Dr. Patricia Sullivan’s, BHS’68 55-year international career in physical therapy began when she entered the undergraduate program at Bouvé in 1964. “My first two years of physical therapy education were in the Bouvé program at Tufts, before Bouvé joined Northeastern. The education that I subsequently received at Northeastern started me on a tremendous professional path.”
Living in Speare Hall on Huntington Ave, Sullivan and her 25 physical therapy classmates quickly made connections within the Northeastern community. She still remains closely connected with a group of seven that calls itself the “Bouvé Broads”, all who have held their physical therapy licenses for 45 years and all who continue to gather and reminisce on a regular basis.
After graduation, Sullivan took a position at Massachusetts General Hospital to practice physical therapy. A master’s degree at Northwestern came next, followed by 12 years teaching at Boston University and while there co-authoring two textbooks on Therapeutic Exercise. While enrolled in a PhD program at BU, a simple and “serendipitous” letter changed the trajectory of her career path. The letter, from a professor at Curtin University in Perth, Australia invited her to spend a month teaching in their physical therapy program and leading workshops in Perth. She expanded the month into a 10-month teaching trip across Australia and South Asia. When back in Boston she joined the faculty at the MGH Institute. Through increased professional contacts and an ever-growing personal network Sullivan parlayed that initial trip into 30 years of international teaching while writing two more textbooks.
In 2018, Sullivan was asked to speak at the physical therapy pinning at the Bouvé College of Health Sciences graduation, 50 years after her own ceremony. That afternoon, in another serendipitous moment, a student approached Sullivan after listening to her recounting her career and said that she wanted to follow Sullivan’s life of international service. “It’s just so rewarding to see young professionals wanting to do what I have loved doing,” Sullivan says.
The conversation with the student at graduation stuck with Sullivan, who used it as a catalyst and motivational tool while writing her book “Boston, Bangkok, Bombay & Beyond: The Journeys of a Physical Therapist” over the course of the pandemic. In this memoir she tells her story of navigating world cultures while teaching the science of physical therapy and the art of human connections behind it. The book chronicles Sullivan’s exposure to the many cultural experiences and professional challenges she met and learned from during the work of 30 years.
Sullivan’s extraordinary life, from her Northeastern experience to her global presence, has sparked an interest in physical therapy for countless Huskies. In addition, she has guided Huskies during their professional development through her supervision of co-op students.
To her fellow Northeastern community members, she states “I think we can become insular in what we teach, learn, and practice. There are so many ways in which we interact internationally and that affect how we, as individuals and as a community, can work in the world.” Dr. Sullivan’s work will continue to inspire Huskies for years to come.
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I think we can become insular in what we teach, learn, and practice. There are so many ways in which we interact internationally and that affect how we, as individuals and as a community, can work in the world.”
Patricia Sullivan, BHS’68