Belmont alumna Erin Cook was featured in her hometown newspaper, The Elizabethton Star, for her work in the Sports Residency Program at Physical Therapy Services in Elizabethton, Tenn. Cook, who received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Belmont in 2009, is preparing to take the Certified Sports Physical Therapy Specialty exam. Cook is currently working with with Dr. Danny Smith, a Belmont adjunct professor, and his son Dr. Justin Smith, a 2006 graduate of Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy.

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PTS intern helps Smiths serve area better
BY IVAN SANDERS
SPORTS EDITOR
Elizabethton was playing one of its biggest games of the season against CAK. It pitted the number five and six teams in the state according to the polls. Unfortunately for the Cyclones, they would see their starting quarterback, an offensive lineman, their kicker-receiver defensive back, and a starting
defensive back succumb to injuries and have to come out of the contest.
Each time a player went down on the turf, there was a young woman who would dash across the field to where the injured player went down with a back pack on her shoulder to access the player’s injury. Her name is Erin Cook and she currently holds the distinction of being the only intern on staff of a sports physical therapy office in the state — possibly the only one in the Southeast.
Dr. Danny Smith and his son, Dr. Justin Smith, who operate Physical Therapy Services in Elizabethton, brought Cook on board to give her the ultimate opportunity to hone her skills. Cook graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Clemson in 2006. She went on to earn her Doctorate Degree in Physical Therapy from Belmont University in 2009.
For Cook, working in physical therapy has been like a glove – it’s been a perfect fit. “When I was at Clemson, I took a class in Anatomy and fell in love with it and knew I wanted to be in the health field, but I also wanted a life,” said Cook, a Dobyns-Bennett High School alumnus.
“In P.T., you can go into different settings as well as being able to have a family. You also can either work full time or part time based upon what you want
to do.”
Cook became familiar with the Smiths’ while at Belmont as part of an eight-week rotation that she completed as part of her studies.
While completing the rotation, Cook developed a love-affair in working with athletes who
went down to injury and came to the office for treatments. “I fell in love with working with athletes due to the complex treatments they can tolerate and see them return to action with quick results,” continued Cook.
The opportunity to come back to the Elizabethton area after graduating Belmont came as a result of the Smiths’ extending an intense 13-month, 2000-hour internship with Physical Therapy Services which would allow Cook to study for her Certified Sports Physical Therapy Specialty exam.
Cook said that working in a setting which offers such specialized P.T. tools such as the Trezer, which is a sports-specific instrument that only a handful of P.T.’s in the Southeast have, and the Biodex, which is only the second machine sold in the Southeast that allows work on passive range of motion postoperation, has been worth its weight in gold.
Being able to actually see an athlete from the initial time of injury to a complete return is also a rewarding part of the internship. “The number one rewarding thing for me has been the ability to see a player from the time they are initially injured, evaluate the injury, have them in therapy, get them through surgery if needed, and then rehabilitate them and get them back to action,” stated Cook.
Cook stated that she was not sure what she would like to do once the internship is completed because the possibilities are open-ended, but the opportunity to possibly return to her high school alma mater or
work with the East Tennessee State athletic department is just a couple of possibilities. Cook also recognized that with the highly-respected reputations of the Smiths’, there could be doors opened to her that she otherwise might not have.
According to Dr. Justin Smith, having Cook on board has been beneficial for not only her, but for the service that is being extending by her presence. “Having Erin on board has allowed us to extend further into the community to service the area better,” stated Dr. Smith. “She has allowed us to be at more sporting events and take better care of the needs
of our community.
“The internship program is definitely something we want to continue, even after Erin has completed her time with us.” Cook is a native of Kingsport and is engaged to Mr. Bentley Hankins. She has two cats – three-year old Ansley and four-month old Bella.