Manager of Content Development — Adrienne Nova

This week’s spotlight is on Adrienne Nova, DPT, a non-clinical physical therapist who is now Manager of Content Development for Medbridge!

What is your full name, title, and company name for your current, primary role?

Adrienne Nova, DPT — Manager of Content Development for Medbridge

What additional roles do you currently have?

Wife and mom 🙂

Where are you located?

Greater Seattle area, local to our studio in Kirkland, WA.

Where did you go to PT school, and what year did you graduate?

University of Washington, 2012.

What did you do when you first finished school, and for how long?

I worked for Infinity Rehab for about five years. I worked primarily on the inpatient side of an independent living facility with an associated assisted living and skilled nursing facility building.

In what setting(s) did you work, and what types of patients did you treat?

I worked in geriatrics, both inpatient and outpatient.

What did you enjoy about your early roles? What didn’t you enjoy?

I really enjoyed the relationships I built, both with my patients and the interdisciplinary team. I also enjoyed designing functional, person-centered, and creative treatment plans. Helping to optimize a person’s functional mobility is so impactful and rewarding!

The physicality of the job was both good and bad. I liked being active during the day, but it didn’t seem feasible long term. I also didn’t love the productivity pressures, and the emotional toll that came with the job was heavy at times.

What else have you done since then, prior to your current role?

I have always had a love for learning and creating, so I started consulting with Medbridge soon after graduation. I wore a variety of hats, including model, item writer, and consultant instructor for content related to transfers and other functional mobility.

I also started to miss the educational environment (nerd alert), so I reached out to local programs and ended up landing a role as the Clinical Director for Pima Medical Institute’s Physical Therapist Assistant program in Seattle. I worked there for six years after leaving my full-time job at Infinity.

When and why did you decide to do something non-clinical?

I realized early on that I wanted to grow beyond the clinic.

I chose to explore paths that allowed me to tap into my passions for writing, creating, and teaching, and to build my skills as a content creator and educator.

What are you doing these days?

I am the Manager of Content Development at Medbridge. My team includes the pre-producers, who partner with consultant instructors to create our continuing education courses, as well as the content writer and training developer who develops compliance training and customer education content.

Are you still treating patients, or are you solely non-clinical?

I am solely non-clinical, but I am so happy and proud to continue to serve the front line clinicians that have such a vital role in our healthcare system!

This is one of things I really appreciate about working for Medbridge—we are trying to partner with clinicians, not replace them.

How long have you been in your current role?

I have been with MedBridge full time since October 2022. I began as the Compliance Content Manager before being promoted into my current management role in December 2023.

What do you wish you would’ve known before going into this manager of content development role?

Transitioning to a non-clinical role will take time and work to redefine yourself. It’s important to network and explore different directions in order to make yourself stand out and increase your chances of landing the job you want.

Did you get any special certifications or training along the way to help you get into your current role?

I did not, but networking was a very important part of my success. Thank you specifically to Meredith and The Non-Clinical PT for giving me a community early on. That really helped keep me motivated, and it’s so cool to see how much this community has grown since the early days!

How did you find your job? Did you apply or find it through a connection?

After having my daughter, I was looking for a change professionally. Returning to work after maternity leave was hard for me, and I needed to find something that reignited my passion and also had a more flexible schedule for my family.

I had a previously established relationship with Medbridge as a consultant, and the timing was right when I reached out to apply.

Did you do anything special to your resume and cover letter to land the job?

I did not, but I did leverage guidance from LinkedIn Learning to assist me with my resume.

What was the interview like for the role?

I interviewed with multiple people on the team and presented a project. It was a rigorous process. Now that I’m on the other side of it, I really appreciate the effort and care we put into selecting the best person for the job.

What are some of the things you did to stand out, take initiative, and advance in your career?

Speak up! You might just have a great idea or innovation to share. I also care about my work product AND the people I work with, and I think that it shows.

How have people reacted to you leaving patient care?

With lots of support! I think mainly it was me standing in my own way in the beginning, but I’ve moved past it. Communities like The Non-Clinical PT really help with seeing the value we can bring outside of clinical care.

What’s a typical day or week in the life like for you? What types of tasks and responsibilities fill your time?

I am what you would call a working manager. My days are a balance between:

• Supporting my team members
• Planning/scheduling/delegating projects
• Writing and producing content
• Process improvement and documentation
• Working on new and priority initiatives surrounding how we develop our content

What are some of the rewards of your role? What are the biggest challenges?

I really love getting to be creative in the early stages of a project or program. For example, working on our new therapy podcast series this year has been so much fun!

Growing as a people manager has also been so rewarding and humbling. Your definition of success changes to encompass a team vs. individual achievement. You are also making decisions that directly impact others in their daily work and can help shape their future pursuits.

How did your clinical background prepare you for this role? Which skills transferred?

I think being a clinician, a teacher, and a mom prepared me for my current role. My interpersonal skills, creativity, clinical eye, and especially the fact that I CARE.

Roughly speaking, how are the hours and pay compared to patient care?

It’s hard to say, as I assume I would have changed positions had I stayed in the clinical world, but I’ve had a consistent pay bump during each transition.

What type of person do you think would do well in your manager of content development role?

Someone who is creative and a good communicator. I do a lot of writing and communicate verbally, both with team members and subject matter experts.

Ready to start your own non-clinical career?

Do you work remotely or onsite?

Mostly remotely, but I do go into our studio to support shoots on about a monthly basis.

Does your organization hire PT, OT, or SLP professionals into non-clinical roles? If so, what type of roles?

Yes, we do! There are clinicians in multiple departments. It’s all about your personal background.

We do have a new clinical team that is growing as we expand into digital health as well.

Did you read any books, take any courses, or do anything special overall to get you where you are today?

Mainly networking on LinkedIn and with groups like The Non-Clinical PT. I also attended the Rehab Tech conference.

What is a typical career path for someone in your manager of content development role?

This role was created when I stepped into it.

What is next for you? What are your high-level career aspirations?

TBD. I feel really proud of where I have made it to in my professional life.