Cassie Budd APAM

Mother of two, Barragup, Western Australia

Cassie Budd had never given much thought to going into private practice until she became a mother.

Having entered the public hospital system after graduating from the University of Notre Dame Australia as a mature age student in 2014, Cassie found that her evolving role as practitioner and parent presented some challenges requiring a career rethink.

‘I loved hospital because you’re working in a multidisciplinary team and rotate around; it was a very supportive environment,’ Cassie says.

‘So I never really thought about private practice until after having kids, when I wanted a bit more flexibility.’

It was after the birth of her daughter Snow, almost five, and son Andy, two, (pictured above) that Cassie dipped her toe in the private practice pool, trying out a few practices to find the right fit for her and her family’s needs.

The decision to switch, she says, came after realising that she needed to take care of herself and her needs as well as those of her children and family.

‘After having Snow, I knew I wanted a bit more flexibility with my hours. Unfortunately, the public health system didn’t really allow enough of that for me.

'That’s why I wanted to move into private practice, which has suited us well,’ Cassie says.

‘It was a hard transition going from hospital to private, because in the public setting you’re normally seeing patients at no cost and then for someone to be charged to come see me—I found that hard to deal with.’

Cassie says that working two days a week in a private practice clinic in Mandurah, 72 kilometres south of Perth, has also enabled her to pursue a passion for pelvic health physiotherapy.

She recently began her Master of Clinical Physiotherapy in Pelvic Health and Continence, which she says has reignited her passion for the profession.

However, the mix of working, raising a family and studying has not been without its challenges. Keeping up with professional development requirements has been hard, she says.

‘I found that after having Snow and then Andy, finding time to dedicate to PD was very difficult and it didn’t feel like a valuable use of my time just then,’ Cassie says.

‘I tried to do a couple of courses a year; I’d get eight to 16 hours in on a weekend course plus another one to add up to the amount I needed, so then I could tick it off the list.

'But it was hard.’

Financially, the family had options because Cassie’s husband, Ryan, has flexibility with his income and options for extra work.

‘Returning to work wasn’t really a financial decision but a need for me to stay in touch with the profession,’ Cassie says.

‘I’m lucky that one of my work days is in school hours and on the other we have a grandparent pick up my daughter from school and son from day care.

'There’s another day a week where they’re both in day care so I can dedicate it to study.

'I’m doing one unit a semester so likely to complete my master’s in four years… but it keeps me much more interested in being a physio.’

Reflecting on becoming a parent, Cassie says that prior to having her children she thought she would figure it all out quickly and easily but has since realised it takes time.

The return-to-work decision was not one she rushed, allowing a good nine to 10 months at home with each child before considering going back to work.

The decision then became about finding the right fit for work and family.

‘The clinic I currently work at is small, with only two physios—myself and the owner, who is a women’s health and continence physiotherapist,’ Cassie says.

‘I am provided mentoring and guidance in a supportive environment, and the flexibility and autonomy I have accommodates my family life well.’

For those about to embark on parenthood, Cassie’s advice is to consider a role that suits flexible working arrangements and fires up your passion for physiotherapy.

‘I honestly thought about leaving the physio profession multiple times since having kids—getting a job where there’s not as much pressure, responsibility, thinking
or having to be up to date with all the evidence.

'But I’m happy I didn’t leave the profession and instead narrowed my scope to focus on a specific area.

'It’s made me more passionate about physio, ignited my motivation again and got me excited about going to work.’

Sarah Pridham APAM

Mother of two, Kadina, South Australia

Living in a historic mining town hundreds of kilometres away from a capital city can often mean limited options for child care.

With precious few spaces available in rural settings, parents may need a combination of enrolling children on waitlists early and relying on family and friends to help out as they juggle work and family life.

This has been Sarah Pridham’s experience in a nutshell.

A day at the beach is part of the family fun for Sarah Pridham, her husband Phillip and children Levi and Eliza.

Sarah, who moved 150 kilometres to Adelaide from her hometown of Kadina during her physiotherapy degree, very quickly learned during her first pregnancy in 2017 that there would be limited child care options outside of her extended family.

So when her second child came along, Sarah registered her then-unborn daughter and her son Levi at a local child care centre.

‘We have been quite fortunate in that my parents and in-laws are close by, so they were able to help with the juggle when I had one baby.

'The second time around, I put the kids on a waitlist to get them in for at least one day a week of child care,’ Sarah says.

‘It’s certainly not easy to get into care around here at the moment.

'Basically, once you have a baby or you’re pregnant, you put the name of the child on the list at that point.’

The combination of family help and formal child care has afforded Sarah the opportunity to return to part-time work after taking a planned 12 months off after each birth.

One of the challenges of having a family, Sarah says, is the financial cost.

With little financial support other than government funding available to her during her maternity leaves, Sarah says the family’s income took a hit in those initial years.

Her daughter Eliza was born during the COVID-19 lockdowns in South Australia.

As a senior physiotherapist, Sarah is now in a position to choose the hours she works at Flex Rehabilitation Clinic, a private practice that opened a studio in Kadina in 2011.

She was effectively headhunted to join the practice straight after graduating from the University of South Australia.

This enabled her to return home and be with her now-husband Phillip, who had stayed behind while she studied in Adelaide.

Working in private practice was always on Sarah’s radar.

‘If I was in a clinic in town that required quite early starts or late finishes, that wouldn’t fit with family life in terms of juggling everything and my husband’s job.

'He leaves for work early and my hours have to accommodate that, too. I am lucky that I have that flexibility in my current role.’

Sarah says the return-to-work challenges for many new-parent physiotherapists are not discussed widely enough within the profession.

Sharing experiences, she feels, can help others feel more supported as they navigate this unfamiliar, challenging time in their lives.

This is particularly important for new parents in rural and regional areas, Sarah says, as there is an additional layer of challenges to face such as limited child care places and, in some cases, a lack of government support.

‘We are also about to enter the juggles of navigating pick-up and drop-off at kindy.

'There is no out of hours school care available to us, so the pick-ups and drop-offs are falling on me as my husband’s work will not accommodate this.

‘I always knew it (parenthood) was going to be a juggle, but I don’t think you really know until you are in it.

'We’ve chewed up a lot of sick leave in the past 12 months and we’ve asked our parents to help out when we’ve had the opportunity, but it’s been a real challenge.’