Our Graduates. Their Stories.
Regardless of where they serve – in medical clinics, private practices, rehabilitation centers or home health agencies – graduates of Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program are answering the call to provide holistic care to patients of all ages and from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
One common thread connects them: They are using the research they conducted, the practices they learned and the compassion instilled in them to make their presence felt in their communities, improving the lives of others wherever their career paths have taken them.
‘You just never know what kind of opportunities you’ll have’
Whether he’s working with NFL athletes or a 94-year-old trying to walk without pain, Ryan Baugus treats his physical therapy clients with the same mindset: They are the “star of the show.”
“I love waking up in the morning and having this feeling of the possibilities ahead – you know, that feeling of, ‘What’s gonna happen today?’” says Baugus, a 2015 graduate of Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program and the cofounder and owner of Headquarters Physical Therapy, with locations in Beaverton, Milwaukie and Bend, Oregon.
On one particular day, Baugus will work with an NFL athlete training for the upcoming season. On another, a 94-year-old man simply wishing to walk without back pain will pay him a visit. On still another, a firefighter who sustained injuries in multiple car wrecks will begin a rehabilitation program that will ultimately restore him physically, emotionally and mentally.
‘I feel at home here’
In August of 2023, Martin Johansson left his home in Denmark and traveled across the ocean to Newberg, Oregon, to pursue a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree at Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox. He’d dreamed of going to America for a long time, but when he finally arrived, things got off to a rough start.
“Every beginning is hard,” Johansson says. “I was frustrated and irritated, and I was questioning myself. What did they see in me coming here? Why did they choose me?”
Luckily for Johansson, he was surrounded by peers and professors who refused to let him quit.
‘I want to ease the pain of others’
It seemed so clear that a career in athletics was Desiray Anderson’s destined path when she arrived at Â鶹´«Ã½ Fox as a first-year PT student. “When I got here, I was all about sports,” she says. “That was my identity for as long as I can remember.”
Funny, though, how things often don’t go according to plan.
Today, Anderson is working as a physical therapist at Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington, finding satisfaction in helping others overcome everyday obstacles. “I want to give back and be a part of something that’s bigger than myself. That’s healthcare.”
‘Empathy and compassion are the two biggest driving factors in my life’
When Gavin McBride was in high school, he decided he didn’t want to attend college. Upon graduating, he worked at bicycle shops around the country, chasing adventure after adventure and dreaming of opening his own bike shop someday.
Little did he know that his passion for cycling would eventually lead him to a meaningful career as a cardiopulmonary physical therapist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Today, he’s working his dream job as a geriatric cardiopulmonary physical therapist at the local VA hospital in Portland.
“At my job, I get to problem-solve and find solutions that maybe neither one of us thought of at first,” he says. “I get to connect meaningfully with all of my patients and learn something new from every one of them.”