Francisco Padilla's Road From Prison to Doctor of Physical Therapy

Francisco Padilla's path to becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy started about as far from a classroom as possible. He grew up in a rural part of Mexico where he didn't know anyone in a medical or professional career, dropped out of high school, and ended up serving five years in prison, where he earned his GED. Less than a year after his release, while working in the oil fields, he was in a car accident that left him with burns over nearly 80% of his body. He spent months in an induced coma, underwent 30 surgeries, lost the digits on his hand, and remained hospitalized for over 10 months.

In this episode, Dr. Civelli talks with Francisco about how that experience became the turning point of his life. He shares what it was like to relearn how to walk, the depression and brain fog that followed, and the moment his own physical therapists encouraged him to go back to school instead of returning to his old life. As a first-generation college student with no roadmap, he sold his car, his motorcycle, and his jet skis to study full time, retook classes he failed, and prepared for the GRE while working a near full-time job. He talks candidly about how his criminal record became a "red flag" in nearly every program application, how some interviewers questioned whether he'd even be able to get licensed, and why he pushed forward anyway.

Francisco now owns Padilla Physical Therapy and Fitness Incorporated, a family-run practice in Wasco, California, where his mother and nephew both work, and is preparing to open a second location in Bakersfield. He and Dr. Civelli also dig into the recovery tools he uses and recommends to patients, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, peptides like BPC-157 and TB-500, sauna, cold plunge, and why he believes movement is often the most underused medicine in physical therapy.

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All right. Welcome to "White Coat, Black Sheep," where science gets curious and

dogma gets uncomfortable. I'm Dr.

Sevali, and today we talk physiology, evidence, and real-world medicine,

plus the questions you're not supposed to ask but probably should.

If you care about health and think there's a better way, welcome to our show.

So today with us, we have

Francisco Padilla. He is a doctor of physical medicine-- Sorry,

doctor of physical therapy, and he's also a business owner.

So today, we're going to be talking about

your experience and your journey.

And I loved reading your story. You mentioned, and I'll just

read in your words.

Okay.

"So my journey hasn't been traditional.

I went from addiction, incarceration, and surviving severe burn

injuries with multiple surgeries to earning my doctorate and opening my own

physical therapy practice." Love it.

Thank you.

"Today, I use my story and platform to inspire others with a focus,

especially at-risk youth and people who feel like their past

disqualifies them from success." That's awesome.

"Through healthcare, business, fitness, and mentorship, I'm passionate about

proving that adversity does not have to define your future."

Wow.

Hello.

Thank you.

I am so honored to have you on. Thank you so much for joining.

No, thank you for having me. I'm excited about it.

I've been listening to your podcast, and I'm excited to be here.

Well, you've been through the fires.

You've been battle tested, and then you walked through it.

How do you think you did it? I know that's the biggest

question, but what's

the core of you that just is like, "Don't quit"?

I feel like a lot of it was

just knowing that there was more to life.

Mm-hmm.

A lot of the time, just going through every adversity

from the beginning to the end, I felt like I just kept getting

battles thrown at me.

Yeah.

And I knew there was a reason for it at the end of the day, even though at that

moment I couldn't really see it just because of the pain, just because of the

trauma-

Yeah

... just because of

the lowest places I've been and just the dark places I've been.

And

I always just knew there was more, and I just never stopped.

I just kept believing and just kept going, I would say.

So you felt like there was an underlying purpose?

Yes, 100%. I felt like

this can't be all

Yeah

This can't be all, just being

incarcerated, this can't be it.

Yeah.

I have an out date. I need to do something when I get out, or just from the

addictions, this can't be it. And from when I was in the hospital for

10 and a half months, I'm like, "This can't be it."

Oh my gosh.

So-

That's a long time.

Yeah.

Things lasted longer than they're supposed to, just

because when I was there, infections were occurring,

one thing after another. My car accident happened September 3rd,

and they told me I would be home by Christmas, but I didn't end up going home until

July 15th. So it was just

one thing after another. Had to get more

surgeries. Skin grafts weren't healing the way they're supposed to.

So just through all those struggles, I felt

like

this has to be for a purpose, and due to them, though,

it's led me here.

Yeah.

Okay, so we're back. Sorry, we had to take a little two-minute--

I had a little cough I couldn't work out.

Yes.

So back to you, back to your story. You were pushing

through a lot. Like a lot. But you still found purpose

throughout the pain, which is huge.

I love when people do that. So take it away

Yeah, so at that moment, just going through recovery, I was

burned almost close to 80% of my body. I went through 30 surgeries total.

Oh my gosh.

So just the time there, went through a lot of depression, went through a lot of

times of, like, "Why me? Why

am I still here? Why?"

And even though the medical providers, surgeons, the physical therapists,

occupational therapists, nurses,

they were all telling me that it would get better and at that moment, you don't

believe it. You're just in so much pain. I lost the digits to my hand, too.

Mm.

So it just--

And couldn't walk, couldn't do anything on my own.

So it really hit pretty hard,

and it wasn't until time passed by to where I was

finally able to walk again, being able to stand up on my own and

started making those changes that I kind of started seeing the light a little bit,

that things are going to get better.

I'm sure it was every day was its own journey.

Good days, bad, and really moment to-- Like minute to minute.

What a mind experience you're just having to push

through, because I'm sure there are some low lows you did not know existed.

Yes, 100%. Yeah, I had never been through nothing like that.

I've been through my fair share. I wasn't the greatest student.

I was a high school dropout.

Got my GED in prison. And so everything

was-- I've been through my fair share, but

nothing like this. This was just the biggest test.

It was the biggest test for me and-

Yeah

... I'm glad I made it out, and I'm better now, but-

Yeah

... that was very challenging.

Yeah. It seems like you're really making sense of

the pain that you had to go through.

And I would imagine, I know at least for myself,

the things where I find I had to question the things that

crippled me to my knees, where I'm crying and I'm down and I'm just like,

"Why am I dealing with this? Why is this my life's moment right

now?" Almost like, I don't know, in my case, if I felt

bad for myself, but it definitely was like,

"Why?" Because I feel like I make good decisions, and I

don't know, even if it's not good decisions, whatever is the

situation, there's things, I don't care who you are, in this life, you

will get broken down. And I feel like

if it hasn't happened yet and you're still riding that wave,

awesome. But you will be tested.

Yes, I feel like you said, it's a perfect example.

It doesn't matter if you're doing good or bad, I feel like we all

do get tested-

Yeah

... one way or another. And sometimes we even question it, like why them?

They never did any harm, or anything like that,

and they've been good people their whole lives and stuff, and it still happens.

Yeah.

We all get tested, and we all deal with it different ways.

Yeah.

Like you said yourself, you've been tested and you question why, but

you're here and you're doing good.

