Tennessee Tech

Dr. David Maldonado

Title:

Physical Therapist
Phone:

931-783-2463

Bio

With years of experience serving Tennessee Tech Athletics as a Sports Physical Therapist and Athletic Trainer, Dr. David Maldonado has been a skilled part of the department’s Sports Medicine team through Cookeville Regional Medical Center’s support.

Now, Maldonado officially joins the Tech Department of Athletics as its Physical Therapist. He also recently served as the interim Head Athletic Trainer during the Spring 2025 semester.

With six years experience already working with the Golden Eagles among his 27 years overall, Maldonado has worked with a wide range of athletes – from high school athletics all the way to the professional level.

“David is an incredible asset to our Tennessee Tech Athletics family,” said Tech Director of Athletics Mark Wilson. “We are extremely privileged to have him here and even more so now as a full-fledged member of our staff. His years of experience are so valuable to the safety and well-being of our student-athletes.”

Among his skills, he has an extensive background and continues to study in knee, shoulder, ankle, spine and sport injuries, has a wealth of knowledge in sport-specific rehab techniques, an emphasis on incorporating performance and technique into rehab progressions and a demand on educating the athlete on treatment approach and prevention strategies.

Maldonado is licensed through the American Physical Therapy Association as a credentialed clinical instructor and as a board-certified sports clinical specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and a certified athletic trainer by the National Athletic Training Board of Certification.

A 1997 graduate from Seattle Pacific with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, Maldonado then completed his doctorate in physical therapy in 2001 at Belmont.

He spent time as a physical therapist and athletic trainer with Complete Approach Physical Therapy and National Spirit Group before beginning his residency at Skyline Sports Physical Therapy in White Salmon, Wash., specializing in basketball and football.

After two years as a sports physical therapist at MultiCare Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Tacoma, Wash., Maldonado joined the Tennessee Titans as an athletic training intern for two seasons before he was named the head athletic trainer at the University of Southern Indiana from 2008 to 2013.

During that time, Maldonado became a professional MMA cutman for various organizations, a role he continues to perform to this day.

In 2013, he joined Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance as a physical therapist, then, from 2015 to 2018, served as a travel physical therapist for Maxim.

Maldonado joined the staff at CRMC in 2018 and started working with the Golden Eagles in his role through the hospital.

Constantly learning new methods and procedures, Maldonado has taken part in countless courses and seminars through his professional career. He has made several presentations to different sports medicine conferences and coaches associations, including – most recently – “Conservative and post-surgical shoulder rehab considerations” to the Tennessee Physical Therapy Conference in Chattanooga in 2023.