It was a long road that brought Luke Akande to Tulsa Spine and Rehab, with stops in Georgia, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, and the Dominican Republic, before coming to Tulsa, where a lifelong dream of his came true.
Luke’s interest in training began in high school, working as a student aid with the school’s athletic trainer.
“They were inspiring,” Luke says. “Showing me the ropes and what the profession could do in athletes’ lives.”
Luke went on to graduate from the University of Georgia with a double major in Athletic Training and Sports Science. He then earned his Master’s in Recreation and Sports Management from Florida International University.
He then went to work for the University of Minnesota, where he trained the cross-country team. From there, he joined the University of Oregon, where he worked as a beach volleyball trainer before heading to the Dominican Republic.
“I lived in the Dominican for a little bit,” Luke says. “I worked in professional baseball with the MLB with the Cincinnati Reds and the Dominican Summer League team.”
That was until an opportunity called here in Tulsa: OSU offered Luke a position working with USA Cycling and the National BMX racing team, which led to a dream come true: working with Team USA at the Olympics.
These days, you’ll find Luke applying his training experience to help patients here at Tulsa Spine and Rehab.
“I do a lot of manual therapy work—stretch, assisted stretch, dry needling, cupping, and therapeutic exercise programs,” Luke says. “I’ve worked primarily with athletes in my career, but here, working with a different population, it’s nice to see that I can have that same effect with patients.”
Luke especially enjoys the Outcome-Based approach to care at Tulsa Spine and Rehab.
“Dr. Riley really wants to see patients get better and return to whatever activities they enjoy,” Luke says. “Rather than help someone temporarily, everyone here has a good mindset and wants to help people get better for good.”
