Sandy Quillen ’77 has been honored with the prestigious Ronald G. Peyton Award at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Section Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
The Peyton Award acknowledges and honors a member of the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy who has made a distinguished contribution to the specialty of sports physical therapy.
In accepting his award, Quillen expressed gratitude for the many people in his career – teachers, colleagues and administrators – who had a part in his success.
A career in physical therapy had long been a dream of Quillen’s. He first applied for physical therapy school after completing his undergraduate degree in 1973, a time when there were only 38 accredited programs in the country.
“Those numbers really worked against you,” Quillen said. He would apply for physical therapy school three times.
In the meantime, he took a graduate teaching assistantship at the University of Missouri and earned a Master of Science degree in adapted physical education. After completing his degree, he applied a second time without success to physical therapy programs. Quillen then took a teaching and coaching position at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina. The third time he applied, Quillen received acceptance letters from every program to which he sent an application. He chose the University of Central Arkansas.
At the same time, Quillen accepted a U.S. Navy scholarship which required him to serve two years in the Navy after finishing his education in physical therapy.
“Both my father and my grandfather were sailors, so that opportunity appealed to me,” said Quillen, a native of Monticello, Arkansas. The two years he was required to serve stretched into a 20-year career in the Navy.
Quillen recounts a few patient stories in his career that sums up his role as a health care professional. One was a young boy named Joey whom he treated in the late 1970s. Joey had an infection that led to septicemia and brain damage. Quillen helped him relearn how to walk and move.
“I’ll always remember his infectious smile,” Quillen said. “It encapsulated what my role is as a physical therapist. That’s what I enjoyed most about my Navy career. We were more service-driven than business-driven. I feel very blessed and fortunate I was able to work in an environment where the focus remained on the patient and their care.”
Quillen says the kindest compliment he ever received from a patient came from a woman who had a hard time moving her shoulder. It made it difficult for her to do everyday activities like dressing, combing her hair or brushing her teeth.
“During her last session, I was going over exercises she should continue to keep up her range of motion. She said to me, ‘Dr. Quillen, I want to thank you. You gave me back my hope,’” he said.
Quillen has held various clinical and leadership positions in the physical therapy discipline. He later earned a master’s in health services management from Golden Gate University, a doctorate of philosophy in sports medicine from the University of Virginia, and a doctorate in physical therapy from the University of Montana.
“I’ve had a tremendous number of opportunities along the way to work with some of the best and brightest orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists and athletic trainers who became lifelong friends and professional colleagues. That’s one thing that really made my career so enjoyable.” Quillen said.