Q&A with Andrew Pritikin, ’08 physical therapy alumnus


Andrew Pritikin received his degree in physical therapy from USC in 2008, after working several years as a self defense instructor, office manager and industrial salesman. He now serves as clinical director of the Bauerfeind Performance Center in Santa Monica, which works with a variety of professional athletes and will work in the Olympic Village for the London 2012 Games.

On Saturday, he will speak at the first Youth Summit for the Foundation for Second Chances, a non-profit organization devoted to helping underserved children. The Youth Summit, which will be held at USC, was created to inspire Los Angeles area high school students to actively plan for their futures.

 

Daily Trojan: What are you going to talk about at the Youth Summit?

Andrew Pritikin: We’re going to  be speaking to kids who are interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, who play sports and who are interested in doing physical therapy as a profession. We’re going to talk about basic types of injuries that they see on television at college games. We’ll explain what happened to the injured athletes.

 

DT: Why are you reaching out to these children?

Pritikin: I used to teach a sports injury class at Santa Monica Community College. Then I was able to reach the kids at a level when they were in their decision-making process of what they wanted to do. The step beyond that is to help other kids at a high school level and let them know there is a profession out there that allows them to work with sports at a high level.

 

DT: What do you most remember from your time at USC?

Pritikin: It was a lot of work, but just knowing that I was at the No. 1 school in the country gave me the assurance that I was learning for the best by the best. One professor, Dr. Cheryl Resnik, taught a professional development class that focused on how important it was to have ethics of equally high standards as the manual skill I was learning.

 

DT: What are you really proud of?

Pritikin: I work with a lot of professional [mixed martial arts] fighters, so the therapy I do with them is very intense. I’m happy to say that I make a number of them whimper. When you put those guys in pain, you know you’re doing something right.

 

DT: What kind of technology do you use in your line of work?

Pritikin: We use sports motion analysis. High speed video cameras at multiple angles are used to biomechanically access athletes’ motion to find the defects and compensations. This has been around for a good number of years. Something else we’re using now that’s more advanced is what’s called the MediLogic system. It is a wireless insole system where we have the athletes either walk, run or move in a lateral motion. We’re able to get pressure readings on each insole to see exactly how they’re landing, what their foot is doing, how it’s moving and the proper custom insoles that are needed for that particular athlete. It’s wireless so there’s nothing that encumbers them, so they can do their natural motion without any issue.

 

DT: What kind of clients do you see?

Pritikin: I am working with some 14-year-old swimmers who are looking forward to going to the Olympics in five years. I’m working with tennis pros who want to go to the Olympics next year. I’m working with the US Olympic Committee, going to explain what we do here because this company will be working in London. I’m lucky to work with the US Olympic Committee where this company will be, inside the Olympic Village at the London Games.

 

DT: What will you do at the London Olympics?

Pritikin: I get to run the PolyClinics — a clinic for all the countries that need treatment. Whatever comes up, you’ll treat it. It’s great. I’m a sports physical therapist, and it’s truly the most you can really do. Next to working with professional athletes every day — the Olympics is really the biggest thing you can do. It’s great. I’m very excited.