Ep: 55 - Rethinking The Current Education System with Doug Kechijian

Today’s guest is Doug Kechijian, a private practice physical therapist, former Pararescueman in the U.S. Air Force, and co-founder and CEO of Resilient Performance Systems. His practice “seeks to systematically explore the continuum between acute rehabilitation and athletic performance.” Doug graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Brown University, and at Columbia University he graduated with a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology and, afterwards, a DPT.

We originally intended to focus today’s conversation with Doug on how he practices; but we ended up covering all things knowledge, learning, and competition in the PT journey, as well as the need for apprenticeship to come back again.

We do a deep dive into the many realities we don’t like about the current education model and how we would approach certain things differently. In particular, we talk about how the challenges presented by COVID-19 have fully exposed the modern U.S. university’s many flaws, including burying people in student debt, outdated modes of teaching, measuring performance, the fact that “free” doesn’t actually mean free, and the over-prioritization of theory over practice while undergoing apprenticeship.

Listen in as Doug explains what makes Resilient Performance Systems stand out in the PT industry; flaws in the education system regarding prerequisites, accessibility, tests and exams, and loans; and how apprenticeships in today’s world should have a different approach compared to traditional methods of teaching.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• [02:21] An introduction to Doug and Resilient Performance Systems
• [15:41] Problems with today’s universities in the U.S.
• [32:34] A case for a re-hauled apprenticeship model
• [42:25] The ever-mounting student debt crisis and alternatives to the university
• [45:00] Why going straight to college after high school may be a bad idea
• [42:28] A primer on nasal breathing
• [51:24] Nasal breathing versus mouth breathing
• [58:14] Mike and Tommy’s parting advice

 Get in touch with Doug:

• Explore Resilient Performance Systems here
• Follow Resilient Performance Systems on Instagram 
• Follow Resilient Performance Systems on Facebook 
• Follow Doug Kechijian on Twitter 

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