Dr. Amber Schlemmer, owner of Primary Prevention Physiotherapy, is a community champion dedicated to helping people in Genesee County and beyond live the healthiest life.
Dr. Schlemmer, a Flushing, Michigan native, is proud to return to her hometown to provide necessary services to members of her community. Her husband, Eric, and two amazing children, Liliana and Bohdi, keep her as active as ever and you’ll likely see her out with her daughter running the trails in Flushing as they train for the 10 mile Crim every year! Amber is passionate about helping the community achieve a healthier, more active lifestyle to prevent the repercussions that come with a busy, modern lifestyle of fast food, inactivity, and stress. Whether you are limited by pain, by weight, by motivation, by time, or by lack of awareness, trust that Amber will help you find simple solutions to get you where you need to be.
Through the conviction that “movement is medicine and food is fuel,” Amber’s vision and company mission are to provide as many opportunities as possible to the community to experience and appreciate movement, to teach and encourage the community to feed ourselves with purpose and to practice kindness and service whenever possible. Their motto at Primary Prevention is “One Day or Day One…the choice is yours!”
Schlemmer noted that “We now have two clinics, and we’ve held to our pride and mission. One of our values is simplicity, to keep it simple but be consistent. I always ask the question – Are we doing what our bodies need and what our bodies want? In my opinion, when it comes to taking care of our bodies, doing things consistently and simply are the most underrated tickets to success.”
Amber comes from years of experience in physical therapy, working at Genesys, Concierge, and now the owner of her own clinic, she was also a former strength and conditioning coach at MSU. In her clinic, you will find dumbbells, weights, and other training equipment rather than what you might find in a typical doctor’s or therapist’s office. “We practice what we preach, as we ourselves are addressing our own bodies, we are constantly moving because we want to be good role models. We like to partner with Crim because we also like helping people live a healthy life.” Amber shared.
Primary Prevention gets behind runners as much as possible. A former Flushing Summer Running Club coach, Amber supports runners of all skill levels through her “Learn to Love to Run” program and frequent group runs.
Her clinic also supports community athletes with scholarship programs every year. Family and community members nominate an outstanding student-athlete for each month of the school year. At the end of the year, the candidates gather together to highlight their accomplishments and accolades and draw attention to how incredible their community impact is. A scholarship recipient is chosen based on their academic, athletic, and community involvement and is the recipient of a $500.00 athletic scholarship award.
Amber shared, “The most impactful and meaningful work we do is treating most of our community-based athletes. Our athletes could be 90 years old, at any age, we consider all of our clients as athletes. We always ask, what’s your sport? Whether it’s holding a laundry basket, or playing tennis, we believe everyone’s type of movement makes them an athlete.”
The Crim is grateful for Primary Prevention’s involvement in several community events as a sponsor – PPP even won the fundraising challenge for 100k for Crim in September of 2020! They are also a supporting partner for Crim365 as well as a sponsor for the Flushing Summer Running Club. “One of our goals at Primary Prevention is to establish our own 5K, and we’re almost there. Movement is medicine to our brains. That money raised will go to local schools,” Amber told us. They have supported many local events, as long as they revolve around positive health and movement.
To get involved, check out the PPP website: they host a free community-run group called Run Flushing, which meets every Wednesday at 5 am, and Saturdays at 8 am!
