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Patient Care Spotlight - Kelly M.

Patient Care Spotlight: Kelly M.

Kelly is one of the friendly, dedicated clinical assistants who help our doctors care for patients at Orthopedic Specialists, but there’s more to that smile than meets the eye.

Like most of our young assistants, she intends to further her medical career – in her case, a physician assistant. Looking at her, you would not guess that she has already achieved a major life goal, one that is totally unrelated to healthcare: She is a world-champion Irish step dancer!

If you have ever seen the Riverdance troupes on stage or on YouTube, you are familiar with this captivating style of formation stepdancing. Palm Harbor-born Kelly and her older sister began taking lessons at a young age. She competed at local, regional, and national levels, becoming one of 100 Americans invited to participate in the world championship in Ireland when she was 17. “At that point, I had reached my goal and decided to turn my attention to college instead of going pro,” she says.

Like her sister, who is now in medical school, Kelly gravitated to the healthcare field. “Being in athletics and dealing with the challenges of injuries got me interested in how the body works and how it heals itself,” she says.

She earned a bachelor’s in Exercise Physiology at Florida State University, dabbled in physical therapy, and then turned her attention to orthopedics here at Orthopedic Specialists as she prepares for her next step.   

Today, Kelly enjoys pursuing both of her interests, teaching at step-dancing summer camps and helping patients heal at Orthopedic Specialists. “The doctors are awesome – so eager to teach us and answer all of our questions, and I also learn from what the doctors tell the patients,” she says. “You see a lot, you learn a lot, and every day is a new day.”

Author
Marie Eide Marie Eide is the social media and content strategist at Orthopedic Specialists. She has been writing in the healthcare space for 15 years. All content is reviewed by our physicians.

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