Physiotherapist

By PHOEBE FALCONER

Name: Storm Baynes

Age: 23

Job: Physiotherapist

Working hours: 10am to 7pm three days a week, noon to 7pm on the other two days.


Employer(s): Ellerslie Physiotherapy Clinic. Physiotherapists also work in private practice, hospitals and rehabilitation centres


Pay: From $650 to $1200 a week, depending on where you work, and the hours. Some clinics pay a salary and some work on a per-patient basis

Qualifications: Bachelor of health science, physiotherapy

Career prospects: You can specialise in fields such as neurology, cardio-pulmonary, musculoskeletal physiotherapy, or in accident rehabilitation. Sports medicine is another area, and there's always the hope that you'll be asked to be a physio with a New Zealand Olympic team or to travel with a rep team overseas

Q. What do you do?

A. I assess and treat musculoskeletal injuries - or damage to muscles or joints. Often the injuries are sports-related, but my patients range from elderly people with arthritis to gardeners with strains and youngsters after a strenuous game of rugby or netball.

I manage the injuries with a mixture of treatments including education, what's happening and why; exercise; soft-tissue work, which is mainly massage; trigger point release, which can ease pain by just focusing on a small part of the body; ultrasound; electrotherapy for pain relief; mobilisation; muscle balancing; heat; and acupuncture. The type of injury dictates what treatments you use.

Q. Why did you become a physiotherapist?

A. When I was about 10 I asked my mum what sort of job I could do, and after we discarded medicine and nursing, she suggested physiotherapy. I wanted a job where I could be with people and help them, as well as having some independence.

I have always played a lot of sport, and still do, so this seemed to be the right sort of job, where I could combine the two.

Q. What's the best part of the job?

A. The really fantastic part is watching someone who didn't think they'd ever get better, put a shirt on by themselves, or raise their arm above their head. It's neat to watch someone you've treated for a serious injury go back out on to the sports field and do really well without a repetition of the original injury - that makes the job really worthwhile. When someone recovers from an injury, to a level above where they were originally, you think "Wow. I helped them do that."

Recently I met an old patient who said, "Thanks for finding out what was wrong with my knee, I've had the operation and I can run again."

Q. What's the worst part of the job?

A. It's difficult when patients expect you to work magic with absolutely no effort on their part. They sometimes don't follow the exercise plan, and then seem amazed when the injury doesn't seem to be healing.

When people don't get better, or seem to be making no progress, through no fault of their own, it can be really frustrating.

Q. What do you do then?

A. The best part of working in a clinic or practice with other physios is that if you get stuck, and nothing seems to be working, you can always go and brainstorm with someone else, and often they will have found something that worked in a similar situation, so I give that a try. The sports doctors are very supportive and helpful as well, so it all becomes part of ongoing training and adding to personal experience.

Q. What is your personal aim?

A. It's a way off yet, as I need lots more experience, but I really love the work I do with sports teams, and I'm always keen to do more of that. I helped out with the Junior Kiwis last month which was pretty special. I have worked with the Ponsonby Under-21 rugby team, and I help with the Auckland sevens team.

I'd also love to travel, but I'll have to save and work for that one.