Pain can affect anyone – of any age or background – and the skills to treat it are relevant to all physiotherapists, regardless of their clinical focus. 

For this reason and many more, it was an obvious choice for the topic of a podcast series, Pain in Practice, hosted by Sophie Shephard MACP and Matt Fa APAM. 

Low back pain is a condition amenable to conservative, movement-based care led by physiotherapists, yet it continues to be one of the most common and costly reasons Australians present to emergency departments (EDs).

For Singaporean-born physiotherapist Fang Qi ‘Ashleigh’ Hoo APAM, a career in healthcare has always been about people. 

Long before she entered university in Australia, Ashleigh knew that she wanted a profession grounded in human connection.

Tristan Chai APAM’s pathway into physiotherapy began with a love of sport and a desire to stay connected to health, even if elite competition was off the cards. 

Tristan studied at the University of South Australia and, after graduating, stepped into his first role in private practice in Adelaide.

Compliance with exercise programs is something that most physiotherapists and their patients struggle with. 

Plasticise was developed by physiotherapists Sarah Turner APAM and Kumbelin Levin APAM and allows physiotherapists to film their patient doing an exact exercise, while providing verbal cues, so the patient can watch it back and follow along at home. 

When physiotherapists Jonathon Pearce and Jeremy Bottega joined Royal Darwin Hospital’s renal service, they stepped into new territory—both geographically and professionally. 

Anne, a cardiopulmonary physiotherapist whose work has shaped 40 clinical practice guidelines and who has produced more than 500 publications, spoke about the longstanding strength of the evidence for pulmonary rehabilitation and the ongoing failure to deliver it equitably.

An injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most common sporting injuries in Australia—particularly in sports that involve a lot of pivoting, jumping and stopping quickly—and typically occurs in teenagers and young adults. 

Jo Morris has been at the forefront of advanced and extended scope physiotherapy practice in Australia since 2007, when she began working in primary contact roles in the emergency department.