Anna Rubakhina (left) is a PT and clinic director in Boston. She advises all early-career clinicians to literally put pen to paper and chart out their career goals.

In a recent call for volunteers, APTA Magazine asked established PTs to reflect on their early careers and share what they wish they had known in their first three years on the job. Interviews with several PTs revealed a few common themes that may surprise readers. Namely, our sources suggested that one of the most important qualities that PTs and PTAs can cultivate in their early careers is comfort with uncertainty, asking questions, and seeing beyond their own diagnoses or preconceptions. In short, much of the hard-won wisdom our sources shared emphasized the benefits of practicing humility.