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James Sloan, PT, DPT, spent eight years treating outpatient patients in Naples, Florida, before a growing neuro caseload pointed him toward a very different kind of healthcare job. He’s now a Therapy Development Specialist for Vivistim, which makes a vagus nerve stimulation device used in stroke recovery.
The role sits at the center of three relationships at once: the company that builds the technology, the hospital and outpatient therapists who trust the device for their patients, and the stroke survivors relearning movement with it. That three-way balancing act is common to medical sales roles built for physical therapists, and Sloan has held a few of these types of roles.
His first stop outside the clinic was a similar device-sales role, and the move meant walking away from PSLF eligibility with only two years left to go. It’s a trade he can confidently describe positively in hind-sight.
Read on to learn how a PT ended up training therapists on a stroke device, and what he’d tell a clinician weighing the same kind of leap.
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Eight years of outpatient PT, and the neuro caseload that pointed him toward neuromodulation
What is your full name, title, and company name for your current, primary role?
James Sloan, PT, DPT — Therapy Development Specialist for Vivistim
Where are you located?
Dallas, TX.
Where did you go to PT school, and what year did you graduate?
Florida A&M, 2016.
What did you do when you first finished school, and for how long?
Practiced PT in Naples, FL, for eight years treating the general population.
In what setting(s) did you work, and what types of patients did you treat?
Hospital-based outpatient setting with an emphasis on sports rehab, spinal pathologies, and chronic pain. Eventually I started treating neuro patients, which led me into the field of neuromodulation.
What did you enjoy about your early roles? What didn’t you enjoy?
Creating a positive impact on a patient’s quality of life while utilizing a variety of treatment strategies was incredibly fulfilling. On the flip side, the long hours, minimal pay increases, and hospital policy changes were detrimental to my long-term happiness and desire to advance my career within the clinical setting.
Weighing a non-clinical offer against two years of PSLF eligibility
What else have you done since then, prior to your current role?
During my time as a PT, I worked a part-time position as a solar consultant to develop sales experience. My previous role, and first full-time non-clinical position, was with Bioness as a Clinical Territory Manager in Dallas, TX, helping patients acquire functional e-stim devices for foot drop, knee instability, and hand paralysis.
When and why did you decide to do something non-clinical?
In 2022, I was offered a position with Bioness through my connection with the local Florida representative, with the stipulation of moving to Dallas. The opportunity to advance my career while continuing to work with patients and clinicians was one I couldn’t turn down, despite being two years away from the PSLF program forgiving my student loan debt.
It seemed like a poor financial decision at the time and initially was filled with much doubt, but looking back became the best decision I ever made.
I’m happier than I was as a clinician, and with a significant increase in pay plus stock options, it offset my student loan situation.
The patient who put Vivistim on his radar, and how everyone reacted to the move
What are you doing these days?
At Vivistim, I’m assisting clinicians with evaluating and treating CVA patients for our Vivistim Vagus Nerve Stimulation technology. I’ve found fulfillment in providing education and assistance to therapists while advocating for patients to receive the highest quality treatment available in the area.
Are you still treating patients, or are you solely non-clinical?
Currently, I’m solely non-clinical, but I do help clinicians with treating patients who’ve been implanted with our Vivistim device, which is awesome because I still get to use my clinical knowledge and see amazing patient outcomes.
How long have you been in your current role?
Eight months.
Did you get any special certifications or training along the way to help you get into your current role?
Having prior sales experience helped tremendously in entering my current role.
How did you find your job? Did you apply or find it through a connection?
When I was at Bioness, I saw a patient who had a Vivistim implant and noticed how much her arm and gait had improved, which piqued my interest in the company. A few of my colleagues had taken jobs with Vivistim, so when a position opened up in DFW, I utilized my connections to get an interview.
What was the interview like for the current role?
Awesome! Everyone at Vivistim is either a therapist or has sales experience, and leadership is very laid back, so it was effortless to connect with everyone.
How have people reacted to you leaving patient care?
Everyone was overwhelmingly supportive, from my family and friends to co-workers.
If the transition didn’t work out, they knew I still had my license and could fall back to clinical work.
What the Therapy Development Specialist job actually involves — and who it suits
What’s a typical day or week in the life like for you? What types of tasks and responsibilities fill your time?
The majority of each week is heavy on educating patients, therapists, and physicians. Almost every day I provide an in-service, short CEU course, have lunch with a physician, or speak to an interested patient. Other times I’m observing and assisting therapists during treatment.
What are some of the rewards of your role? What are the biggest challenges?
It’s incredibly rewarding to positively influence more patients in my current role than I was able to as a clinician. Seeing incredible patient outcomes is a huge bonus as well. The biggest challenge is keeping up with staffing at therapy sites given the high amount of turnover in the therapy world.
How did your clinical background prepare you for this role? Which skills transferred?
My clinical background was essential to prepare me for my current role. Understanding the pathology, clinical presentation, and treatment of the stroke population helped with selling Vivistim to providers and assisting therapists with treatment.
