Michael "Mike" McMorris, PT, DPT, OCS, FAAOMPT

I became a physical therapist after experiencing first hand the injuries that can occur while playing sports. Shortly after graduating college, I opened my private practice. During that time, I was the physical therapist of a first division basketball team and a provider at the international Diamond Racket tennis tournament. After moving to the United States 10 years later, I worked as the manager in an outpatient spine center, but after 2 years, I opened an outpatient clinic that specialized in orthopaedic manual therapy. The treatment approach was a combination of manual hands-on techniques, specific exercises for the targeted condition and patient education. In 2016, I teamed up with a national physical therapy company for 4 years, but in 2020, I joined UNC so I could give my patients the care they deserve.

I became a physical therapist so that I could share my love for movement, exercise, and health science with others. I utilize this knowledge to help my patients achieve their unique goals and improve their overall well-being. I look forward to working with a wide variety of patients and helping each person reach their individual goals. I love the variety that outpatient orthopedics has to offer and the ability to work with people both across the lifespan and across the functional spectrum. As a former athlete, I am particularly interested working with athletes of all calibers, especially those that are swimmers. I also spend part of my work time in the pool implementing aquatic therapy which serves as a valuable mode of exercise for a variety of populations. I believe that every patient is unique and therefore their care needs to be individually tailored to match their specific needs. This pushes me to be creative in developing my rehab plan and allows my interventions to pertain more closely to the patient’s goals. I strive to utilize evidence-based interventions and aim to provide the absolute best care possible. My overall goal is to support my patients in getting back to doing the things that they love to do. Outside of work, I love to travel, hang out with friends and family, spend time outside and try new restaurants.

Working as a physical therapist is a great opportunity to help people simplify the often confusing course of low back pain or neck pain. The McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy is central to my approach and helps me to determine both pain relief and functional restoration strategies unique to each individual. I have been practicing in spine specialty centers since 2007, utilizing my orthopedic background and personal athletic experiences to help people resume active and healthy lifestyles.