Yeah.

Even when people ask me, "How was it?"

It was difficult at that time, but

if it wasn't because of all those difficulties, I wouldn't be where I'm at.

And I always tell people it's like a painful blessing because-

Yeah

... it was really a eye-opener for me, and it got me to the point where

I'm at today, being able to have conversations with awesome people like yourself,

and being able to be here-

Thank you

... and

help so many patients out now.

Yeah.

Have my own business, have my own clinic to where people come in and feel

comfortable.

Yeah.

All of it happened for a reason.

It did. Would you ever wish that it didn't happen?

Like the burns, the incarceration, any

of it, would you ever wish that to just undo if you could?

No, I would go through it all over again-

Right

... just to be where I'm at today.

I feel the same. Isn't that wild?

Yeah.

And it was like you suffered greatly.

Why? Right? Why?

It's just

the finish line. You get to the finish line, and-

Yeah

... and I feel like I'm still not there yet.

I feel like I'm just still growing, and I'm still kind of just...

It helped my mindset kind of just get better and more broad, and I feel like now

the sky's the limit. I feel like there's no limitations to what I could achieve-

Yeah

... just because I think of everything that I've been through already.

And like you said yourself, the things that you've been through, even though

they're painful, even though they're difficult, you would do it all over again, and

I feel the exact same way.

Yeah. And I think what else is interesting, at least my

takeaway from the things that I've gone through, which

everybody has those things that again breaks them.

So mine is different than what

you had to go through that broke you-

Mm-hmm

... and made you, in some way, different on the other side.

And you can't ever shift back to that person that you were prior to

whatever was the event.

I really just think that it's

your purpose. It's your purpose, and you're meant to

be whoever you are on the other side, and that is just, it's almost

like you could feel like a victim on that side, but then you

made it, so now what, right? So making sense of that is the

next phase. And then, is this for you?

Is this for other people? You could get trapped in a whole

deep rabbit hole with it, but ...

No, that's 100% accurate because I know a lot of

people that have been through similar situations and they, instead of

trying to do better, they do play the victim, and they're just like, they get

stuck.

It gets easier.

Yes, 100%.

It's easier to be... And the victim in the sense of you're stuck in that why

me phase.

Mm-hmm.

And you're not putting any energy and purpose

into the pain. You're just sitting there receiving

and really taking energy, right?

Yeah.

It's just like

I don't know. I never wanted to be that.

I always like to just give, and at some point,

I don't know, finding the meaning of the suffering has to--

That's my thing.

Yeah.

And that's really my takeaway from what I know to be true about you, and

that's so freaking awesome.

No, yeah. And like you said, I 100% agree because just because of what

you've been through, you're able to help somebody else out with it, right?

Yeah.

It's like if you know someone that's going through a similar situation-

Yeah

... now you have relatability to them-

Yeah

... instead of just kind of guessing.

Yeah.

And I feel when we have been through those difficult times-

Mm-hmm

... we're able to help more people out because of those difficult times, and

instead of just playing that victim, so-

Yeah

... that's awesome that a

select few are able to move forward and be-

Yeah

... able to make those better choices and stuff because now we're able to

help more people out because of it.

Yeah, which was not the initial intention.

No, at all.

At all.

There's easier ways to help people-

Mm-hmm

... but jeez. Yeah.

Yeah, no, 100%. Yeah, I wish sometimes it's

like I would go through it all over again,

and I feel like it's created the person that I am today.

Mm-hmm.

But like you said, there

probably is easier ways, because I know other people that haven't been through

them, and they're still doing well.

They have,

being able to help other people out too, but-

Yeah

... some of us have to go through more.

Yeah, definitely. Were there people in your life that have fallen

out of your life throughout your growth, your change,

your difficult moments?

Yeah, 100%.

That's hard.

Yeah, I lost a lot of friends.

Yep.

And some of them are still friends, but we just don't hang

out anymore.

Yeah.

I don't know what it is. Sometimes I don't feel like it's me, because I'm the same

person. I still hang out. I still talk the same way.

Wait, but are you? Are you the same person?

In a sense I am and then I'm not. I'm a lot busier, for

one.

Yeah.

I'm a lot busier just because of the business, and my family, and my kids, and my

wife.

Yeah.

But I've grown in mindset. I'm not just

wasting time anymore the way I used to.

Yeah.

So yeah, in a sense I'm not the same person, so I

cherish my time a lot more now, I would say.

Okay.

And I try to choose the people I spend my time with.

Yeah.

Yeah, so you have a big point there because you know how you do, because-

I had to ask myself that because I'm like, "I'm the same me."

Yes.

But wait, no, I'm actually not. I don't talk about the same things.

Mm-hmm.

I don't care about the same things.

When you get really broken down to your nuts and bolts, and

then you're just in cracked pieces, and you have to figure out and put yourself

back together. Like, who am I? What am I? What's my purpose?

What's the point of me? Why am I dealing with this?

And having to walk through that and rebuild.

You know what I mean? You're

asking all those questions, and then you go back to your

friendships, and they haven't gone through this

whole thing. It's like our

conversations have shifted.

It feels trivial to talk

about the things that we once did, and I hate to even say that.

I don't want to say every conversation should be so deep.

Okay, it shouldn't. Sometimes it's like I had to learn to have fun, too.

Yes.

But it's just adding layers of depth, I guess, was part of

my journey.

Yeah. No, that makes sense, because I would go to just get-togethers and stuff

like that.

Yeah.

Because obviously they would invite and stuff, and the conversations are the same

conversations that were happening 15 years ago, 20 years ago.

Yeah.

And I'm just like, I did grow a lot, and that kind of doesn't-

Yeah

... cast my interest anymore, and-

Yeah

... so sometimes I kind of just shy myself away a little

bit and a little bit more and-

Yeah

... kind of show up a little bit less.

And it's not rude.

Yeah. No.

It's real.

Mm-hmm.

And I think real is still always the answer.

Yeah. No, yeah, 100%. Because,

I never really thought about it like that, but yeah, I would rather just be

spending time with people that are like-minded.

Yeah.

And if I'm not, just with my wife and kids-

Yeah

... and my family.

Perfect.

Yeah.

Right? And it feels like the obligation still exists, right?

Mm-hmm.

You probably

outgrew people, and you didn't want to admit it to

yourself.

Yeah.

I have.

Yeah.

And it feels bad. It feels in some way like a bad thing, but it shouldn't be.

Because I feel like everybody has a meaning and purpose at

certain times in our life.

Mm-hmm.

So, I think valuing that is a step that I'm having to figure out,

and just acknowledging it. But then it's like you're not

the inner circle right now.

Yeah.

You were awesome at the time that we were

hanging out. But now, this is where I'm at.

