,

[00:25:18] but I think one maybe challenges,

[00:25:20] he did have that sort of personality

[00:25:23] that could be abrasive, you know.

[00:25:26] If you're at a conference and you're, you know,

[00:25:28] didn't sleep too well the night before

[00:25:29] and here's Bill talking your ear off.

[00:25:32] All right, you know.

[00:25:33] So I think, but he just kept going.

[00:25:36] And I think that was, you know,

[00:25:38] emblematic again of his life where he, you know,

[00:25:41] didn't care too much,

[00:25:42] you just keep on going and do what Bill did

[00:25:45] and keep reaching out to people.

[00:25:47] So that was the personality he had outgoing.

[00:25:49] He'd always be reaching out and getting people involved.

[00:25:53] Tenacious, it sounds like,

[00:25:54] willing to keep doing the hard things

[00:25:56] and just keep on plugging away, right?

[00:25:59] So that's awesome.

[00:26:00] Colette.

[00:26:03] I think it's because really like deeply

[00:26:05] you could just sense he cared.

[00:26:07] He cared about like when he's talking to you,

[00:26:10] he cares about you as a person

[00:26:12] and all the other people I've ever spoken to

[00:26:14] and was around especially like towards

[00:26:17] the end of life celebration,

[00:26:18] people just, they expressed how much

[00:26:22] that he had encouraged them

[00:26:23] and just how much like love he really shared for people.

[00:26:27] But like sometimes he was a little abrasive

[00:26:30] and I remember sitting at a conference one time

[00:26:33] and I don't know all the details

[00:26:35] but I just remember he kind of leaned over

[00:26:37] and whispered, I'm really proud of you.

[00:26:39] And like that was after years of like putting myself

[00:26:43] out there and doing all this like he wasn't flowery.

[00:26:48] In any way, but he just really cared.

[00:26:51] And I think like,

[00:26:52] and he laid it as like a physical therapist in general,

[00:26:56] like we care about our patients, right?

[00:26:59] We wanna help them do the best they possibly can

[00:27:02] and we pour out into them.

[00:27:05] Like we learn and try to figure out challenging patients.

[00:27:08] And I think he did that with everybody

[00:27:11] that he came across.

[00:27:15] Well, and not just in our world in Amt,

[00:27:18] but throughout the profession,

[00:27:19] his years in APTA and in AMP,

[00:27:21] he's a man who was definitely invested

[00:27:24] and willing to make those connections.

[00:27:26] And so I appreciate your insight in that area

[00:27:30] because finding somebody to follow

[00:27:32] and to sit beside and lead with at times,

[00:27:35] it takes a certain personality

[00:27:37] and certainly Phil led a lot of things

[00:27:39] and was willing to take those charges.

[00:27:42] And so I believe he's a leader of our profession

[00:27:45] in a lot of ways

[00:27:46] and obviously with the connections he built,

[00:27:48] he was effective in doing those things.

[00:27:50] So I think that's what I took away from your stories there.

[00:27:53] So thank you.

[00:27:54] I wanna hear one more thing

[00:27:56] and this is a little bit more about the legacy

[00:27:58] in the future.

[00:27:59] So what advice or insights from Phil

[00:28:02] that maybe you received are the most valuable

[00:28:05] for the future professionals

[00:28:06] that you would wanna tell today?

[00:28:08] What is the one or two things that you felt

[00:28:11] like it just instilled from your time with Phil

[00:28:14] that would be worthwhile for our audience to hear?

[00:28:20] I don't know if he said this specifically,

[00:28:26] but I think it was implied with his behavior.

[00:28:30] And I think one is dedication to your profession

[00:28:36] to share your knowledge

[00:28:42] and make your life long learning situation.

[00:28:52] And I guess the last one is just say, stay humble.

[00:29:01] I think Phil lived his life to the fullest.

[00:29:05] This guy, some people look at,

[00:29:10] being healthy and happy and just dying suddenly.

[00:29:16] Phil rode hard, beat up and slid into home plate

[00:29:20] with beat up and worn out, but what a life.

[00:29:27] He did it his way.

[00:29:29] And you gotta admire a guy like that.

[00:29:33] I mean, the celebration of life and stuff

[00:29:37] and he did it his way and he lived his life to the fullest,

[00:29:41] going to India when he was terminally ill.

[00:29:43] I mean, who does this?

[00:29:45] I mean, this was Phil.

[00:29:53] And I think one of the things that I really learned

[00:29:57] from him was that you have to have the long game approach.

[00:30:02] You know, like I think Seth alluded to that as well.

[00:30:05] Like, okay, if it gets passed on the first round

[00:30:08] then it was too late, right?

[00:30:11] He would put things out there

[00:30:12] and he would always say like after a meeting or something

[00:30:16] like we still need to work on this,

[00:30:19] but it'll be working towards that now

[00:30:22] because we've rotted up, we've had a conversation.

