Hannah (Lindsey) Bowers attains her physical therapist degree

In a recent article in the Stockton Sentinel, Aleesha Wilson, who is Rooks County Health Center’s new physical therapist, was introduced to the public. And with some articles, there is always more to the story that does not make it into the paper due to time, space, etc. So as Paul Harvey was famous for saying, “And now for ‘The Rest Of The Story,’” which will be in particular interest to the community of Stockton….

Hannah Lindsey Bowers is a 2013 Stockton High School graduate and attended Kansas State University from 2013-2017, earning her bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training. Hannah’s older sister Carlee had also attended KSU and received her bachelor’s degree in the same field. It was during her years in college that Carlee took classes with Aleesha. And that is how Hannah originally met Aleesha since she is good friends with her sister. Hannah stated that when the two were taking their undergrad courses she would tend to ask them a fair amount of questions during her freshmen year at KSU.

Once Carlee and Aleesha received their degrees, Carlee accepted a position at Fort Hays State University as an athletic trainer, which allowed her and Aleesha to keep in touch since Aleesha had accepted the position as the athletic trainer for Stockton. Once in Stockton, Aleesha met Carlee and Hannah’s parents, Lee and Shannon Lindsey, as well as their brother, Cameron. So the family has wonderful connections with Aleesha. And is where the next phase of Hannah’s schooling came into play.

Aleesha knew that Hannah was applying to PT programs and she mentioned to her sister that she was looking into the program at Baylor and that Hannah should look into it as well. Hannah said, “I give all the credit to Aleesha on why I am a Baylor Bear today.”

The Baylor program is a very unique program unlike traditional ones that are approximately three years long. The Baylor program is an accelerated hybrid program, which means that all of the course work is condensed into two years instead of three. In turn, this makes the program very intense and face-paced, with Hannah stating it took a significant amount of discipline.

Hannah noted that the hybrid aspect, while it is a blessing, it also took some getting used to because while she is young, technology does not always come easy to her. Also, there were numerous trips down to Waco, Texas with Aleesha for university supervised practical training that lasted for two weeks at a time. This type of program also made it difficult to take time away to see family, so she did not get back home to Stockton as often as she would have liked.

But on the flip side, taking this course allowed Hannah to live in Kansas City with her husband instead of moving somewhere for school. Hannah noted that having a good support system while in a doctorate level program is a must! She chose Baylor’s program to further her education because it is on the leading edge of all educational programs. Not only are there other physical therapy programs looking to adopt a hybrid model, other programs such as occupational therapy and speech therapy are interested as well. This hybrid model allows the program to hire top faculty from all across the nation to be professors. Hannah got to learn from physical therapists who are well known in the community for the research and knowledge that they possess.

Hanna said there were students from 27 states in the program, so now she has close friends that stretch from coast to coast because of this experience. She has many great memories from the past two years, but some of her most cherished come from when her class came together for their lab intensives and got to learn together from the amazing faculty. One specific memory that really lead her down the pediatric path was during her pediatric lab session. The students got to work with children with different physical and cognitive disabilities. The child Hannah and her group got to work with was a very outgoing nine-year-old girl, who as Hannah states, was full of zest. The class’s assignment was to take her through a gross motor assessment. When they got the assessment completed, Hannah stated that the sweet girl was definitely the one in charge of all ten of the adults the entire time. She had them doing cheers and following her every direction by the end of the session. She taught all of them that even though work can be challenging, you must always remember to have fun. Hannah knew she enjoyed working with children, but working with that particular little girl really showed Hannah that she has a true passion for helping young people. So even though physical therapy was a career path she always wanted to pursue since high school, it wasn’t until then, that she decided to go down the pediatric physical therapy route. Working with children is one of the most rewarding populations to Hannah since she can serve them at such a key age in their growth and development that will not only benefit them in the short term, but also help them throughout their lives.

Hannah has accepted a position in Overland Park at Children’s Physical Therapy Associates, which is a pediatric out-patient clinic. The facility primarily focuses on pediatric patients but treats patients who range from birth to young adulthood. They are unique in that a majority of their patients are treated in a therapy pool.

Hannah’s husband Kenner is a project engineer for Centric, a commercial construction company in the Kansas City area. The couple live in Overland Park with their dog, Trooper.