This is what I'm doing. This is where I'm going, and this is who I need to be

surrounded by, so that I can really target my goals and

grow as a person and be fully

purposeful.

Yeah.

So, it's different.

Yeah, no, it really is.

And I guess you

hit the nail on the coffin with that.

I feel like I was just kind of probably not wanting to admit it,

but-

I feel guilty.

Yeah, you feel guilty about-

I feel guilty

... outgrowing people, you feel guilty about-

It's negative on them, but it's not.

Yeah. No, it's not. Yeah. And it just, some of us grow in

different ways, and some of us grow faster, and some of us want

more.

Yeah.

And some people are just comfortable, and

it isn't anything negative.

Yeah.

It's just that

I see

that I have a lot more to accomplish and achieve in this life, and I can't be

wasting time.

Yeah.

To get into DPT school, that's already very,

very challenging.

Yes.

What was that experience like? Because I know there's probably a lot of people that

do listen that are trying to get in.

So, what did that look like, and what were some barriers?

Yeah. So, for physical therapy for myself,

like I said, I got my GED in prison, so education was completely new to me.

So-

Oh, that's fantastic.

Yeah, I know. I didn't even know I could really do it.

My personal physical therapists that were my physical therapists at the

hospital, we grew a bond where I was there for so long with them

that they actually motivated me to go back to school.

Wow.

And the nurses were like, "Go back to school, Francisco.

Don't go back to your same neighborhood. Don't go do the same things.

Go to school." Man.

Is your neighborhood rough?

Yes. Yeah. Just the way I grew up, the things I got involved

with and stuff like that, so just-

In Mexico?

Yes.

Okay.

Yeah, and that's why they were just telling me, "You need to stay off the

streets. You need to stay out." Because when I got in my car accident, I

had just been out of prison for one year.

Okay.

And when I went into prison, I did five years in prison.

Wow.

So, they knew my past, and that's why it was completely different

for me, because

I

never grew up knowing professionals. I didn't know no doctors.

I didn't know no nurses, physical therapists.

I didn't know these careers even existed

growing up in that area.

Because Mexico's very rural.

Yes. I just knew agriculture fields and oil fields.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think there's just the one clinic, right? Are there other clinics?

There's other clinics now. Yeah.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, there's other clinics now.

Okay.

It's growing, but it's still not the biggest, but-

Yeah

... we are growing.

Yeah.

And that's all I knew. So,

my dream was to work in the oil fields. That was my dream.

That was the biggest achievement I could accomplish, because I didn't want to go to

college or anything like that.

But that took a turn when I went to prison, because I had just turned 19.

I went to prison five years, got out at 24, and not even a

year after, I was working in the oil fields when I got in my car accident,

and-

So, you had achieved that.

Yes, I did achieve that.

Were you happy at that time?

Yes, I was happy at that time. I was working a lot.

I thought that was the dream. I thought that was the life,

working 12, 14-hour shifts. It was in

2012, so the oil fields were booming at that time here in Michigan.

Oh, that was a good year.

Yeah, that was a good year. So, it was busy, and I'm working a lot of

overtime.

Yeah.

You know-

Were you married?

No, I wasn't married.

Okay.

So, I was just-

Man.

Yeah, I was just living the life. It was good for me.

I had just got out, so I was making good money. I was working a lot.

Mm-hmm.

I was busy. I had just got my car, so I'm just like,

"This is good. This is good living." And then my car accident

happened, and that's when everything turned for me.

So,

just being around other professionals and

them actually talking to me and talking to me like a human being, not just

seeing me for my past-

Yeah

... it was very motivating because I still talk to them to this day.

I have their personal cell phones, and we talk, and we text, and they're the ones

that sent me reference letters when I was trying to go back to college.

Oh, I love that.

Yeah. So they really helped out, and that's why I love medical professionals.

Everybody, I respect them all. No matter what field it is, I respect it

because a lot of them had their part in my journey of recovery and

getting better, and also just becoming a physical therapist because

they all believed in me, and they were like, "Francisco, you could do more.

You're a smart kid. You're very young still." So,

them believing in me, and I didn't know anybody that went to college.

I was a first-generation college student in my family also.

Oh my goodness.

So,

just finding out how to get started, how to enroll in college, how to

do all these things.

It's a nightmare, right?

Yes.

It is a nightmare.

Yes.

Okay. I'm listening.

They don't make it easy. No.

No.

No, they don't make it easy, especially for someone that...

I feel like in high school now because I

let a few of them go shadow at the clinic and I try to give them some mentorship

now. But back then, well, I didn't go to school that much, so they

probably did it back then, too. I just didn't pay attention.

But I didn't have that guidance of like, "You need to do this to go to college.

You need to do this. You need to do this."

Yeah.

So when I enrolled, me and my wife now, but it

was my girlfriend at the time, we actually started going to college together.

Oh, nice.

And we're just kind of learning as we go because she's a first-generation college

student, too.

Wow.

So we're just learning on our own as we went and

just went nonstop, didn't take no summers off,

and were able to get done pretty fast.

And to get into DPT school is very competitive, so you-

Gosh. It's near impossible.

Yeah. So you really want to make sure that you are giving it your all, making sure

that you have a high GPA and that you're getting, especially with the

prereqs, that you are achieving A's and B's because if you're

getting C's and stuff like that, they're not going to accept you because-

Mm-hmm

... obviously they want you to be able to pass your program also.

Yeah.

And if they know you're barely passing your prereqs, they're not going to accept

you. So-

Yeah

... I was a little older when I went to college, so I already had that mindset.

What's older? Just because a lot of people don't-

Yeah. I started at 28.

Okay.

I started college at 28. I had birthed-

Okay

... at 28 when I started college. And so when I started,

I'm 38 now.

Okay.

Yeah. But I was 28. So when I started, I'm like,

"I know what I need to do." I sold my

car. I sold my toys. I sold my jet skis.

Oh my gosh.

I sold my motorcycle. I sold everything-

Yeah

... and I'm just like, "I'm just going to go full time."

Yeah.

I'm going to take the sacrifice.

From your oil money.

Yes, from my oil money. I'm just like, "I'm going to get rid of everything," and I

don't have money for repairs right now or anything like that, so I'm just going to

go to school full time.

You wanted it.

Yes, 100%. And that's what I was able to do.

I was able to just put everything to the side, friends,

family, and just me and my girlfriend were able just to

study full time, and we lived together, and we just studied.

And it was difficult for even just the relationship, just

because all we did was study.

Ugh, miserable. Yeah.

Yeah. All we did was study.

It's not fun. You're not getting-

Yeah

... dopamine from that.

No.

You're just like, "Ugh."

Yeah, and I wasn't the smartest kid either, so I just had to study a lot, and I was

making sure, and I would stress myself out.

