On The Ball: Advanced Therapy & Sports Medicine Fills Void in Central Kansas for 25 Years

Some patients think physical therapy may be a bigger pain than the one they already have but Mark Schukman knows if they give it a chance they will be pleasantly surprised.

Yes, he has been a physical therapist for three decades but he has also been a patient and can, therefore, empathize with others.

Schukman is co-owner of Advanced Therapy & Sports Medicine, 1514 K-96; Teresa Malone, PT, has been his partner for 25 years.

“I have therapy intermittently for my low back, including decompression traction and manual treatment with good results,” Schukman said. “Recognizing symptoms early is an advantage because I can get the treatment started before the pain gets too acute.

“A lot of people wait a long time before seeing a doctor and physical therapist because they think, for example, that their shoulder will get better,” Schukman noted. “They wait three months and then it becomes a frozen shoulder. But if you catch it early on, you can prevent problems from getting worse.”

In a pinch – Advanced Therapy’s Troy Moore helps relieve one of his patients from his lower back pain. “Back pain is just one of the many symptoms we treat,” Schukman says. “We also treat numerous other things like neck pain, joint pain, sport and work injuries, and pain in the feet and ankles.” A complete list of Advanced Therapy’s services can be found on their web site, www.advancedtherapysportsmed.com.

In other cases, Schukman added, patients feel better after a few treatments and follow-up exercises for low-back pain. So, they believe, problem solved.

“Then they get back into the old bad habits and stop exercising,” Schukman said. “Their posture deteriorates and they put pressure in the area that caused the pain in the first place. If they do the exercises, they will start feeling better. At the very least, they should have a regular walking program.”

Schukman began his career after earning his bachelor of science in PT from the University of Kansas in 1978; he also earned a master’s of business administration in 2001 from Troy State University. Malone graduated from Kansas State University in 1975 with a BS in physical therapy.

In 1982, Schukman knew that Dr. L.T. Fleske was planning to build the K-96 facility for his practice. One conversation led to another and Schukman hung out his own shingle in 1983. For about 18 months, he and an administrative employee comprised the entire staff.

Then, in 1985, he asked Malone to join him in the business, which at the time was called Physical Therapy Center.

“It grew to the point where we had to hire additional help,” Schukman recalled. “We were in about 1,000 square feet of space in the back corner of this building. Now we have grown to 3,000 square feet.”

Thirteen years ago, the partners sold to HealthSouth, and three years ago they bought it back.

“We decided it was time to bring the business back to local ownership,” Schukman said. “That’s where the new name came in. We may have had three names but we have had the same physical therapists for the past 25 years.

Quality Quarter – For a quarter of a century, Mark Schukman and Teresa Malone and their staff have been providing quality customer service to their patients. “We have expanded so much in the last 25 years,” Schukman says. “We’re proud to have Troy Moore on our staff, and we plan to continue growing in the future.”

“We like to be entrepreneurial,” Schukman said. “We want to manage our own destiny; I like working for myself. And I have always enjoyed treating patients, which I still do every day.”

He also likes being a partner with another local business and Barton Community College in a program called “WorkFit.”

“This is a partnership with the college and Innovative Livestock to help with employment screenings,” Schukman said. “We offer testing to see if the employees are physically able to do the work that will be required.”

Between 800 and 900 patients each month keep the staff at Advanced Therapy & Sports Medicine hopping, especially during fall and spring sports seasons. They are also beginning to see more oilfield injuries because of the boom in that industry.

“We also see a lot of knee and shoulder post-surgery patients; these are the most common,” Schukman said. “Then it’s neck and low-back pain, and total-joint and ligament repair.”

Leg work – Dr. Mark Schukman is shown assisting one of Advanced Therapy’s numerous patients. “We help all kinds of people,” Shuckman says. “We serve injured athletes, aging adults and everyone in between.” Since 1983, Advanced Therapy has been providing quality medical services to Great Bend residents.

The therapists also offer ASTYM, which can alleviate a wide variety of problems, including carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic tendinitis, chronic ankle sprains, hamstring strains, hip pain and soft tissue changes associated with degenerative arthritis.

In addition, “we use manual therapy to correct musculoskeletal conditions involving the spine and extremities,” Schukman noted. “The manual activities are combined with exercise to target specific areas. Patients not only find relief, they also learn lifelong lessons about how to prevent a reoccurrence of their symptoms.

“Our philosophy,” Schukman continued, “is to not send patients home with too many exercises to do. We don’t want to overwhelm them. Our job is to get them back to functioning as well as they can, depending on the type of surgery or injury they had. It takes work in the clinic plus the follow-up exercises. They can’t do it all here but we will support them however we can.”

Patients need a doctor’s referral for treatment but not for an initial evaluation. However, if a past problem flares up a few months down the road, another referral for this same condition is not necessary.

Customer Care – “When we first opened in 1983,” Schukman says, “it was just me and one administrative employee. We’ve grown a lot since then.” Advanced Therapy now employs 6 therapists and therapist assistants and 3 office employees. Pictured standing above from left to right are Vera Bruner, Terri Hughes, Troy Moore, Dan Crites, Diane Erb, Terri Schettler, and Cheryl Ralston. Seated are co-owners Teresa Malone and Mark Schukman.

While patients are the center of attention at Advanced Therapy, Schukman also enjoys working on the business side of the business, which has grown by a few therapists and two locations in the past few years.

Troy Moore, PT, works with Schukman and Malone at the Great Bend location; Bonny Schartz, PT assistant, spends much of her time at the Surgical & Diagnostic Center seeing patients, who are initially evaluated by a PT from Advanced Therapy.

Tim Markus, MPT, and Sharon Campbell, PTA, work at the Hays location, which opened last year and is called Progressive Physical Therapy Center. It is located at 2209 Canterbury, Suite B. The third location opened earlier this year, with Kevyn Soupiset, MPT, and Shawn Brady, PTA; it is called Progressive Therapy & Sports Medicine and is located at 117 W. 6th in Larned.

“These opportunities presented themselves,” Schukman said. “We looked at the possibilities and decided to run with them.”

Malone is his partner in all three locations.

Services at Advanced Therapy & Sports Medicine include treatment for:

Low-back pain
Neck and shoulder pain
Foot and ankle pain
Foot and ankle orthotics
Total-joint rehab
Shoulder rehab
Women’s health
Fall-risk screening
Spine rehab
Work injuries
Sport rehab
Orthopedic injuries
Balance/vestibular rehab
Wound care