From Minors to Miners: Luke Doherty

After years of working in the familiar routines of a private school, I’ve started a new chapter as an athletic therapist at a gold mine—an environment that’s different in many ways but offers its own unique challenges and opportunities to highlight what athletic therapy has to offer everyone.

Introduction to Athletic Therapy

I was first introduced to athletic therapy during a second year anatomy lecture. Therapists working at the school were presenting to our lecture and offering a mentorship program that would help students bridge the gap between classroom theory and real world practice. At the time, I thought it would be a great opportunity to help boost my resume but I did not realize that it would become my career that I would grow so passionate about.

I had started working with the Men’s Hockey team the following year as a “student therapist”. Hockey was the sport I had played growing up and made for a smooth transition into the world of athletic therapy. Having knowledge of the sport and the physical demands associated with it made me eager to learn more about the sport I had always loved.

As time went on with the hockey team, I was approached by my lead therapist and asked if I wanted to transition to Wrestling. He thought it would be a good fit and would introduce me to a new world of application and knowledge. It was a challenge I was ready to accept. Knowing that I wanted to pursue a career as an Athletic Therapist, moving into a sport and field I had no previous experience and knowledge in would turn out to be a great experience and lesson for me at the time, but also now with the workforce I have recently started to work in.

My Journey

The Beginning

My educational journey starts close to home in the Niagara region, where I attended Brock University and graduated with a BSc in Kinesiology. With the advice from my mentor at the University, I would then pursue my athletic therapy degree from the University of Winnipeg.

The University of Winnipeg provided an experience that I had not had at Brock previously. I now had the opportunity to not only work with Varsity level athletes, but I was now introduced to the general population. Gaining experience in both the school’s clinic and a community clinic setting opened my eyes to the world of “return to work” and “functional work assessments” which again, would provide great lessons for me down the road.

Once I had graduated and became a Certified Athletic Therapist, an opportunity presented itself back home at Brock University and within the private school setting at Ridley College. This was a full circle moment for me, as I had the opportunity to work alongside the therapists who sparked my passion for athletic therapy, while also mentoring and educating students who were in the same position I was not long ago. I was able to work at both institutions over the last 4 years gaining valuable experience working with kids in sport, prep level athletes, and varsity athletes. While gaining this experience I was also fortunate to work with provincial, national, and professional level teams and athletes along the way. Each level of team and individual has presented its own lessons and experiences which I now apply to the industrial athletes I work with today.

How I discovered Mynwell?

While working one morning, a student doing their placement hours had asked about my road to becoming an athletic therapist, athletic therapy jobs, and what was out there for work. I had gone through the different institutions in Canada and we ended up searching for jobs all over the country. That is when I was first introduced to Mynwell. I had saved the job post and returned to it later in the day. Working in Northern Ontario, 7 days on, 7 days off, at a mine, as an athletic therapist? The posting seemed too good to be true. I had looked at their website and seen that they had a growing team but I was not ready to apply and explore what this company was about.

Five months later, again working in a similar situation, I saw the same job posting. Returning to their website I looked to see if their team was the same in size or if they were expanding. To my surprise, they had expanded their team and one of the athletic therapists on staff was a colleague from a sporting goods store we had both worked at while we both attended Brock. He had been working for the company for several months now so I decided to reach out to him and ask about the details of the company. He had explained the job and put an emphasis on how rewarding the work he was doing had been. After this conversation, I updated my resume and sent it in to the directors.

The Mynwell team

My Transition into the team?

Right from the start, the team I was surrounded by made me feel at home. My first couple meetings with our directors, Mario and Priya, had me walking away thinking “I can’t wait to start working for this company”. They had taken a general interest in me and what I was seeking as a therapist, making sure that I was also making an educated decision in joining the company.

This followed with my training, where each individual made sure I felt comfortable with the processes. My first meeting with Bree, who is now my cross-shift, gave me a sense of security with her mapping out the job, the documentation we would be using, why we do it, the community I would be living in while up north, and the site we were at. Meeting with Lucas, the colleague I had referred to earlier, was a blast from the past, catching up and reviewing the data entries and internal reporting we’re focusing on as a company, along with the benefits that they hold at our sites. Later, meeting with Mario to compare and contrast treatment styles and collaborate to what can make a successful transition on site.

When on-site training occurred, it was like all the pieces of the puzzle had come together. Being able to make the connections from training theory to practice, had me feeling the same sense of excitement from when I was a student.

What makes Mynwell different?

Mynwell is more than just in clinic treatments for our industrial athletes, it’s looking at the scope of what an Athletic Therapist has to offer and utilizing their whole tool box. We are a team that engages with the workforce on-site, underground, during huddles, and in a clinical setting. We provide wellness initiatives to the workers with daily stretching routines, educational sessions, health promotion, on-site treatment options, 1 on 1 and group engagement, home exercises programs, ergonomic and biomechanical evaluations, physical demand analysis, and functional work assessments. It covers all aspects of what an Athletic Therapist would provide working with an institution or sports team and more.

You are working in a collaborative environment in the sense of your Mynwell team having Athletic Therapists, Physiotherapists, and Psychotherapists on staff, as well as the health practitioners working for the respective sites. Each individual comes with their own positive attributes, experiences, and skillsets which helps create new learning opportunities for everyone on the team.

How Mynwell has impacted my career and life?

Mynwell has allowed me to develop and open my mind as a therapist. Return to play has transformed into return to work, sideline and practice observation has turned into physical demand analysis and ergonomic evaluations, rinks and hardwood floors have moved underground and into mills on sites, and the athletes that I get to work with are the 800+ industrial athletes that are all part of a common goal. Although the scenery has changed, the principles and techniques I have developed have stayed the same.

How has this impacted my personal life? Anyone who gets into athletic therapy knows that there is a grind associated with it. Working with teams you are consistently on the clock and consistently answering emails, texts, and phone calls. Spending many weekdays and weekends on the road and returning late at night will take its toll on anyone and only to turn around and do it all again the next week. Working with Mynwell and having a 7 days on 7 days off schedule has provided me with a new personal life and in a positive way. I still get to experience the grind that athletic therapists love working for 7 days, but now followed by 7 days off that I get to dedicate to spending quality time with my wife, family and friends. I find myself being fully present when in their company and without the worry of emails, texts, and calls I would have normally received throughout the day.

Luke Doherty, CAT(C)