And I feel like-

Yeah

... that's why I did well enough because I stressed myself to the

point where, like, "I'm not going to leave this room until I get it down."

Mm-hmm.

"I'm not going to leave this room until I make sure that I'm able to get an A or a

B."

And I was able to get it done because of that. So it is difficult to get in.

So if you are thinking and considering DPT school, you want to make sure

that you start off college from the get-go-

Mm-hmm

... with the strong mindset that it's going to be difficult, but if you sacrifice

these short years and stuff, you'll get there and-

Short.

Yeah, short years. Yeah, now it's a lot, the schooling, but

time will fly by.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

So how long did it take for you to get your bachelor's?

It took me four years, exactly, with all the prereqs.

You were speedy.

Yes. Yeah.

A lot of people can't say that.

Yeah, and like I said, I think it was just my mindset at that

time.

Yeah.

Because I know a lot of younger people right now, too, they're like, "Oh, I'm going

to take the summer off," or, "I'm going to get done with my bachelor's, then I'll

start taking the prereqs."

It's hard to hear that, right? It pains me to hear things like that.

Yes, for myself.

I'm like, "For what? For fun?"

Mm-hmm.

Also, granted, I struggle to think about doing fun.

I'm more like work mode.

Mm-hmm.

But yeah.

No, I agree with you. It does. Sometimes I feel like getting on them and be like,

"No, why are you going to take summer off?"

Yeah.

You're already in the studying mode. Just keep studying, keep doing.

Yeah.

Keep taking on-

Why would you break it?

Yeah. Why would you break that routine that you already have?

Yes, the habit.

Yeah, because those habits-

Yeah

... sometimes they're hard to get back into.

They're so hard.

So-

You taste fun, you just are like, "I want more fun."

Yeah, 100%. And that's why I feel like it was good for me because

I didn't take no summers off. I didn't-

Yeah

... do anything other than study for four years straight,

and I got done with all my prereqs with anatomy and physio, with Physics 1A,

Physics 2, Chem 1, Chem 2-

Mm-hmm

... in addition to all the classes that I needed for my bachelor's-

Mm-hmm

... and I was able to get it done in four years exactly.

Exercise science?

Exercise science, yeah. I got my-

Okay

... bachelor's in kinesiology, exercise science.

Awesome.

Yeah.

Okay. And then was that local?

I went to Fresno State.

Okay.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Bakersfield College here for my associate's, then transferred to

Fresno State for my bachelor's.

Okay, amazing. And then you had to still take an

entrance exam, right? I forget which one.

Yeah, GRE.

GRE.

Yeah.

Ugh. Ugh. Okay, so I never took the GRE.

I took the MCAT, but they're all just as miserable-

Yes

... miserable.

How did you prepare for that?

I would always buy programs because I knew I wasn't going to be the best

test taker.

Yeah.

So I would look online, and I'd do some research, and I'm like, "What program's

going to better prepare me to be able to take this exam?"

Mm-hmm.

So I forgot which program it was. It's been years now.

Kaplan?

Probably. It was probably through Kaplan because Kaplan has programs for

everything.

Yes, they do.

Yeah.

Mr. Kaplan's probably very rich.

Yes. No, especially because he's helping you pass all these exams.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, but I was able to do good enough on the GRE, and especially,

I had pretty good grades on my pre-reqs and stuff.

I was able to average,

for the pre-reqs, I think I had a 3.8 GPA, and then overall, a

3.7 GPA.

Okay.

So when I started applying to these programs, and the GRE, I forgot the score, but

I scored decent enough to be competitive when I applied.

I love how real you are. People just don't throw out their stats like that.

Just so you guys know, whoever's listening, you're super real and

authentic because it's like a secret.

Yeah.

And okay, so I'm first generation doctor, so I

guess I relate to you.

Mm-hmm.

I don't think of it as why are we score keeping or

hiding or I don't know. There's some things I had to

retake, and I feel like it's okay to say that.

Oh, yeah.

It's

freaking hard.

Mm-hmm.

It's hard for a reason.

Yeah.

And we're not naturally born doctors.

Yeah.

And so you had to really want it. You had to really

invest financial-

Mm-hmm

... and physical and emotional and everything.

You really threw all in.

Yeah.

And that's what it takes.

No,

I have forgot to mention that part, too.

Like you said, sometimes we have to retake classes.

Anatomy and physiology, I got a C on both of them the first time I took them, so I

retook them again and-

Yeah

... I was able to get an A the second time.

Yeah.

So that brought my GPA up.

Yeah.

So, don't feel bad about not getting it the first

try or-

Yep

... like having to retake it. Sometimes we have to do more than the average,

and that's okay because-

Yeah

...

hopefully, if you stay consistent, it reach the finish line, and-

Yeah

... you get there at the end of the day.

Yeah. It's about not quitting.

Yeah.

If you quit, you're for sure not going to make it.

Yes, you won't achieve anything if you just quit every time.

Yeah.

But if you just stay consistent, as you keep trying, I feel you

can't fail if you keep trying.

Yeah.

You can't. You're going to end up at the finish line.

It doesn't matter-

Yeah

... how long it takes, but you'll get there.

It's more respectable, too.

Yes.

Okay, so I have to ask, when you applied and you did your,

"Okay, so here's my GPA, here's my GRE-

Mm-hmm

... and here's my entrance,"

what do you call it in PT world? Pretty

much your personal statement.

Oh, yes.

Where you're like, "Here's my passion." And you just pour your heart out on this

paper, and then some people try to be funny, some people get ghostwriters.

It's a whole thing, okay? The application process is a whole thing.

You had to interview, right?

Yes.

Okay. So what was that experience like and did you

lead with what you had gone through?

Yeah.

I was always nervous talking to professionals because I always felt like-

They're elitist

... yes. Yeah.

Totally.

They're going to judge me from my past-

They are

... from what I've been through. Yes.

They will.

Yes, and they did.

They did.

They did, and even when I passed my board exam, I still had to

wait for my license because they had to do another background check.

They had to-

Totally.

I had to write letters to make sure that I was rehabilitated and stuff

like that. You think I would go to school for seven years and-

Red tape

... yeah, and put all this money into schools and stuff like that if I wasn't

rehabilitated?

Yes.

I felt like

it was difficult because I thought they were going to just deny me because of that,

but-

And they might.

Yes. And I feel like a few of them did.

I feel like a few of them didn't even-

Yeah

... complete my application because I checked that box of-

Yeah

... I have a record.

Yeah.

I've been through this.

Yeah.

And I feel like that's why I didn't hear back from some programs.

Yes.

And I'm thankful for the programs that did reach back out.

No, I'm thankful for them.

Mm-hmm.

Because it just is like they need real people on this side of

it.