[00:30:25] Like he was always looking like

[00:30:26] not where we wanna be right now,

[00:30:28] but he had a vision like where things should be,

[00:30:31] like especially like politically, like in Tucson,

[00:30:35] like where are we now?

[00:30:36] Where do you wanna be in five years and 10 years?

[00:30:39] You know, they were the first

[00:30:41] with some of the things that other states in the country

[00:30:43] really struggled with, but it was because of a long game

[00:30:46] and a commitment and a perseverance.

[00:30:50] And also at the same time, having on the other balance side,

[00:30:55] like at the A-Amp parties, at some of the A-P-T parties,

[00:30:59] he was the first to let loose and have fun, you know?

[00:31:01] Like on the dance floor, you know,

[00:31:04] making silly pictures and the selfie booths,

[00:31:06] you know, like at the same time,

[00:31:08] doing these things that were super fun,

[00:31:10] just like enjoying every single moment of it.

[00:31:16] Yeah, I think there'd be two things.

[00:31:19] The one for me that I think seems obvious

[00:31:23] is to take an active role in your profession

[00:31:29] for multiple reasons.

[00:31:31] Not only does it help the profession,

[00:31:33] but it will help fulfill you

[00:31:35] in terms of your career and satisfaction

[00:31:38] with being able to connect and get involved.

[00:31:44] And then the other thing is just like we've kind of alluded to,

[00:31:47] the importance of friendship

[00:31:49] and making an effort to strengthen your friendships

[00:31:53] because I think that's really challenging to do these days.

[00:31:56] Everyone's kind of disconnected a little bit,

[00:32:00] although we're all connected

[00:32:02] up through our cell phones and computers.

[00:32:03] And so he was really, really good at building friendships with people.

[00:32:11] I mean, he had friendships and people,

[00:32:13] you know, at his celebration of life that showed up from,

[00:32:16] you know, all over the country.

[00:32:18] I think there was a person that came from outside of the US.

[00:32:21] So I mean, it was just amazing.

[00:32:23] Yeah.

[00:32:25] All right, so here's my pop quiz for the day.

[00:32:28] I always have to have something to throw you a little bit.

[00:32:30] So one word that describes Phil, your word for Phil.

[00:32:38] Passion.

[00:32:50] I would have to use the word mench.

[00:32:58] What you got, Seth?

[00:33:03] I think I'm going to go with excitable.

[00:33:06] Yeah, I love that.

[00:33:08] I love that.

[00:33:10] So I have to thank you guys for sharing your heartfelt stories

[00:33:13] with our audience.

[00:33:15] And I hope that they were able to walk away learning a little bit

[00:33:17] more about a great man that will be deeply missed,

[00:33:21] not just from our organization, but from the profession.

[00:33:24] And you know, when you look at your life,

[00:33:26] you always think about what's your legacy.

[00:33:28] And I think when you look at the three of you

[00:33:30] knowing that his legacy will be survived in a way

[00:33:33] through your passion and the people you connect

[00:33:37] and hopefully through the audience and others

[00:33:39] that know him well.

[00:33:43] I think that we will forever be indebted to Phil's legacy

[00:33:47] and what he committed his life to serve.

[00:33:50] And so I hope that others can hear his contributions,

[00:33:55] his dedication to excellence, even though he might fight

[00:33:57] about a little bit, whether the excellence matters

[00:33:59] or not, Seth, more access or excellence,

[00:34:02] I don't know, it's a debate, right?

[00:34:04] But what you didn't, what you heard was that

[00:34:07] it was always PT and that he loved his profession

[00:34:11] and wanted to make sure the patients had the best type of care.

[00:34:16] And so I just, in our memorial episode,

[00:34:19] want to say thank you to you all for your time.

[00:34:21] And I want to just say Phil will be greatly missed.

[00:34:24] His spirits and contributions will be forever more,

[00:34:28] will guide and inspire us.

[00:34:31] We will miss him doing our parliamentary procedures

[00:34:34] because nobody knows it like Phil did,

[00:34:37] but we will miss him every aeompd.

[00:34:39] It's just the time that we'll join together

[00:34:42] and we'll toast to him.

[00:34:44] But in the meantime, I hope that all of you

[00:34:47] found a little bit of comfort in knowing

[00:34:49] that his spirit is still alive and well within all of you.

[00:34:52] So I'll wrap us up and thank you guys

[00:34:55] for listening to the podcast

[00:34:57] and the hands-on, hands-off episode

[00:35:00] in which we dedicated some time

[00:35:02] to just getting to know a little bit more about the man,

[00:35:05] Phil Tijal, and knowing that he will be greatly missed.

[00:35:12] Thanks a lot.