Steph Fratoni

Mountain Hawk Heroes: Field Hockey Alum Steph Fratoni

9/16/2020 12:42:00 PM | Field Hockey, Support, Features, Flight 45, Intellectual Development

Every Wednesday, Lehigh Athletics, Lehigh Valley Health Network and Coordinated Health is proud to recognize a Mountain Hawk Hero - someone associated with Lehigh Athletics who is making a difference in the medical field. We continue today with field hockey alum Steph Fratoni '15.

Previous Mountain Hawk Heroes
September 9: Mike Price (Swimming and Diving Alum)
September 2: Yasmin Deliz (Track and Field Alum)
August 26: Evan Guerrero (Men's Lacrosse Alum)
August 19: Ross Biggs (Baseball Alum)
August 12: Cynthia Izuno Macri (Soccer Alum)
August 5: Susan Westman (Rowing Student-Athlete)
July 29: Megan Hetzel (Track and Field/Cross Country Alum)
July 22: Lexi Martins (Women's Basketball Alum)
July 15: Nii Daako-Darko (Track and Field/Cross Country Alum)
July 8: Ali Linsk Butash (Softball Alum)
July 1: Kimberly Scotto-Wetzel & Jonathan Wetzel (Track and Field/Cross Country Alums)
June 24: Robert Bonow (Men's Basketball Alum)
June 17: Morgan Decker (Softball Alum)
June 10: Jim Guzzo (Former Quarterback)
June 3: Amina Affini (Women's Basketball Alum) 
May 27: Natalie Krane (Women's Soccer Alum)
May 20: Tricia Klein (Women's Golf Assistant Coach)
 

By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications
 
Steph Fratoni '15 does whatever it takes. It's what she did as a Lehigh field hockey standout and her selfless team-first attitude has carried over into her professional career in a tremendously impactful way.
 
A physical therapist, Fratoni did what was best for public health at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
"I work for a larger health system and while I'm in the outpatient setting as a PT, the inpatient setting was handling the front lines," said Fratoni. "They had the acute COVID patients in the ICUs on ventilators."
 
Fratoni had to be prepared for anything.
 
"Ultimately, our clinic was condensed to two days per week because we stopped taking new patients," she said. "The other days of the week, I was shifted to various locations to help out in any way my license would legally allow. I went over to the hospital and was screening – taking temperatures and asking the screening questions. Other days, I was distributing N95 masks to the nurses in the ICU."
 
One weekend, Fratoni was pulled into acute rehab facilities.
 
"My hours were whatever shifts needed to be covered," she said. "I had to be very flexible and adaptable.
 
"Where Lehigh, and being an athlete in general, substantially prepared me is putting the team before oneself."
Steph Fratoni 
In this case, putting the greater good before oneself led Fratoni to a hospital setting, which brought with it obvious risks.
 
"At the time, there was so much unknown that everyone was a little bit hesitant to go into the hospital," she said. "Our infectious disease department was sending information every day to let everyone know the newest updated standards, and they were making sure we were as safe as possible. We had the appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment), hand sanitizer and goggles. Just being part of a hospital system, they would not want to put any employees at unnecessary risk.
 
"I felt like I was in good hands."
 
Selfless In Every Setting
Fratoni compared the moment of jumping into a high-risk situation like a hospital to an example from her Lehigh playing days.
 
"In a game against Bucknell, I blocked a shot, but it broke my hand," she said. "You know the goal the team needs to reach and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get there. You don't really think twice if it's your role at the moment."
 
No matter the setting, Fratoni has always put others before herself.
 
"Ultimately, I got into physical therapy because I want to help others and make a difference in the community," she said. "I had an interest in pursuing physical therapy even before Lehigh, as a result of some injuries I had suffered along the way that resulted in me spending some time in PT."
 
One injury was particularly frustrating and took some time to diagnose.
 
"It ended up being a physical therapist who diagnosed me correctly," said Fratoni. "I rehabbed with that therapist and came back stronger than I had ever felt. In my time at Lehigh, I also saw the value in rehab and again suffered my fair share of injuries where I worked with the athletic trainers."
 
Fratoni didn't need any more convincing. She had seen the impact physical therapy had made on her life and wanted to give back.
 
Post-Lehigh Road
After Lehigh, Fratoni started at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and graduated with her doctorate in physical therapy in 2018.
Steph Fratoni 
"When I first graduated from PT school, I was pretty set on working in an outpatient orthopedic setting, primarily with athletes," she said. "I worked for a company where I was able to do that for quite some time and I loved the patients I worked with. But I ended up getting an opportunity with the company I currently work for, Bryn Mawr Rehab and Main Line Health (located just outside of Philadelphia)."
 