Yes.

You need real people who have gone through some s**t-

Yeah

... to be the freaking best.

Yeah.

So, right?

Yes.

Otherwise, if you have Mr. Perfect or Mrs.

Perfect and they're just doing the protocols,

I'm sorry. I can't.

Yeah.

You're a robot. You're AI. Do we love, do we connect with

AI? No.

No, at all.

We like the imperfections.

Mm-hmm.

We need the imperfections. We need to know that, "Hey, I've been you.

You can do this. I've seen people come back from hell.

You can too."

Yeah. No,

and because of that, I feel like I'm able to be more relatable to

people.

Yes.

When people go into the clinic and they're like, "Oh, you went to school here,

too." I'm like, "Yeah."

Yeah.

"Oh, you were in Independence High." Yeah, I've been here, I've been

there. And some of them, they kind of limit themselves just because a

family member's been to jail, or, "I'm not going to be able to do this because I

don't know nobody that's been to school." And then I'll tell them my story, and

they'll be like, "Oh." I have no excuses now.

You took away all of their excuses.

Yes. I robbed it from them.

You can't even be mad. Yeah. You literally robbed them.

Yeah. Now they can't use it no more.

Find another. You have any other excuses?

Yeah.

Let's hear it.

Yeah, and that's the thing. I love encouraging people.

Yeah.

You can't use nothing.

No.

Because I've been through it, and if I could achieve it, you

could, too.

Yeah.

And you had great reasons to just not.

Yeah.

You did.

Yeah.

They're wonderful. Anybody would understand if you're like, "Oh, I can't

work."

Yeah. I

still have a disability placard, too, to this day, just because they thought I

would probably be disabled for the rest of my life.

Oh my gosh.

Just because of the severity I was in.

You're in great shape. You're fit. You're very active.

Your job is physical.

Yeah.

So, I mean...

Yeah. No, I

love to be physically active. Even when I was studying with my exercise science

degree, I was doing personal training.

Me and my brother are training for a marathon right now.

Yeah.

So, I have no limitations now, but-

No

... like you said, it would've been easy for me just to apply for disability-

Mm-hmm

... and just kind of be on the couch watching Netflix or something like that-

Yeah

... for the rest of my life.

Yeah.

And receiving a check, but I didn't choose that path.

I chose the more difficult path, which is a better path-

Yeah

... I feel.

Yeah. When you were interviewing, did any of

the interview panelists ... bring up anything

from your past and mention it as a flag.

Yeah. And they would tell me too,

because of your past-

Yeah

... you may not be able to get your

state license, and is this going to-

I would live for this

... yeah, is this going to stop you from applying to our program?

Because at the end of the day, the program is still going to basically take

your money, right?

They still get their money.

Yeah. They're still going to charge you.

Yep.

So you could get done with your whole program, pass all your exams,

and possibly still get denied by your board exam-

Yeah

... from your state.

Yep.

And I knew that from the beginning, so that was a

sacrifice I was already willing to take.

I'm like, "I'm just not going to take no for an option.

I'm going to keep going." So they did tell me that, and I just told them,

"Yeah, I understand."

Yeah.

"I understand that I might not be able to get my state license, but I feel if

I'm able to pass this

program and-

Yeah

... receive my doctorate degree,

I feel like there shouldn't be a reason they deny me, but we'll find out at the

end."

We'll find out at the end, and I just want to do it anyway.

I love that.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's so funny. So that was your flag, right?

Yes.

They call it a red flag.

Mm-hmm.

Okay. That's just so annoying. I hate that term.

I hate it so much because it's like they get to

sit on this high horse and there's a plethora of students,

applicants who are like, "Please, please, please, please, please, sir, I

desperately..."

Mm-hmm.

You're so vulnerable as the applicant, and you're against

the near impossible to get into these programs.

Mm-hmm.

And

for good reason, there's a process to

vet people and to choose these students wisely.

So I do respect it, okay?

Mm-hmm.

I do. But I've been filtered out, and

I was on the side, and I was like, I couldn't have tried harder.

Yeah.

I

just had to figure it out because as the first doctor in my family,

I'm the person who went to Books-A-Million before that was like-- I don't know if

they're even still around. But I bought all "How to Become a

Doctor." I started-

Yeah

... square one. Nobody was telling me, and the doctors who are

already doctors, they're busy.

All they need is one

more job, like somebody, "Hey, I want to be a doctor." And they're probably

thinking, "Oh, God. Don't."

Yeah.

Because it's hard.

Mm-hmm.

Right? But then at the same time,

I've had counsel from the wrong people and

point out flags, for example. So I worked full time,

and so I was taking the pre-med courses.

I had my bachelor's in radiology, but I had,

I guess, a gap because I was trying to just do it all.

Mm-hmm.

Nobody told me, "You should stop working, take out loans,

financially just eat it."

Yeah.

"That's just what it is. Go all in, and then do your pre-med

quickly, and then get in." So had somebody said that, I would

say, "Okay." I would've done that.

Mm-hmm.

But that was never verbalized to me, so I was just like, okay, I'm

going to just work because all this stuff costs a lot of money.

It's way bigger than me. Way bigger.

So all of my money went into funding this, which I'm slowly

taking it, which was giving me a flag.

And then, it takes away from you going

all into something, which I just didn't know.

I wasn't educated, and nobody advised that.

And then, for the MCAT, I took it, God, three times.

I scored so low, I didn't know that you could make a score that low.

There's four sections,

and

it's not because I wasn't smart, right?

Yeah.

It was just like I didn't have the time, and I was trying to do too

many things at once, but you can't always see yourself because that-

Mm-hmm

... when you're in it, you need somebody to counsel you.

Yeah.

And so not having that outside person saying,

"Do this," which I always try to do, and I hope--

I'm sure it offends some people, but I'm like, "I would rather you be offended than

you waste years of your life like me."

Yeah. No, and that's a good thing you do that because-

Yeah

... a lot of the counselors, a lot of people that work for these schools and stuff-

Awful

... they won't do it.

No.

They won't do it.

They're nonsense.

Mm-hmm.

Sorry. Not all people are nonsense-

Yes

... but the ones that I experienced were if I listened to them, I

would still be in the same job-

Mm-hmm

... that I started in. And that's not terrible, but that's not what I wanted or

what I was supposed to be or do.

Yeah.

So yeah. Any time gaps where you're not,

or any low scores or retakes-

Mm-hmm

... those are flags. And so now you're sitting amongst people who have already

done it, who are like, "Okay, you are a flag." I'm like,

"Really? Well, I think you're a flag.

How about that?"

Yeah.

"I think you're a strange flag."

Yeah.

But yeah. So it's hard.

Yeah.

There's barriers, and you got through them, and you had

every single reason to not.

Mm-hmm.

