We’re proud to have such a tremendous team here at Alliance Physical Therapy, and we want to showcase each of our PTs in a regular piece here on our blog! One of our amazing physical therapists is our Owner as well – Phil Chamberlain. Check out his Alliance PT ‘behind-the-scenes’ interview!

What is your role/position?

Well, I am a Physical Therapist first and foremost. I’ve been doing this for 15 years now, initially graduating from The University of Hertfordshire in the UK in 2003. I am the owner of Alliance PT which I opened in October of 2015.

What are your duties within that role/position?

My role is quite extensive. My favorite part of my role is actually doing the bread and butter work of a PT i.e. treating all my patients. I am passionate about relieving suffering and doing that with excellence. Outside of that I operate the clinic as a whole. I formulated the branding of Alliance PT and am responsible for growing the partnerships within the community. With regard to Physicians, we partner with physicians in Primary Care, Sports Medicine, Orthopedics, Chiropractic, Pain Management and Neurosurgery. Beyond that we have established relationships with athletic trainers, personal trainers, home health PTs, schools, gyms and even local employers and charitable organizations. I guess the final part of my role at Alliance PT is caring for my employees. I try to match my passion for patient care and developing excellence in this arena with my passion for creating an excellent environment for my staff. From creating a close team with good communication to creating a sense of being valued, I want to create a place where my staff are excited to come and work. I want to equip them with the infrastructure, equipment, support and training to do their jobs with excellence and finally, I also want to make sure they don’t get burned out. It takes a lot of energy to provide the type of care we aspire to.

What made you decide to open Alliance PT?

Well, I’m never short of an opinion and I have a passion to do things right. After working for a decade in settings across England and the US and having experienced both socialized medicine and private healthcare I developed a strong sense of how I wanted to “be” as a physical therapist. As my desire to open my own practice grew I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Pinnacle Rehabilitation Network – an organization that facilitates therapists to open their own practice. The final piece of this jigsaw was as we established relationship with Martins Point Healthcare (MPHC). What was so amazing here, is that, MPHC are both a provider group and a health plan. This puts them in a unique position where they bridge the gap between socialized medicine and private healthcare. In them we found a common bond around principles of the Triple Aim i.e. aiming for excellent outcomes, high patient satisfaction and cost effectiveness. From there the project developed and culminated in us opening in October of 2015. We haven’t looked back since.

What is your favorite thing about working for Alliance?

I am so fortunate because, despite all the work involved in owning and running a practice – I am having an incredible amount of fun. Feeling like I can make things the way that I believe are best for our patients, my staff and our community partners is the best feeling.

We all work so hard but we have a lot of fun doing it and it’s an amazing feeling to be working towards something bigger than ourselves and being successful by doing what is right for others.

How would you describe Alliance’s clinical philosophy? (Or your own!)

Our mission here at Alliance PT is “getting you better, quicker”. This really encapsulates the entirety of our vision of the triple aim. We achieve this through 4 values – keeping “you at the center”, “unique treatment plans”, “outcome orientated service” and “educating and empowering” our patients.

We aim to achieve maximal improvement in minimal visits through living out these values in our practice.

How would you describe Alliance’s clinical environment?

Clinically, I’d describe us as evidence based, patient oriented and delivering a balanced approach of both hands on treatment and corrective exercises. Although we do have private treatment space, the clinic is quite open which facilitates a community environment where patients encourage each other and are motivated by others success.

With your career, what are you looking to accomplish in the next two to four years?

I plan on continuing to learn and develop as a physical therapist. New research and evidence is always coming out and I want to grow along with that. I also want to continue to train and develop my staff, giving them access to the best professional development courses and facilitate them in maximizing their potential and career goals.

Outside of work, what is something you do for fun? A hobby?

As is true for all of us – ultimately it’s the people in our lives not our “work” that is the most important. Since I do spend a lot of hours working my favorite thing is to get home toss my bag to one side and connect with my wife and children. My daughter, Poppy (11), educates me on her favorite music and all the animals she wants to raise on “her farm” when she grows up and my son, Flynn (8), just wants to throw, kick or wrestle with me.

I enjoy all types of activities as long as I am with others – soccer, tennis, strategic board games, kayaking and going for walks. In a rare moment of peace and quiet I would probably read, listen to relaxing music or contemplate.

What is one unknown or fun fact about you?

I might soon be one of America’s newest citizens! After making America my home for the last 14 years I am finally making it officially “my” country – well at least adding it to my current sense of being English and Singaporean. It is officially the country I have lived in the longest.

Alliance Physical Therapy is proud to be Portland, Maine’s first choice for physical therapy! Located at 331 Veranda St,(Building 6 Suite #3311), we’re here to get you healthy – and happy – once again! If you or someone you know is in need of physical therapy services, do not hesitate to contact us today!

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