February 2022: If you’re getting Rehabilitation services or doing a wellness workout at the RVNAhealth Rehabilitation & Wellness Center this winter, keep your eyes open for Corey Dunn. A Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) student — and head coach of the WCSU men’s hockey team — Corey is doing a clinical internship with RVNAhealth and he’s a great addition to the team — engaged, kind, collaborative.

“Having Corey here,’ says Kate Campbell, DPT, RVNAhealth Outpatient Practice Manager, “is fun and invigorating. Corey brings new ideas, the latest in education, and he asks a lot of great questions. In responding to Corey, it reminds us that the decisions and directions we advise as clinicians have years of thought and experience behind them. He also reminds us to keep thinking.”

Corey, now 27, graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a degree in health promotion and exercise science. But even before college, Corey was well familiar with physical therapy. A lifelong athlete, he had started as a sports therapy patient in his early years, eventually being hired as a local PT Aide before enrolling in a PTA program. “The more physical therapy I had,” explains Corey, “the more interested I became. The PTA Program at Norwalk Community College confirmed my suspicion. This is the field for me.”

“Corey, like me” says Kate Campbell, “had a very positive experience with physical therapy early on, and wants to offer that gift to others. Physical Therapy can give people their lives back, restoring mobility and activities that are very important to them. It’s wonderful to see Corey thriving in this occupation, and passing the gift forward.”

Corey will be at RVNAhealth through mid-March, shadowing Kate Campbell, DPT, and Jeff Panepento, MSPT, and participating in all aspects of the physical therapy role.  All RVNAhealth Rehabilitation clients have the option of meeting Corey during their services, or simply viewing him from across the gym. As part of his clinical education, Corey will also accompany RVNAhealth physical therapists on in-home visits, and attend sessions at the RVNAhealth satellite clinic at the Golf Performance Center.

“I’m gaining so much just by being here,” says Corey. “It’s impossible not to learn when there is a gym filled with motivated clients, all on their own paths to recovery and recuperation.”