And that's really badass.

Well, for yourself, too, and like you said, you had to learn the hard

way, too. And I feel like learning the hard way,

like I had mentioned earlier, too, gives us the ability to help others not have to

learn the hard way. And some of them won't take the advice anyway because some of

us are just stubborn.

Yeah.

Like myself, I was stubborn. But if we

could help out just one person, two people-

That's it

... that's good.

Yeah.

It's rewarding because they don't have to-

Yeah

... struggle the way we did.

No. They can suffer in different ways.

Yes.

They'll suffer later anyway.

They'll suffer.

Yeah. Clinicals, your residency, stuff like that.

Oh my God. Miserable.

Yeah.

Miserable, right?

Yes.

You want to feel small, you try to get your doctorate in something, and then,

man-

Yeah

... you get humble soup every single day.

Yes. Yeah.

Delicious.

They'll try to put you in your place.

Yeah. Would you like some?

Yeah.

No, you'll get there for sure. Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh my gosh. So once you got in,

was there any moment where you're like, "Screw this.

I actually don't want this."

There was-

Did you try to quit?

I didn't try to quit. I thought I was going to get kicked out.

Just because like

you said yourself, nobody told me, "Stop working." Because at that time, I was

living in Fresno, and I'm like, "Okay, I could

do this." I was taking 21 units at a time. I was able to pass my classes.

I was still working. I could do this.

Mm-hmm.

And I thought I could until I seen that I was barely passing my

courses, and I was working at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno at that

time. And there I was working a good amount of hours, like 30,

40 hours just because-

That's a lot. That's a full-time job.

Yes. Yeah, it was like a full-time job, and

I thought I could do it, and then I just started getting Cs and Bs.

And then-

Yeah

... if you don't maintain a 3.0, you get put on academic probation.

Yes.

And my first quarter, they sent me the email, the warning, like, "Francisco,

you need to bring it back up, and if you don't, you're going to

get kicked out if you're not able to bring it back up by the second semester."

Mm-hmm.

So when they told me that, I'm like, "Oh, man, I got to quit." So I quit,

and

from there, I'm just like, "I'm not going to leave this room until I figure out

this information." So that was one of those moments, like you said, that was my

like, "Oh." I didn't want to quit, but I thought I did

all this work already for nothing because they're going to forcefully kick me out.

And I thought, I'm like, "Man, I'm not

going to be able to achieve this. I'm not going to be able to make it."

Yeah.

And at that moment, I was like, "Oh, man, I got to get it

together. I just got to get some student loans and-

Yeah

... just try to survive."

Perfect.

Yeah.

And that's what I would advise. If I were to talk to myself back then,

get your student loans. Money's not even real right now. Don't even look at it.

Yeah.

Don't even worry about it.

Yeah.

And I had nothing, okay? So I don't come from money.

Mm-hmm.

I didn't have anybody financing me.

It was just me, so for that reason, my mindset was

like, "I can't afford this. These numbers are bigger than me.

I'm never going to be able to pay this back." Hey, maybe not, okay? Maybe not.

But then the amount of knowledge you get from it,

this brain-

Yes

... that is worth it.

Mm-hmm.

It's worth it times 1,000, times over all the pain and suffering,

all the years. However much it costs to get that information into your brain,

is it.

Yeah. Because it actually teaches you ways to study.

It teaches you-

Yes

... how to grow because that's why a lot of people think

like, "Oh, education is just to get your degree." No, if you actually do it

with the right purpose, and you actually-

Yes

... apply yourself, it teaches you a lot. It taught me about business.

The mindset.

Yeah, 100%.

Yeah.

It taught me about business. It taught me about how to just communicate with

people.

Yes.

It taught me how to just learn and keep educating myself.

To this day, I don't need to study as much as I do, but I still study.

I try to learn business as much as I can. I try to learn from others.

I listen to your podcast. I listen to many other podcasts and stuff like that.

Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

So I try to learn from everybody, and that's how I was able to find you, and

I'm like-

Yeah

... because I'm always doing research, and I'm like, "What's going on?

What's the latest things going on right now?" But I feel like school did that for

me.

Yeah.

School taught me that mindset because I didn't have that mindset 10 years ago.

I love that.

I didn't. I was not even close.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

No, that's a super valid point. So it's like you have to be around

people who are in some way different than you-

Mm-hmm

... who have knowledge that you don't, otherwise you cannot grow.

Mm-hmm.

You are choosing to not grow.

Yeah.

So I force myself to be around people that I

can learn from, right?

Yeah.

And it doesn't mean that they're always willing to share, right?

No. Yeah.

It sometimes just means I'm shutting up, and I'm just watching.

Mm-hmm.

And sometimes I'm interacting. There's so many different

situations that you can learn from, but you have

to have that mindset-

Mm-hmm

... ready to just take it in, positive and negative, right?

Mm-hmm.

A negative situation that I learned from my Masters of Business,

I call it, was bad business deals.

Yeah.

Yeah, it could be. Yeah, you lose so much, and then you're like,

"That's not going to happen again."

It's not happening again, right? And then you make different new mistakes that are

terrible, and it's like, okay. So just getting into...

You have to jump in. You're not going to have all the answers, and you

have to be ready to learn, ready to play, and let's just go.

And

in my opinion, my strategy is recover quick.

Yeah.

When you slip, when you get knocked down, you're like, "Doop.

Okay."

Yeah, just get back to it.

Pop back up.

No, yeah. When it comes to business too, when I didn't know how to start a

business.

Yeah, me either.

I just worked at physical therapy clinics, and I'm like, "I can't be working for

these people. I want to do my own stuff."

Mm-hmm.

So that's what I did. So I started seeking mentors, and I found a physical

therapist, and we agreed on terms.

I would work for him for six months, and at that time, for less pay,

and I'll get mentored at that moment.

Wow.

But even through mentorship, and I was able to start my own clinic, I

still made a lot of mistakes.

Oh, yeah.

And like you said,

that was perfect what you said-

Yeah

... that's your Masters of-

Mm-hmm

... Business because I'm like, "Man, that's not going to happen again.

I have to pay this much money back. No, that's not going to happen again."

Yep.

So these little mistakes that we learn from,

we know then not to do them again.

Yeah.

We're not going to make the same mistakes.

Yeah.

And I feel it's sometimes we have to.

Sometimes because if you don't take those risks either, you're never going to grow.

I know.

Mm-hmm.

And that's just so frustrating.

Yes.

Yeah. And

so when it comes to

fast-forward now, so you have your own practice-

Yes

... which is amazing.

Mm-hmm.

So proud of you.

Thank you.

What is your family-- Are your family still around and-

Oh, yes. Yeah.

Yeah.

Actually, my mom works my front desk right now.

Oh my gosh.

