Mike Swan, the Founder and Owner of Elite Performance & Rehabilitation Center in Santa Barbara, has always considered himself “lucky” to be able to practice physical therapy and to “be a part of our healthcare community.” Since receiving his Masters in Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California (USC), Mike has made it his calling to heal patients and enhance their movement.
He is also one of the Founding Members of THE LAB in Santa Barbara whose mission is to integrate biomechanical assessments, physical therapy, individualized training, and recovery modalities to optimize movement. Mike is passionate about delivering the best in sports/medical science with a hands-on approach that is individualized and highly relational.
Mike cares about both patients and practitioners. He feels strongly about providing a pathway for more underserved students to enter the field of physical therapy. He has mentored countless aides and physical therapists over the past 25 years as he’s lived out his calling.
Mike Swan, and his team of physical therapists and aides at Elite, have seen volunteerism and pro bono work as a means to impact their local community. Whether providing educational seminars, ACL clinics for youth athletes, pro bono manual therapy, donating monies to countless charities, or volunteering time to local sports programs, Mike’s team uses their craft to serve the community.
As a mentor, Mike is “aware of the challenges facing those interested in the profession of physical therapy, most acutely in underrepresented groups.” He sees the injustices which prevent access for historically underrepresented ethnic groups. He, and the Elite Team, have made it a goal to raise more than $100,000 in order to establish an endowment for minority student access at USC.
After completing his undergraduate in biology at UC Santa Barbara, Mike was accepted into the Masters of Physical Therapy program at USC. The knowledge and skills he learned there, along with the lifelong colleagues he developed, make him grateful for USC. He believes the graduates of USC's Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy Program make excellent PTs.
USC is proactively fighting for ethnic minority access to all of its undergraduate and graduate programs. In the Doctorate of Physical Therapy (DPT) 2019 class, 28 percent of USC's entering student population hailed from an underrepresented minority group, compared to 11 percent across all U.S. DPT programs.
Article in the Santa Barbara Noozhawk
Thursday, December 3 , 2020
Help Mike raise $50,000 for the USC PT Elite Performance Scholarship Fund
Your gift to USC will be tax deductible.
KEYT Live News Report on Mike's Challenge
Tuesday, December 6 , 2020
Please contact Project Manager, Ruth Loomer, at:
Ruth@optimizeleadership.coach
805-242-3462
