It is a question I have been asked a thousand times and for years I have known the answer. I have wanted to be a physiotherapist from the time I first set foot in one at the age of 13. I’m not sure whether it was all the technology, the people, the treatment, the set up or the fancy jargon that dragged me in but from that first session my career was in front of my eyes. After 5 years of treatment as a non physiotherapist I was pretty well versed in the ongoings of a private practice and that of a physiotherapist and I was sure it was for me. That set the destination I just had to build the plane and learn how to fly it. It wasn’t the easiest of journeys, there was plenty of wrong turns taken, but I got there in the end and I sure as hell learnt a lot.
I have always been fascinated with movement and the brain. How we move as humans in such a smooth, refined way is incredible particularly at the speed we move. Taking into account the forces we deal with and in turn generate the human body is inexplicably powerful. I would spend hours watching any sport possible when I was younger and it was always the athleticism, power and speed of the sports stars that caught my eye. It amazed me how Michael phelps propelled him huge body so gracefully through the water, how Roger Federer managed to hit the finest and softest of drop shots at such high speed or how Zidane was so elegant on the ball despite his tall frame. It all came down to one thing – their ability to control a highly complex system and manipulate it to produce maximal results. I was always drawn to how Federer moved his feet to generate power or how Beckham planted his feet as he crossed the ball to generate whip. The finesse of movement is why I am studying to be a physiotherapist. Without movement we wouldn’t be functional, we wouldn’t be healthy and we wouldn’t be alive. I love how fine tuning movement allows us to perform incredible feats and I just want to be able to enable this.
When movement is prohibited or limited because of injury I want to be the one who returns it. When injury prevents someone from reaching their goal I want to be the one to allow them to reach it. When injury keeps reoccurring, like it did in my case, I want to be the one who finds the solution. I spent 5 years getting physiotherapy treatment, it meant three surgeries, approximately 50 rehab programmes, many failed returns and finally it meant no more but one thing that I gained from this was experience. I have been on both sides of the story. I know now that compliance is important, that non committal explanations benefit nobody, that patients must be treated with respect and honesty. My experience with physiotherapy was both frustrating and brilliant. Looking back on it now I don’t 100% agree with how my case was handled but I know it means I won’t handle a case that way ever. One thing that I l learnt was to give a patient a voice, a say in their goals and treatment because ultimately they will define the outcome. Because of my experience I want to be the physiotherapist that prevents a young sports person from having to quit, to stop someone having to give up work because of LBP because nobody deserves that. I am not that deluded that I can stop that in every single case, I am not a miracle worker and do not claim to be one but I will give every patient my very best to allow them to be at their very best.
The brain is,to me, the most powerful thing on earth. The control it yields over the human body is incredible. How it organises all those complex systems to work in such a refined manner is beyond my scope of understanding. It amazes me how often it is overlooked, how often the focus is on the site of injury and not the corresponding systems. The brain is becoming more integrated into physiotherapy and personally I couldn’t be happier. For years I have wondered how the brain works and being in college has finally allowed me to understand some of its amazing capabilities. Becoming a physiotherapist is all I have wanted to do because it allows me to bring my two fascinations, the human brain and movement, together. My experience of physiotherapy definitely pushed me in its direction and I have learnt a lot from it. I hope to immerse myself in the world of human movement, injury prevention, rehabilitation and the human brain in the forth coming years pulling it all together to provide the best service I can.
Aspiring Physio 