Dr. Negin Jalayer is the owner of Marathon Physical Therapy – a long standing and well-known physical therapy practice in Great Neck, N.Y.
Here, she discusses her practice, her favorite success stories and offers her advice to PT students. Read on:
Tell us about your practice. What sets you apart from other practitioners in your area?
Our practice is unique. You quickly recognize this once you step foot in our door. We know you by name – not by your visit number. And our No. 1 goal is to give each and every one of you the very best physical therapy care possible.
We are a small, boutique physical therapy practice, not a large center where you are lost in the chaos of a high volume, large practice. We provide excellent physical therapy care using our highly effective manual therapy techniques – that means you get hands-on care from us. And what we really do well at Marathon Physical Therapy is that we take the time to understand your condition, so that we can treat the root cause of it and not just its symptoms – this way you get better, and STAY BETTER!
We’d like to talk about a patient success story you’re especially proud of. Tell us about the patient. How did they learn about your practice?
I had treated a patient who was diagnosed with advanced bilateral shoulder osteoarthritis. She was told by her orthopedist that extensive surgery was her only treatment option. Before considering surgery, she found out about us through a friend who we had helped. She began a regimented course of physical therapy with me, and not long after, was able to elevate her arms above shoulder height with more ease and much less pain.
Her case was especially important to me, especially being an orthopedic clinical specialist (OCS), that I was able to improve her pain and use of her arms in order to prevent her from having surgery. She had severe difficulty and pain with doing basic activities using her arms. I was able to properly diagnose the tendonitis accompanying her rotator cuff syndrome, and to effectively treat it at each stage so that she could resume basic activities and initiate some light recreational activities.
What advice would you give PT students today? For instance looking back at your own career is there anything you would do differently?
My advice to PT students today would be to follow your passions and to treat each patient with compassion and respect. I always tell my students to treat each patient like they are a family member.
Looking back at my career, no, I would not change anything. I am a true believer that every experience makes you stronger and helps to build a foundation.
Can you please talk about any ways you are trying to impact the community you’re a part of?
I went into private practice because a great opportunity came my way and I realized that I could make a significant impact on the community I am in by taking it. Being that I am fluent in Farsi/Persian – I knew that I would be able to serve the Great Neck community of older Farsi-speaking adults. I feel that it was my duty to take this opportunity in order to better the quality of care they deserved, and to bridge the language barrier gap.
In addition, I have a great privilege in being able to mentor PT students from local graduate programs. I really enjoy the mentoring process and feel it is especially important for these students seeking outpatient experience, to come to a place where the physical therapist(s) has a specialty in orthopedics.
