Prepared by Sanatan Golden, DPT of Optimal Results Physical Therapy, about his professional partnership with Ray McClanahan, DPM of Northwest Foot & Ankle.
When I moved back to my hometown of Portland in 2010 with my wife and infant daughter, I did so to be closer to family. I did not expect to get any more traction in the medical community with my natural-foot treatment concepts than I did in Seattle, which was basically none. Yet again and again, I heard other practitioners saying: “you’ve got to meet this ‘barefoot-podiatrist-guy’, Dr. Ray McClanahan. You guys are speaking the same language.”
Soon after meeting, we realized that despite coming from two distinct disciplines [podiatry and physical therapy], we had reached many similar conclusions about the foot’s ability to support itself and the problems with most modern footwear. With a blueprint hashed out on the back of beer coasters, Dr. Ray and I decided to try to create Minimalist Mondays, a weekly community-education program designed to share some of these concepts with the public, and help those interested to become happier and healthier runners. 2+ years, 90 clinics, and thousands of miles run and walked barefoot by participants later, and the message continues to grow.
We have filmed the entire 12-week Minimalist Monday series in its entirety, from special guest speaker Michael Sandler in Week 1, to the cross-Portland relay Tabor2Crest in the Week 12 finale. So even if you can’t make it down to the live sessions in Portland’s waterfront park, you can follow the program at home with weekly episodes released on Northwest Foot & Ankle’s YouTube channel.
Overall, I feel blessed to have connected to Dr. Ray and my patients have benefited greatly. From his ingenious Correct Toes, to introducing me to Dr. Rossi’s influential articles, Dr. Ray has been nothing short of a great influence to my practice, and gracious colleague. We have worked together successfully on many patients and I look forward continuing to grow for years to come.
