Community Highlights: Meet Caroline Gamwell of Worth It PT

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Gamwell.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I chose physical therapy as a career by means of logic, or as close to logical as I could get at eighteen years old. That’s the age when you’re still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about what being an adult will look like, especially an adult choosing to go into healthcare. I loved all science, but what really drew me in was movement science. I was less interested in what I couldn’t see with the naked eye and knew I wanted to work with patients for longer than ten minutes at a time.

Put simply, I really wasn’t interested in saving lives. For what is life without movement, physical freedom, touch, and independence? That quality of life is something I knew physical therapy provided to others, and I wanted to be a part of someone’s journey as they achieved it.

I wish I could say I always felt I made the right decision; that I was so in love with my choices and never regretted them once. During my third year in graduate school, as I was essentially practicing PT but paying tuition to do so, I felt nauseated frequently. Was this what I really signed myself up for? Never-ending insurance-mandated paperwork, followed by frequent denials, barely anytime with patients at the moment to make a difference, and the realization that declining insurance reimbursement means no pay raises. Ever.

My first job lasted for six months. Twenty-seven patients in an eight-hour period, with the paperwork due the next morning? No thanks. I tried working in a hospital, rehab facility, private practice, and home health. You name it, I probably was there bouncing around as an unsatisfied hot potato.

Finally, I told my family: I quit. I can’t do this anymore. This isn’t the healthcare system I dreamt it would be. While one has to be realistic, we all have to admit that the current climate of our healthcare system leaves much to be desired. In an attempt to convince me not to walk away from my very expensive degree, my partner and family convinced me to try practicing physical therapy exactly as I wanted it to be.

That was how the dream of Worth It PT was born. I sat down and refocused my energy on providing quality care for anyone identifying as a woman or having female sex organs. I cut out insurance, cut out physician orders, and expanded my reach to treating the whole body at once instead of one joint at a time.

I got my certification to treat pelvic health cases, and in it found a love of complex, chronic disorders that people usually keep quiet about. Sure, if your neighbor asks how you are, you’ll say your shoulder feels sore or you threw your back out. It’s a fair statement, though, that most individuals aren’t outwardly saying: I’m great, Susan, except that it hurts to have sex and I’m not sure I’ve ever orgasmed in my life.

That’s where I get to step in. I provide that safe space for others to admit they want sex but can’t enjoy it, they’ve been constipated for decades, their vulva hurts during their pregnancy, and they can’t sit up because their stomach was cut into giving birth. I get to be there for people after they’ve gone through years of other treatment, even other physical therapy, and say “no this won’t last forever” and “I won’t rest until we figure out what’s going on”. Who would have thought that my favorite days now are filled with talks about water-based lubricants and healthy bowel movements?

When someone asked me the other day how work was going, I realized for the first time in many years that I smiled as I answered. I told them that it was amazing. Seven months ago, when I first opened, I was definitely anxious and thought this would never work. Who would ever want to pay me out of pocket when they could go see a PT down the street that took their insurance?

The rise in cash-based practices recently, like mine, however, has demonstrated there is a huge desire for healthcare to be different. To be better. My clients get to spend two hours with me, uncovering every nuance of their pains and turning their goals into a reality. From pain-free intimacy to weightlifting after childbirth and everything in between, healthcare can finally be quality care. My desire to help everyone who steps into my office achieve the quality of life they deserve is actually happening after all of these years! Worth It PT is a cheesy name, and it’s a cheesy but true ending to the story to realize that my entire journey really has been worth it. My practice is here to stay.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth or easy process. The road more so felt like a forgotten government project that had funding cut from it long ago.

The biggest struggle was self-inflicted: my chronic, severe anxiety. I decided to go from a stable paycheck to burning the ships and making it on my own, hoping I had enough to cover my mortgage and the inflation of Denver living. I kept going, though, because I knew I never wanted to turn back. I never wanted to be a staff PT again in my life, and that realization kept me grounded and determined.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I own a boutique, private-pay physical therapy practice in the heart of Denver. I specialize in women’s health, focusing on pelvic health, however, I will treat the entire body as a whole. The pelvic floor really isn’t an island by itself, as I usually tell my clients.

I have differentiated myself from other physical therapy practices because I feel their model is outdated: 2-3x/week for 6-8 weeks, with the majority of the time being spent with tech rather than your skilled therapist. No one has time for that, and despite everyone’s best intentions, you’re getting mediocre care at best.

My evaluations with clients are two hours long, with 90-minute follow-ups. Depending upon their goals, the severity of their situation, and what they want from my services, people will come back every other week with four visits total on average. Ultimately, when you add up the cost of my services in both time and money, I’m less expensive for higher quality than the average in-network clinic. I want people to know they can stop wasting their precious time and hard-earned money at every other clinic where they’re given cookie-cutter treatments.

What do you think about happiness?
In both personal and professional life: movement. Movement makes me happy, it’s truly everything. I love moving my body, and I love helping others do so.

I love dancing at weddings, cultivating intimacy, working out, running up the stairs because I forgot my keys, and crafting something with my hands. When you stop and think about what makes you happy, and what makes up a life worth living, movement is always a key component.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.worthitpt.com
• Instagram: @worth_it_pt

Image Credits
Natalia of Enorasis