I have my nephew working for me and stuff too.

So he's one of my physical therapy aides there.

He's been there for a few years now. He's great.

Wow.

My wife, she's a CEO. She runs everything in the behind the

scenes and stuff.

Yeah.

Like making sure billing's going good, making sure our assistants are doing their

jobs.

Mm-hmm.

So it's just a family business, and because of it,

we're able to employ people. We're able to employ people in the city.

We're able to mentor others in the community.

So-

Business has been good. I've been blessed and-

Wow

... I'm just continuing to grow, and we're actually looking for another location

here in Bakersfield right now.

That's awesome.

Yeah, so hopefully this year we'll be up and going here in Bakersfield too.

Okay, so outside of Wasco then?

Yes. Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, right. We're looking here at different buildings in Bakersfield at the

moment.

Wow.

So, yeah, we'll be having two practices hopefully soon.

Okay, so exciting.

Yeah. Thank you.

Is that happening like in the next six months?

Yes.

Okay.

Yes. Mm-hmm.

Okay. Man.

Yeah.

And so insurance-based.

Yes, insurance-based and-

Okay

... some cash services too.

Mm-hmm.

That's what I kind of want to start implementing in the new clinic.

Just-

Mm-hmm

... more

modalities like hyperbaric chamber.

I want to do like-

Yeah

... some red light therapy, and I want to-

Yes

... be able to start implementing these things as well.

They work.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so I want to do insurance, and those will be additional cash

services too on the side.

Yeah.

So that's what... In Wasco, the space that we have is a little bit

smaller, so-

Mm-hmm

... it's just mostly just insurance-based, but the location I'm looking at in

Bakersfield right now, we will have enough space to be able to do both.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Man. Well, that's so exciting.

Mm-hmm.

Let me see. It looks like we have about five minutes left, so

we're doing pretty good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So I have a clinic here, cash-based, so

definitely that would go along with what you do-

Mm-hmm

... like for the wellness portion, right?

Yes.

And the hyperbaric is amazing. I don't know which one, if you've been

shopping for them, but-

No

... there's just so many awesome benefits with it, even if you're postoperative,

as you know, or-

Mm-hmm

...

dealing with dementia for brain health, wound healing.

It's just unmatched.

Yeah.

So-

Yeah, I actually-

... highly recommend.

Yeah, I actually went through it too.

I was in a hyperbaric chamber just because of my car accident.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, so that's when I kind of started learning about it.

I'm like, "Why are they putting me in this machine?" Because I didn't know nothing

about it, but now that I'm getting more into just

obviously more services and stuff like that, I started doing my research on it.

And there's actually another doctor in Fresno that I kind of like share ideas with,

and he kind of shares ideas with me too.

And he has a few of his clinic over there in Fresno too.

Wow.

So,

I'm always trying to network, and my brother's actually in MP school right now too.

Oh, that's so cool.

So he'll be graduating this year too.

Leading the way.

Yeah. So he'll be graduating beginning next year.

So,

hopefully we could partner up next year also, kind of get some things-

That's amazing

... going there too.

Yeah.

For the hyperbaric, when you had your...

So it was for your burn treatment, right?

Yes. Mm-hmm.

How many days per week did you go, and for how long?

I really don't remember, but I know they were putting me in there at least once a

week from when I was already

conscious, when I wasn't in my... Early on, when I was in an induced

coma, I don't know how much times they put me in there.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah, because I was in an induced coma for a few months.

Wow.

So, after that, after I woke up, I know-

Mm-hmm

... they were putting me at least in there like once or twice a week.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

What I could remember.

That's insane. Do you feel like there's any...

Did you have any

fuzzy memory?

I would say probably like a year after.

There is a

post-hospitalization-

Mm-hmm

... situation that happens where it's like you have to get yourself back

to baseline.

Yeah. I feel like there was a lot of times where people would

ask me things, and it wasn't even around the time of my accident,

but-

Mm-hmm

... it would be difficult for me to remember it still.

And

I don't know if it was just because of the car accident or the trauma with the car

accident, but I did feel like I had a fog

brain for a long time.

Yeah, brain fog. Yeah

... yeah.

Just taking, I think maybe the medications too, just because-

Oh, totally

... I was on so much like-

Pain, so much

... Ambien, narcos, and oxycodones and obviously

the morphine drip when I was in there and stuff like that.

Oh my God.

I was just on so much things that sometimes like...

I remember one time, I even told my mom, because my mom was there with me a lot,

and I told her, "Oh, one of my tias came to visit me," and stuff like that.

And she's like, "No, nobody was here." But I was seeing stuff too just because I

was-

Hallucinations.

Yeah. Just because I was-

Totally

... on so much medications.

Yeah.

So, I feel like it took me a while to finally get back to

myself, even when I got out of the hospital.

Yep.

Yeah. Those medications are no joke.

But the fact that you did it is just amazing.

Amazing.

Yeah.

Did any of your interviews-- I'm just so curious.

Did any of that ever come up in your interviews? Because they're invasive.

Yeah.

They're actually cruel.

Yeah.

So did that ever come up?

Yeah, they would ask me questions about like, you know-

Oh my gosh

... yeah, they would ask me everything.

Nasty, right?

Yeah.

Like nasty. I'm sorry. Did you have however, I don't know the percentage of your

burns, but it's just like-

Yeah

... that's so personal.

Yeah.

That's the level that we get put through-

Mm-hmm

... to get vetted to be here.

Yeah, they want every detail. They want-

Yeah

... everything that you've been through, everything that you're going through at

the moment. They make sure that you're not

stuck on these medications still-

Yeah

... that you've actually been able to kick them and-

Yeah

... I was able to pretty quick-

Yeah

... after, I'm like, "No, I need to get off these things because they're not even

working anymore, so there's no reason for me to be taking them."

Yeah.

So I just kind of toughed it out and was able to get away from everything-

Yeah

... to the point where I don't need nothing now, and I'm able just to live a

healthy life and exercise every day and just eat

right and take natural supplements and stuff like that too just to

keep feeling better.

That's really badass.

Thank you.

It is. Okay. So today, do you

feel like there's any pain that you still have to manage, and that you do

that

in very organic, non-medication ways that

would help other people?

Me personally, I try to do everything natural. I have a sauna at home.

Yeah.

I have a cold plunge at home. I started

using peptides too.

Love it.

And I recommend--

I don't recommend, but I tell people, "This is-"

I do. I recommend-

I like all of them.

Yeah. I'll be like, "This is what I would do now if I was in your shoes."

Yeah.

I'm a big believer-

That's more proper.

Yes, it's more proper. So-

Yeah

... I tell them, "This is what I would do if I was in your shoes."

Yeah.

"If I was having the issues you have, I would be doing PPC

157 with TP 500 and-"

Yes.

