Nicole Mawhirter, PT, DPT

Nicole earned her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Quinnipiac University. She also received her Bachelors of Science from Quinnipiac, majoring in Health Science Studies with a concentration in Fine Arts. As a student, Nicole served as an executive board member of the Graduate Physical Therapy Club, volunteered at Quinnipiac’s student-run pro-bono PT clinic, and was a Co-Director of the Connecticut Student Special Interest Group of the American Physical Therapy Association. Nicole received an award from the Physical Therapy department at graduation for her contributions to the department, profession, and academic excellence. 

Nicole has been dancing since she was three years old and performing onstage since childhood, gaining a passion and respect for the stage and all its players. She is trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, pointe, and musical theater. When not dancing, singing, or acting onstage, Nicole also gained valuable backstage experience in her college theater department. Being a lifelong dancer and performer with an interest in movement of the human body, Nicole was inspired by her own positive experiences with physical therapy as a dancer to pursue a career as a physical therapist. She took numerous performing arts medicine certificate courses throughout her time as a physical therapy student to help her better serve the arts community. Nicole has clinical experience with diverse populations in inpatient acute care and outpatient orthopedic settings. She also has experience working with many different populations of artists, performers, and dancers from her clinical internship at NYU Langone Harkness Center for Dance Injuries. As a physical therapy intern, Nicole gained experience treating performers backstage, learned from esteemed dance clinicians, and helped a vast variety of performing artists return to doing what they love, both on and offstage. 

Nicole is passionate about advocating for the physical therapy profession and the performing arts community. She aims to provide evidence-based, specialized care to dancers, performing artists, and all of her patients to help improve their physical and overall well being. In her free time, Nicole enjoys taking dance and yoga classes, playing golf, going to the gym and beach, and cuddling her dog!