Hip osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of pain, disability and reduced quality of life. 

Cam morphology – excess bone at the anterolateral femoral head-neck junction – contributes to femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) syndrome and hip OA, although progression is complex and multifactorial. 

Dr Jillian Eyles APAM is a physiotherapist and a clinical researcher at the Kolling Institute in Sydney. 

Jillian is leading a project – along with colleague Professor David Hunter, a rheumatologist – that aims to reduce low-value care for knee osteoarthritis (OA). 

Burnout in physiotherapy

Ky Wynne’s editorial reveals that burnout in physiotherapy is driving early career attrition and impacting patient care. Ky agreed to answer some questions here.

Your editorial considers burnout in the physiotherapy profession. Burnout is increasingly discussed in physiotherapy – what does it actually look like in day-to-day clinical practice?

When Xander Clausen APAM sits down to Sunday dinner with his family, the conversation often drifts towards case studies, clinical reasoning and tricky patient presentations. 

Back pain is everywhere.

For most people, it settles or becomes managed.

But for some, pain remains a big problem and people understandably look for big solutions.

Spinal surgery feels like one of them—a logical physical solution to what may be understood as a physical problem.

Karri Field MACP’s grandmother was among the first women to train as physiotherapists in New Zealand so Karri’s desire to follow in her footsteps was there from an early age. 

And while she was initially interested in applying her knowledge to dancers, she became interested in pain pathways as a student at Australian Catholic University. 

Kate Newton MACP remembers the first vestibular patient she treated as a junior physiotherapist. She was working in a private neurological physiotherapy clinic and her patient had benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, a common inner ear issue. 

‘Their symptoms had resolved by the end of that session and I felt like I had a magic wand. 

‘They think you’re a magician. 

Physiotherapy academic Dr Ryan McGrath APAM has found a way to combine his two clinical passions—physiotherapy and psychology. 

Ryan’s research focuses on the intersection between mental health and physiotherapy. 

From hands-on practice in South Australia to international collaborations in Kenya, Colombia, Scandinavia and Thailand, Specialist Occupational Health Physiotherapist (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2008) Dr Rose Boucaut FACP has built a career around one goal—helping people stay safe and well at work.