Hi, I am Tejashree Limaye, Founder of PT Career Paths. I am a Physiotherapist, Physiotherapy Career Strategist.
I created PT Career Paths to provide career guidance and direction to physiotherapists and physiotherapy students in India. My mission is to help you build a fulfilling career.
Professional Background
I completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s from K J Somaiya College of Physiotherapy, Mumbai, India. I specialize in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Soon after completing my Master’s, I moved to the USA and cleared my license exam. Ever since then I have been working in the USA as a physical therapist.
I have worked in both the countries, India and USA. Throughout my career I chiefly worked in outpatient setup, treating patients with orthopedic dysfunction.
The problem
When I was pursuing my education in India, I used to wonder what my career options are as a physiotherapist. Many of my batchmates have started their own clinics, some were working at the hospitals/ clinics, and a few left physiotherapy for good and went on to pursue a management degree.
I reached out to my seniors and they helped me with the information they knew. Still, it was limited information coming from limited sources. I could not find a dedicated online resource for a physiotherapy career in India.
I always thought somebody should start a website to provide resources to help Indian physiotherapists navigate through their careers. In 2021, I decided it was going to be me!
Inspiration
In 2020, when the pandemic struck, I had to stay back home to look after my son who was 8 months old at the time. Having worked as a PT all my life, staying back home was a big change. Soon I started googling things like ‘Work from home jobs for PTs’ ‘remote work for PTs.’ I wanted to work creatively from home while leveraging my physiotherapy degree.
At that time, I came across various resources including the work by Meredith Castin. She helps physiotherapists in the US to transition to nonclinical roles in the US. There were many other resources dedicated to physiotherapists in the US to help them navigate through their careers.
When I came across these websites and resources, they inspired me to do the same for the Indian physiotherapy community. I know there are many Indian physiotherapists and physiotherapy students who are looking for this information.
Taking the plunge
In 2021, I first thought of starting a website. After spending about 10 minutes on google reading about how to start a website, I told myself to be practical. “Oh god, this is soo complicated! I do not have a tech background. I can’t do this”, I thought to myself. Apart from the fear of the unknown, I was afraid to fail, I didn’t know how to do things. Heck, I wasn’t even sure on what to do.
But the little voice in my head told me to keep going. Despite all the pessimistic thoughts, deep down I felt inspired and driven. Around the same time, I read Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. Where she writes,
Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.
That was the turning point! Even though I felt far from ready, and afraid to fail, I took a chance. I started building my website, from scratch!
Journey of PT Career Paths
After launching my website in April 2021, the only goal I had in mind was to be consistent in writing informative and helpful content for Indian physiotherapists.
I started researching and writing blog posts. Also, I networked and interviewed many physiotherapists for my spotlight series. I figured out and set up my weekly newsletter.
As time passed, PTs and PT students started reaching out to me with their questions. I told them what I knew and for what I didn’t know I looked for answers with them!
There is a long way to go for me but I am proud of how far I have come. I now offer various services to my readers along with other resources. In the future, I wish to persevere and work hard to make my website informative and useful for my readers.
I know, launching a successful career can feel intimidating. Not knowing what to do can make it worse. But there are so many physiotherapists in India who are doing good. So can you! I believe in you. If you stumble on your way, feel free to reach out to me or take advantage of the services PT Career Paths offers. I am happy to help!