Roughly speaking, how are the hours and pay compared to patient care?
The hours are more sporadic. Some days I work less and some days more than I would in the clinic.
I like to compare myself to a realtor: “I’m always working, but never working.”
The pay is very competitive. I’ve doubled my salary as a PT.
What type of person do you think would do well in your role?
Someone who is well connected in the therapy world, outgoing, organized, and enjoys growing a business would thrive at Vivistim.
Do you work remotely or onsite?
Hybrid. I’m on site at hospitals, therapy clinics, and physician offices while working from home at times.
Does your organization hire PT, OT, or SLP professionals into non-clinical roles? If so, what type of roles?
Yes, Vivistim only hires PTs and OTs for the Therapy Development Specialist role.
The reading list, and where a role like this can lead
Did you read any books, take any courses, or do anything special overall to get you where you are today?
Initially, persistence in finding a non-clinical position was instrumental. I relentlessly targeted Bioness as the position I wanted and applied three times before being selected.
Since entering sales, I’ve worked with a mentor and read a few books I’d highly recommend. Never Split the Difference by Christopher Voss has fantastic content on emotional intelligence, communication strategies in adverse moments, and effective question asking.
Two others are How to Become a Rainmaker by Jeffrey Fox, which focuses on problem solving to grow business, and The 4 Disciplines of Execution, which focuses on strategic actions that will help you reach set goals.
What is a typical career path for someone in your role?
Business fluctuates more than clinical work. Sales professionals stay with companies an average of 18 months, jumping to the next best opportunity. Others find companies with more stability and stay longer out of satisfaction or opportunities to grow within. Depending on an individual’s skill set and desire to grow, a typical career path might include working up the ladder of sales positions, entering a leadership role or executive role.
What is next for you? What are your high-level career aspirations?
Eventually, I see my career path leading to either leadership within a sales team or starting my own business. Having financial freedom and autonomy while being fulfilled by providing value, or a product that improves lives, is the end game.
His advice for clinicians eyeing medical sales — and what he’d change about the field
What would you recommend to someone who is considering going into a role like yours? Do you have any special words of wisdom for the readers?
Find a part-time sales position where you can work on off hours or the weekends. Many medical sales companies are hesitant to hire clinicians without sales experience, but more open if you have the combined skill set. Another idea is looking into companies that provide products/technology that are being used in your clinical setting and targeting them for potential opportunities.
It speaks volumes when you’ve used a company’s product and can speak to it firsthand.
What would you like to change most in your profession, and why? How would you propose doing so?
Since we heavily rely on therapists for our business to be successful, increasing PT/OT reimbursement would improve their quality of life and retention. The answer to this is challenging, but I believe a heavier involvement in the APTA, lobbying, and assistance from the AMA could help.
Do you have any special advice for others who want to follow in your footsteps?
If you’re a clinician who still loves patient care, but for various reasons is considering medical sales, look for a clinical specialist position. It’s a great entry point into the sales world while still working with patients to improve outcomes.
Other titles for this type of job, and how they can differ
Sloan’s own title, Therapy Development Specialist, is not the only name for this kind of work, and the other names split into two genuinely different jobs.
One cluster — Clinical Specialist, Clinical Liaison, and Clinical Support Specialist among them — centers on training clinicians, supporting existing cases, and driving adoption of a product that’s already in the building. That’s Sloan’s actual week: in-services, CEU courses, and time spent observing and assisting therapists during treatment.
The other cluster — Area Sales Manager, Territory Manager, Regional Sales Manager, and Account Executive — centers more on growing the territory itself: finding new accounts, expanding existing ones, and managing a longer sales cycle, the way Karen Bonney describes her own Bioness role, linked in the spotlight below.
What to read next
- Our guide to clinical specialist roles in medical device sales — the title Sloan points people toward when asked how to break in.
- Karen Bonney’s spotlight at Bioness Medical — the same company Sloan started at, from the Area Sales Manager side of the territory.
- What hiring managers actually look for — patterns from months of employer Q&As, from the people doing the hiring.
- How to build your first non-clinical resume — the translation problem every clinician hits when a resume is still written for a clinical audience.
- The Non-Clinical Jobs Report, from Go Non-Clinical — sales and business development was the second-largest category of non-clinical postings in Q2 2026 quarter, at about 12%.
More resources for your non-clinical career
If you’re finding your own way through the non-clinical transition, we’ve created these FREE resources to help you get your bearings.
- Our weekly jobs newsletter: 100+ fresh non-clinical job postings every week, plus new spotlights, our latest articles, and hiring partners recruiting straight from our community.
- Four Secrets to Landing a Fulfilling Non-Clinical Healthcare Job: our free mini-course, delivered to your inbox.
- Our free career quiz: 15 questions, and you’ll come out with a much clearer picture of which non-clinical sectors suit you.
If you’d rather follow a step-by-step roadmap than piece this together on your own, that’s exactly why we made Non-Clinical 101. It’s our course & community teaching rehab pros how to make the switch in half the time with twice the confidence.
