Alan Visnick

Director of Treatment

Therapist

My journey to becoming a Physical Therapist started with an outstanding guidance counselor at Malden High School who suggested that I combine my interests in athletics and the human body and look in to becoming a Physical Therapist. That advice led me to majoring in Physical Therapy at Boston University. From there, an introductory course to the Allied Health Professions exposed me to the discipline of Athletic Training, which combined my interests into even a better fit!!

The end results of my studies at Boston University, in 1984, was that orthopedic physical therapy and sports medicine became my profession, and my passion and gave me the ability to say, that I never go to work, because the enjoyment I get out of treating patients, couldn’t possibly be considered as work!!

After spending my first 3 years in the profession as a Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer covering Football and Ice hockey at Boston University’s Sports Medicine Unit, my partners , Bill Antonelli, PT and Vincent Buscemi, PT and I opened the Burlington office of Orthopaedics Plus in 1987. In 1998 we opened a second location in Beverly, MA.

In the early 90’s, I realized than I wanted to get better outcomes for my patients and turned my continuing education energies to Orthopaedic Manual Therapy. As the culmination of those years of study, in 1996, I was tested and passed by one of the pioneers of manual therapy, Olaf Evenjth and his International Seminars of Orthopaedic Manual Therapy. That milestone allowed me to use the designation of OMT (Orthopedic Manual Therapist) and really identified who I had become as a clinician. After that, I began teaching and eventually became senior faculty of the Woburn, MA based Institute of Orthopaedic Manual Therapy.

34 years later, the professional satisfaction that comes from identifying structures causing pain and dysfunction and developing a treatment plan to address those issues still rings true. Whether it is helping patients recover from spine or extremity issues, rehabbing throwing athletes or treating side by side with some of the most talented clinician’s in the area, I am very proud that I can continue to be part of the organization that we have built over the past 30+years.

Outside of the clinic, I am fortunate enough to be able to be combine my passions for teaching and sport, through coaching youth. Always mindful that youth sports is all about the kids, this has been my guiding principle through more than 25 years of coaching baseball and soccer. As a result, I have been blessed with being able to interact so many wonderful children and often get to hear two of my favorite words, ” Hi coach!” when I see them as adults. There is nothing better than knowing, as a coach, that you didn’t ruin a child’s enjoyment of the game and helped them develop their athletic skills, exercise habits and become better teammates.

Personally, the love for baseball runs deepest and I have been able to extend my playing days through the Boston Men’s Senior Baseball and Boston’s Amateur Baseball leagues. 25+ years of competition and camaraderie with countless teammates who love the game and refuse to let it go has been gratifying, to say the least!! Along with “Senior” competition comes the occasional sports injury, which only makes me a better Physical Therapist as I gain “experience” as patient. My own rehabilitation from a Rotator Cuff repair has been both enlightening and ironic, as injuries of the shoulder has always been one of my clinical interests.

When I am not playing or coaching, my wife and I have had the pleasure of watching our 4 children play their games at various levels. Many miles driving and many hours of watching soccer, baseball, basketball and track, have produced long lasting memories. Whether it is the youth, middle school, high school, club or college level, there is nothing quite as enjoyable as watching your own children compete, succeed and enjoy the end results of their hard work and commitment to themselves and their teammates. The lessons that sport teach, really are life lessons about setting, working towards, and achieving individual and team goals.

I guess my high school guidance counselor was correct in helping me assess what my interests were as a 16-year-old high school student. Looking back, it is hard to imagine having taken a different (or better) path!!!