USD School of Health Sciences Success Spotlight: Jason Steere, PT, DPT

Degree: Master of Physical Therapy, PhD in Health Sciences candidate

Jason Steere, PT, DPT

Current Position: Clinical Assistant Professor/Interim Director of Clinical Education, University of Puget Sound School of Physical Therapy

Jason Steere describes his career path as an "adventurous wander". As a kid in Sioux Falls, he hadn't intended to go to college. But after a stint in the military, Steere changed his mind and enrolled at USD.

"At first, I didn't really know what direction I wanted to take," he says. "But then I was in a car accident and got care from a chiropractor. That kind of turned me in the direction of healthcare."

Steere studied athletic training as an undergraduate and went on to earn a Master of Physical Therapy degree from the USD School of Health Sciences.

His PT career started at a clinic in Las Vegas where he also interned with the LA Dodgers' Triple A affiliate baseball team. Before long, Steere was tapped to be the minor league rehab coordinator for the Dodgers. When a Dodgers colleague got a job with the Seattle Mariners, he invited Steere to be that team's major league PT.

Steere spent four years with the Mariners. Along the way, he earned a transitional DPT and completed a fellowship. Today, he teaches in the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Puget Sound and has returned to USD to pursue a PhD in Health Sciences remotely.

"I wanted to go to a program that I knew and trusted," says Steere. "The last program I was in, I didn't feel like they even knew my name or what my project was. USD is so different."

Steere says he appreciates the flexibility of distance learning and the ability to move at his own pace. But what he values most are the relationships he's built.

"I ran into one of my influential former USD professors at a conference and she remembered me," he says. "It was like seeing extended family. You might not talk to them for years but you know that they are always there."