Shelle Murach

On Friday, May 29, shortly before 2 p.m., a contractor working on a flooring project at the CASAT offices suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. Several employees from the Center for the Application of Substance Abuse Technologies (CASAT), at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health immediately responded. Those employees consisted of: Manda Brown, Michelle Berry, Bryana Guerra-Carrera, Sarah DiNatale, Kaitlyn Witt and Sophia Bassi. They quickly assessed the situation and moved into action.

What happens when one of the nation’s fastest-growing states does not have enough physical therapists? For Daryl Lawson, PT, MPT, D.Sc., professor and director of the Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Public Health, that question is at the center of his work. Nevada ranks third from the bottom in physical therapists per 100,000 residents, and that gap grows considerably wider outside the Reno-Sparks and Las Vegas metro areas.

The pitcher steps onto the mound, and the game slows, just for a moment. Cleats press into the dirt. Fingers find familiar seams. There is a brief pocket of quiet where years of training, repetition and muscle memory settle into place. Before the arm moves, before the ball leaves the hand, the body balances on one leg. The motion begins. That sequence unfolds over and over again. Pitch after pitch. Inning after inning.