Inspirations

Why I became a Women’s Health Physiotherapist When I had my 4 children, I taught prenatal classes and discussed pelvic floor exercises as one of the prenatal exercises the pregnant moms were to do, not realizing at that time how important these really were. Slowly over time, I became more and more interested in perinatal physiotherapy and recognized that pelvic floor dysfunction was a very common problem and one that affected women’s emotional health as well as their physical health. I would tell these women to find a physiotherapist in the community who could treat this problem. Slowly it

Physiotherapy means an opportunity - to help others and to develop as a professional. Clinical physiotherapy is real time and real life with the associated rewards of seeming patients progress. Physiotherapy has given me the opportunity to be a clinician (VIHA and private practice), a manager (establishing & operating a physiotherapy service to a large private hospital in Australia) and a researcher (working with BCMA and VIHA clinics to research outcome measures after joint replacements). Literally my profession has taken me full circle - from a new grad at at VIHA outpatient clinic on

Education, Exercise, Manual Therapy, Electrotherapy - the 4 cornerstones of physiotherapy. Most patients will need these components in their treatment to get results. Physiotherapists are also the most skilled practitioners in the assessment of the function of musculoskeletal system. By consulting a physiotherapist patients can expect a diagnosis and a prognosis that enables them to understand the treatment process, the cost and the anticipated outcome. Physiotherapy works - evidence based practice & the 'new' advice on chronic disease management tells us we need to 'move well to stay well'.

Whilst completing my economics degree at the University of Victoria, I became a runner. As a summer job in 2002 I began life as a rickshaw driver in Victoria’s downtown. Riding for eight hours a day pulling 400lbs of tourist “love” led to a quads imbalance. My running started to deteriorate and my distance grew shorter and shorter as I would have worse and worse knee pain. I resigned myself as out of the game; if your knees hurt your body must be telling you something, I thought, and mine was telling me I was not a runner anymore. Knowing nothing of the human body at the time I enlisted the

I have always believed in the power of movement and exercise. Physio allows me to share my passion with patients and develop my knowledge of the amazing human body and its capabilities.

When I graduated I never dreamed I would become a pelvic floor physio! Like many physiotherapists, I was headed towards an ortho or neuro career. Then as a busy mom with 4 little kids I took a part-time job at BC Women’s Hospital, treating pregnant and postpartum women. I soon realized that urine and bowel control issues were common in this population. I knew about Kegel exercises but had no advanced training in assessing or treating these conditions. When I looked into it, to my surprise, I found that physiotherapists in the UK, Australia and the US had been treating pelvic floor dysfunction

One day when I was working through my degree as an Kinesiologist, I was sitting in a physiotherapy office when I saw a quote that said "in healing there are passengers, but we want drivers." Physiotherapy is that amazing health discipline where I know that if a patient is motivated towards their healing, then there is the potential to achieve more than they imagined with physiotherapy. Every day I get to not just enjoy, but LOVE what I do as I help every one of my patients both in public and private practice work toward a level of health they didn't realize was possible. That's the reward of

The AHA moment for when I knew that physio worked was when I saw an elderly gentleman for the first time who had been complaining of ongoing low back pain for over two years. He had seen countless doctors and had his spine imaged multiple times. I did a quick orthopaedic scan and noticed that one of his hips was rotated. With his permission we trailed rotating it back then and there. When he got up he looked at me with the most surprised expression. It was the first time in 2 years that he hadn't felt pain when walking. I will never forget that look of astonishment in his face.

I was always playing competitive sports from a young age; From volleyball to olympic freestyle wrestling and then ultimate frisbee and rock climbing. Having experienced first hand how physiotherapy has helped me excel in what I do, I realized that this is what I wanted to do for a profession. I love helping other people achieve their goals by helping them connect with how they can really move!

I enjoy being a physiotherapist because of the interaction with my clients, co-workers, colleagues, and like-minded individuals. When one of my clients reports being pain-free for the first time in months, that is my "high”. When the client sees the pay-off after lots of hard work under my guidance, that’s when my creative juices get flowing. People working together and achieving a common goal is the ultimate success. That is what inspires me.