Rehabilitation & Health Science : Physiotherapy Profiles
Physiotherapists work with a wide range of patients in a number of different settings. Find out what attracted some individuals to work in the following areas:
Outpatients: Sarah
What inspired you to become a Physiotherapist?
I liked the idea of working with people in a caring role combined with the challenge of diagnostics and treatment. I wanted to go into a profession that allowed me to work with people of all ages with a wide range of medical problems and with a range of other health professionals as part of a team. Since childhood I wanted to work in a hospital environment for some bizarre reason.
How long have you been working in your specialty?
I rotated for 3 years as a rotational physio and then went on to specialise in orthopaedic trauma and outpatients for 5 years as a senior 2. I spent 9 months working as a senior 2 on ITU and with amputees before I then went on to specialise as a senior one in outpatients before taking this post as a lecturer/practitioner.
What previous jobs have been useful for working in this area?
Working as a play-scheme leader, bar person, waitress and shop assistant certainally helped with my communication skills
Who do you work with in your team?
At the hospital I work with other physiotherapists and a receptionist team. At the GP practice I work with the GPs, nurses, podiatrist and reception staff; and at the university I work with other lecturer/practitioners; lecturers in OT and Physiotherapy; and technical and admin staff.
What is the most powerful memory from your therapy career?
Rehabilitating a patient who lost both his legs in a shipping accident to walk again and then seeing the news coverage of his reunion with his family when he returned home to Haiti.
Where do you treat your patients?
The hospital outpatients department and at a GP practice
What do you do on a day to day basis?
I assess and treat patients from 8.30 until 4.45 every day in the hospital and run an assessment only clinic at the GP practice. At the university I plan and teach the musculoskeletal unit as well as supervise students and mark.
How do you balance your work with the rest of your life?
I go to the gym twice a week straight from the hospital and play volleyball 2 to 3 times a week indoors and on the beach. Poole and Bournemouth offer a huge variety of things to do so I often go to the cinema, pubs and eat out.
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Physiotherapists work with a wide range of patients |
Learning Disabilities
What inspired you to become a Physiotherapist?
I read a careers book about it!
How long have you been working in your specialty?
13 years and it doesn’t seem a day too long!
What previous jobs have been useful for working in this area?
Elderly care and neurology.
Who do you work with in your team?
OT, SALT, Podiatrist, Dietitian, Psychologist, Learning Disability nurses, Psychiatrists, Social Workers, Support Staff, Day Care staff, Volunteers, Private Organisations.
What is the most powerful memory from you therapy career?
The look on a severely disabled and deformed lady’s face when she got a certificate for swimming independently one length of a small pool.
Where do you treat your patients?
In hospitals, day centres, residential units, their own homes, leisure centres - wherever I find them.
What do you do on a day to day basis?
My day is so varied it is difficult to say. Office work takes some time each day, but an example of a fairly busy day would be as follows:
8:30 - check exercises for lady with OA. Review someone’s mobility with their new rollator.
9:30 - Team meeting : discuss five clients, some of whom are in hospital and likely to be discharged soon - check if I need to liaise with the hospital physios before discharge. Arrange to review exercises at the local gym.
11:00 - Train some residential staff in the use of a sleep positioning system.
12:00 - Take a gentleman into the hydro pool for exercises. Discuss his wheelchair provision with his parents - make a phone call about it.
13:30 - Check a chest brace on a gentleman with scoliosis and low tone. Phone the orthotics department about getting it repaired.
14:30 - Review a gentleman’s walking - check out his ankle - order an orthotics - review his fall risk - advise staff about completing a fall assessment checklist for me to review in one week.
16:00 - Home visit to a gentleman with cerebral palsy to review his exercises and discuss a recent hospital outpatient visit and the operation he is going to have as a result.
17:00 - Go Home.
How do you balance your work with the rest of your life?
In my spare time I like to walk the South Coast Path, take photographs of trees (and my grandson), redesign the garden, play computer games, read email newsletters, do cross stitch cushions, play guitar, do crosswords and sudoku puzzles, go on European holidays on the back of my husbands motorbike!