"... I would be doing these things if I was like-"

I'll take that.

Yeah. So, me too. So that's the things that I've been doing that are more

natural now-

Yeah

... versus, because right now especially since I've been running a lot more and I

still have a lot of scar tissue around my knees and-

Oh, yeah

... just all the burns and stuff, and then I still have some discomforts here and

there, so in order to be able to recover faster sometimes-

Mm-hmm

... I do use peptides like that.

Yeah.

I try to get in the sauna at least three to four times, just not for that, but

for cardiovascular health and stuff like that too, so-

Yep

... that's why I try to-

And turning over your cells-

Yes

... autophagy, mitochondria.

Yeah, so that's why I try to do all that. So I always recommend it to people.

I always tell people, "Try to do the natural things," right?

That things that are going to decrease your inflammatory system.

Yeah.

Try to eat better, try to stay away from a lot of sugary

foods.

Yeah.

And sometimes they don't want to hear it, especially the older Hispanic population

and stuff like that. They're so stuck in their ways and stuff.

Yeah.

But I feel like a lot of younger people, they listen, and I'll tell them, "Make

sure you get your blood work done. Make sure you ask for your hormones.

Make sure-

Yeah

... that you're doing it at least twice a year."

Yeah.

"Because if you're 21 years old, there should be no reason why you have so low

energy, so make sure you ask-

Seriously

... for your hormones."

Yes.

Because a lot of the time, even a lot of doctors, I feel-- I don't know if it's the

insurance base, because a lot of them, you have to push them to check your

hormones. And I'm just like,

"Why haven't you got your hormones checked if you're feeling-

You know what?

... so low energy?"

I don't want to speak for all doctors, but I can say that it's

not common that your training

includes hormone management.

Okay.

It's almost like we're trained to just send people to endocrinology, and

I say we because I have a primary care background, family medicine.

Mm-hmm.

So you do rotations through different specialties, but-

Mm-hmm

...

the core of the guideline

recommendations is really a referral.

So-

Okay

...

on one hand it's like, oh, handle everything in-house, but on the other hand it's

like this is a specialty, so don't touch it.

So I'm like, uhh-uhh-uhh.

Yeah.

So then I had to taught myself through-

Mm-hmm

... going to these different courses and

reading books and just making myself the specialist, right?

So getting-

Mm-hmm

... the board cert in it so that now I know what to do with it because

it's in every single patient.

Yeah.

And it's every single thing that it's-- Yeah, it's just associated to so

much pathology. It's like you have to know it.

Yeah. No, and that's-- Yeah, I didn't know that, because I'm not in your

field-

Yeah

... 100%, but-

Yeah

... I always recommend it to them. I tell them sometimes we have to give a little

fib, like, "I'm trying to do everything positive.

I'm trying to get good sleep. I'm trying to eat good, and I still have low energy."

Yeah.

If you tell them those things, they'll be able to do your hormone panel now.

Maybe.

So yeah, maybe. Maybe if you push them a little bit more. So I always push for it.

I always push for blood work. I personally go through

a company online, and I get my blood work done twice a year, and they're

able to give me my results on the app, and I'm-

Yeah

... able to talk to an NP on there and you kind of just get what I

need from there-

I love it

... and stuff like that. So

that's what I do, and that's what I always encourage other people to do, too,

because if you don't even know what's going on in your own system-

Yeah

... how are you going to be able to take care of yourself?

And-

Yeah

... that's why I love the medical field. I love everything about it.

I love encouraging people to seek help, to be able to talk to

professionals.

Mm-hmm.

And if you're talking to one that they're not doing enough, find another one.

Yes.

Yeah, so-

Yes

... it's very simple.

Exactly, yeah. I love that because if one doctor's saying no,

there's still somebody out there for you. Maybe you're not a good match.

Yeah.

And so it's just a lot of people don't even know that they can do

that, and that maybe there's just a different personality style-

Mm-hmm

... that would better fit with you.

Yeah.

So, yeah.

Yeah, a lot of them get hooked, like you said.

Yeah.

Sometimes they don't know they could.

Yeah.

And sometimes they

build that bond because they've been with them for five to 10 years-

Yeah

... something like that, or this is a family doctor.

That's why I've been knowing them my whole life, and I'm like, "Okay, but if

they're not doing what you think," like even for myself-

Yeah

... my physical therapy approach is more physical.

Yeah.

I like to take more of a physical approach, more-

Yeah

... movement approach.

Yeah.

I

don't use hot packs. I don't use cold packs. I don't really use TENS units.

I get people moving, and I-

Yeah

... do manual therapy and-

Yeah

... so my physical approach may not be for everybody either.

Right.

So if there's a lower-level patient and they're so used to the traditional physical

therapy, and they're used to the-

Yeah

... hot packs and the cold packs-

Yeah

... and the TENS units. Okay, well, there's places for that.

Absolutely.

There's a city over that you could go to, and they'll-

Yeah

... do that for you.

Yeah.

But-

And it's not personal.

Yeah, it's not personal.

You won't even be offended.

No, I'm not at all because I'm like-

Same

... yeah, so I'm not offended at all.

There's a-

Yeah

... place for you.

Yes.

And I'm not for everybody.

Exactly. Same.

But it's good to-

Yeah

... know that also that I'm not going to get offended, that-

Yeah

... it's okay, but

me, as a physical therapist, I might

not be your cup of tea. I might not be the type of treatment that you want.

Yeah.

Same thing with medical doctors.

But you might be.

Yeah, I might be. And- ... majority of the people that go there love it, because I

get-

Yeah

... them moving. I teach them things they've never been through.

They say they've never been to a physical therapy place like that because majority

of them will just have them lay down.

Yeah.

When I have these people moving up and down the hallways, and

they didn't even know they were able to do things like that, but I'm-

Yeah

... teaching them that they could, that their bodies-

Yeah

... are resilient, that they're stronger than they think.

Trust their body.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

And they start believing themselves to the point where they're like, "My pain is

gone.

I haven't had pain in a month." And I'm just like, "Yeah, it's crazy what movement

will do, right?"

Yeah. No, it really is.

Mm-hmm.

That's the answer.

Yeah.

So, well, it looks like we are needing to

wrap up, but-

Yeah

... it's been an absolute pleasure having you on.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It is super inspiring.

How can people find you if they want to reach you-

Yeah

... maybe for a referral or anything?

Okay. My name's Francisco Padilla, and my practice is Padilla Physical

Therapy and Fitness Incorporated.

We are located here in Wasco, California right now, and we are going to be

having another location in Bakersfield soon.

I love it. Oh.

Thank you.

Keep living your purpose.

Thank you so much for having me.

Looking forward to having you.

It was a pleasure meeting you.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.