Dr. Sylvestra Ramirez ’05 had no idea a childhood injury would propel her toward a path and passion for physical therapy.
Growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ramirez thought her calling was figure skating and did all she could to study the art form. One summer, she decided to try the outdoor equivalent — rollerblading — and fell, which dislocated her patella and put her in physical therapy.
“My stubbornness of not wanting to look uncool in knee pads and a fall is all it took for me to land in physical therapy,” she says. “I saw a whole different side of human movement. It taught me that after an injury, assessment of muscular strength, flexibility, and movement patterns was essential in rehabbing. I was sold.”
That incident became a moment of inspiration for her and drove her to attend UW–Madison. She then went on to earn a doctor of physical therapy in 2010, as well as a master’s of women’s health in 2011, both from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.
Now, the 37-year-old owns and operates the first bilingual physical therapy clinic in Milwaukee.
Read the full article at: https://www.uwalumni.com/news/falling-into-entrepreneurship/