Rachel Donaldson

Dr. Rachel Donaldson is a native to Cary, North Carolina and is passionate about serving the surrounding community she grew up in. Rachel played softball throughout her highschool career and continued playing through intramural/recreational sports in college. She has always been interested in working with athletes and active populations and took special interest in studying the benefits of injury prevention and recovery through physical therapy.

Rachel attended the University of South Carolina where she received her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and went on to earn her Doctor of Physical Therapy from East Carolina University. During her time at ECU, she had the opportunity to complete her graduate research in the Human Movement Analysis Lab looking at the clinical predictors of knee joint contact force asymmetry during running following ACL reconstruction. Rachel was selected to present a platform presentation on her research at a national physical therapy conference in San Diego, California in 2023.

Rachel has a passion for amteur recreational sports including, but not limited to; pickleball, disc golf, spikeball, and beach volleyball. She enjoys staying active herself and working with both beginner and advanced level athletes of all backgrounds. During her time at East Carolina University, she trained for and completed her first half marathon which has helped her develop and understand the mindset of an endurance athlete. Rachel completed her final clinical rotation at BYoung where she was trained to analyze both running and pitching mechanics via 2D video analysis to improve efficiency and reduce risk of injury.