Fratoni was given the opportunity to take on a travel role.
 
"I was originally hired to work essentially at every hospital within the health system and every outpatient clinic within Bryn Mawr Rehab," she said. "My role was to cover therapists' vacations or days off, or at certain locations where they needed extra coverage. The position was a great way to continue growing my skills, identity mentors within the company and figure out exactly what I enjoyed treating the most."
 
Fratoni worked at various locations, and with different people.
 
"I later accepted a position at one of the outpatient clinics," she said. "I continued rotating around the system, but knew I loved that location and the therapists there. It was a great place for me to grow and develop. There ended up being an opening and I was asked if I was interested in the position."
 
Fratoni was interested, and as they say, the rest is history.
 
All About Relationships
Today, Fratoni primarily sees patients with orthopedic or neurological conditions.
 
"I am certified to treat patients with Parkinson's disease and I'm working towards completing a competency to treat vestibular disorders as well."
 
Regardless of a patients' condition or backstory, Fratoni understands that physical therapy has to do with more than skills learned in a classroom.
 
"Obviously, you study anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and pathophysiology of medical conditions, so from a science standpoint, you have to put all these things together, know how everything works and which type of treatment plan will be most effective," she said. "But what makes each patient encounter unique is that every patient has a different goal in mind. What you might have as a goal for a patient might not be his/her goal, and that might change entirely how you're going to approach the patient's session.
 
"You have to develop a relationship, find out what motivates that patient and what his/her goals are, then tailor your session to that patient."
Steph Fratoni 
Every day, Fratoni is tapping into the same skills she developed as a Mountain Hawk. Because she was so respected, Fratoni was a rare three-year collegiate team captain.
 
"Everything goes back to learning about connecting with people," she said. "I remember having conversations with the coaches, my fellow captains and (Director of Athletics Leadership Development) Julie Ammary, and talking about the importance of understanding the perspectives, values, concerns and motivations of our teammates."
 
Everyone's motivations are different, whether you're a physical therapy patient or member of a sports team.
 
"How you could speak to one person for it to be well-received might be different than how you speak to someone else," said Fratoni. "Those were skills I learned at Lehigh, and have continued to build upon to this day. It's helped me build appropriate relationships with my patients and coworkers, and become a more effective communicator."
 
Be Present At All Times
Lehigh also helped Fratoni in another area… compartmentalizing.
 
"We would say that once you get to the other side of the mountain to the athletic facilities, be present there before you go back and worry about school," she said.
 
To this day, Fratoni can appreciate the value of being present at all times
 
"In physical therapy, you're one of the few health care professionals who gets to spend a full hour with a patient multiple times per week," she said. "I always thought that was awesome. But you're scheduled from the time you get there until the time your day ends, except for lunch. You have to stay focused and 'on' the whole time because you're going from one patient to the next to the next without much of a break in between.
 
"You have to compartmentalize and make the most out of the patients' session currently in front of you."
 
A Lifelong Learner
In front of Fratoni currently is an opportunity she loves. She is back in her typical environment – working outpatient physical therapy (with increased safety measures, of course due to the ongoing pandemic).
Steph Fratoni 
Fratoni is very happy today, but never satisfied. That continued desire to improve is what's made her so successful.
 
"At this point in my career, I'm still trying to soak in everything around me and take up every learning opportunity possible," said Fratoni. "Lehigh instilled in us getting better every single day. In health care, everything is always changing, so you have to commit to being a lifelong learner."
 
Licensed as a generalized therapist, Fratoni has a broad range of abilities and interests. If the pandemic has taught nothing else, it has taught the importance of adapting.
 
"Once you graduate with your doctorate in physical therapy, you can work in any area of physical therapy," she said. "I can treat a variety of conditions. There are a variety of specialties I could pursue (such as orthopedic certified, neurologic specialized and more), but I definitely want to know that it's 100 percent what I'm interested in before pursing anything."
 
Whatever comes Fratoni's way in the near and distant future, her ability to adapt will continue setting her up for success.
 
She credits her time as a student-athlete for helping plant an important foundation.
 
"As a physical therapist, you may come up with a treatment plan. Or as an athlete, you may come up with a game plan," said Fratoni. "You may start implementing that plan and it's not working for you, it's not working for the patient or it's not working for the team. On the fly, you need to be able to quick take a timeout, adjust, come up with a new game plan and implement it."
 
Fratoni's game plan in life is selflessly doing whatever it takes. And in the process, she's making a difference in the lives of so many people.
 
She wouldn't want it any other way.
 
 
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Steph Fratoni

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