In 2000, Associate Professor Bernie Bissett left university wanting to work as a musculoskeletal physiotherapist.

But in her first year at the Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, she worked and fell in love with intensive care (ICU) physiotherapy. ‘What I loved about it is that it’s a combination of cardiorespiratory, neuro and musculoskeletal, all in one.’

The July issue opens with three editorials.

One editorial introduces virtual hospitals, why we need them, how they work and how physiotherapy is incorporated into this new model of care.

Chronic pain is the leading cause of disability and disease burden globally (Mills et al 2109).

In Australia, 20 per cent of people over 45 years have chronic pain, leading to increased activity limitation, care seeking, opioid use and hospitalisation (AIHW 2020).

Up to 50 per cent of women are shown to have pelvic organ prolapse, defined as a downward displacement of the uterus, bladder or bowel, after a vaginal birth (Haylen et al 2016, MacLennan et al 2000).

Pelvic organ prolapse symptoms include a feeling of vaginal bulge or heaviness, the inability to effectively empty the bladder or bowel and impaired sexual function, all of which can contribute to reduction in self-confidence.

1. Movement difficulties are highly prevalent in children with ASD

ASD is defined by deficits in social communication and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviours, with some motor deficits acknowledged (American Psychiatric Association 2013).

Your trial compared various formats for delivery of exercise therapy to people with subacromial pain. How common is subacromial pain?

We hear a lot about physiotherapists’ involvement with women who have urinary incontinence. How common is incontinence among men and are the causes of incontinence the same?

Anita is also a team leader managing multiple clinical areas including burns, plastic surgery, maxillofacial and ENT surgery at the hospital.