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The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in the case of Jeff and Durand Shoup. More than two decades ago, Jeff Shoup became one of the first students to graduate from ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ with a physical therapy degree. On Friday, Dec. 9, his son Durand became one of the newest physical therapy graduates.

Jeff was a member of the inaugural cohort of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s Master of Physical Therapy in 2000 and returned to earn his doctorate once the university transitioned to a doctoral program in 2005. Seventeen years later, his son Durand has become the first ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ DPT legacy student, having graduated from a university that has played an essential role in both of their lives.

“The familiarity and the support, in and out of the school, is why I chose ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ,” Durand said, a member of the DPT Class of 2022. As a kid, Durand often accompanied his father to campus, so much so that he became the de facto class mascot. A career in physical therapy for Durand seemed like a foregone conclusion. From his point of view, however, that couldn’t have been further from reality.

“Being the oldest, you naturally rebel against your parents. For many years, my dad would say, ‘You should come check out the cadaver labs. And I was like, ‘Absolutely not, I don’t want anything to do with physical therapy,'” he said.

Unmindful of it then, the time Durand spent at and around ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ was the foundation for some of the most important relationships in his life. “Then the more I realized what I find valuable, especially in movements and my amazement with the human body … I knew that this is what I wanted to do toward the tail end of high school,” he said.

In November 1997, Durand was just two years old when Jeff and his expecting wife relocated to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. Coming from Utah, the plan was to return after he graduated. The poor job and housing markets in Utah at the time said otherwise, and nearly a quarter century later, he has built a home and career in ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ.

Jeff soon opened his own practice, Natural Bridges Physical Therapy, right down the street from where the Schar Center is now located. Natural Bridges is a small clinic where Jeff only sees one person at a time for a full one-hour session. His practice prioritizes a personalized experience, something that is scarce in the current health care landscape but is something engrained in him from his time at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. Through the years, he has seen the skills and qualities of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ DPT students evolve.

“I have ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s DPT students come to my clinic and they’re just excellent and seem so far ahead of where we were when we graduated,” Jeff said. “They’re just world-class how they do what they do here.”

For the last three years, Durand has experienced ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s world-class DPT program firsthand, gaining an invaluable education while fostering deeper relationships with ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s network of mentors. Now that he’s received his diploma, Durand has his sights on putting all that he gained from ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ to use on people who need it.

“I have only absorbed knowledge over the last several years of education and I’m ready to go out and change how individuals react with their daily environments,” Durand said. “That’s the most exciting part, to move out of the student role for the first time in my life.”

As he embarks on this post-ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ journey, Durand said he’d be remiss to not acknowledge that his student success has been heavily influenced by others, including his father.

“The connections that he’s helped me to make has definitely facilitated more and more of those people that have paved the way for me to get to where I am now,” Durand said. “I stand on the shoulders of giants.”

And ever the supportive father, Jeff has no doubts that his son will make a difference.

“I’m ecstatic watching Durand choose and develop what he wants to become. All along, I’ve been so amazed by how he’s done it himself. I had no strings to pull, he just did it. He’s developed his own style, his own way of functioning with it and he’s going to make a lot of people’s lives better,” Jeff said.