I’d like to introduce myself professionally to you. 

I am a physiotherapist who has a part-time presence and a desire to offer some part-time professional services on our special island. My husband and I are at our Gabriola home generally twice/month, be it for a long weekend or a longer stay. We’ve been Gabe homeowners since 2018.

I have been a physiotherapist for 31 years. I was born in Nelson and grew up in the Slocan Valley, a rural area in the West Kootenay region of BC. At the age of 19, I moved to the Coast to begin physiotherapy school at UBC. I graduated from UBC in 1991 and I have worked in the Lower Mainland for all the years since.   

Since 2004, I have been the co-owner of a small private practice called Form Physiotherapy, on the Cambie corridor. I feel fortunate to share this venture and journey with a very dear friend of mine as a business partner. We were one of the first clinics in Vancouver to offer a one-on-one style of care, where we each only see one patient at a time and for a dedicated period of time (30, 45 or 60 minute visits). This style of care lets me deliver my best to my patients.

Very early in my career, I worked for the UBC Athletic Department as their Varsity Physiotherapist. For 6 years, this was the perfect place for a budding sport physiotherapist to grow. Over my career, I have spent a lot of time working (let’s be honest, usually volunteering) with athletes at various sport venues:  rugby pitches, swimming pools, ski hills, volleyball courts, hockey rinks and baseball diamonds. 

The unexpected surface that really stuck in my life, however, was the wrestling mat. I treasure my 20+ year relationship with Wrestling Canada.  With them, I have had the best of times travelling to other wrestling mats around the world and challenging myself to offer my best in support of their aspirations. And, in turn, they supported my dream of being an Olympian when I accompanied them to the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008 as their physio. Two years later, our own 2010 Winter Olympics provided me an opportunity to serve in a medical lead role, overseeing a group of physicians and therapists who volunteered their time to cover the Womens’ Ice Hockey Tournament. Treasured years, indeed, for me.

Those experiences and communities have shaped me as a physio. I love the comradery of and value the connections of teamwork, including in healthcare. I am a bit relentless in my desire for good outcomes. I like processes and goals in my treatment plans. I believe keeping moving is an integral part of keeping healthy and, after all these years, I remain amazed at the potential of the human body, no matter one’s age or condition.

What do I do? Like most physio’s I do use my hands a lot (manual therapy) and I occasionally use dry needles (IMS). Exercise prescription has always been a big part of my work. I believe my professional strengths, however, come from being a teacher’s daughter. I really value patient education and active engagement. I prefer my patients to understand where we are realistically trying to get to and I really try to offer tools that allow them to feel optimistic and hopeful about their abilities to help themselves.

In this vein of “helping people help themselves” has unfolded my more recent career chapter, that of working with patients living with osteoarthritis. While I still retain my sport medicine mindset and my shoulder/neck chapter (another story for another day), over the last 5 years the proportion of knee and hip OA patients on my caseload has been steadily increasing and I am really enjoying it.

The non-operative/pre-operative options have really improved for patients with knee/hip OA in recent years, including highly evidence-based treatment streams and programs!

I credit our knowledge of these options to the arrival of the Danish GLAD program to our shores in 2017. The GLAD group program is the international gold standard first line of treatment for those living with hip or knee OA of any severity. At this time, 10K Canadians participate in GLAD every year.

Quite by fluke, really, my business partner and I ended up on the inaugural course training 40 BC physio’s to offer the GLAD program at our places of work and business. At my clinic, offering the GLAD program has become an important part of our practice and it has been a springboard for immersing ourselves in how we currently best approach our OA patients.

A gift of COVID, believe it or not, was the opportunity to be certified to offer the PEAK program, developed at the University of Melbourne. PEAK was designed for physio’s to offer (over 5 visits) education, exercises and a plan for increasing physical activity to those living with knee OA. The PEAK resources can be used for either telehealth or live styles of consultation and I have made good use of them since 2020.

And, really, programs aside, if you have hip or knee OA and haven’t tried physio in a while, please know that many of us have really changed and honed how we would work with you in recent years. It may be worth giving physio another try.

Over the next couple of months, I will be trying my hand at seeing where my realities are in offering services effectively to Gabriolans. I don’t have a home practice space yet but I can do visits to others’ homes. I can do telehealth as an entire offering or as a hybrid with live care when I am on the Island. I will be doing some community group presentations in the next months and I look forward to learning from those I meet where I may have a fit on our island. I trust that any fit and firming of details will unfold organically as it is meant to.

As a start, I am excited to offer a social event at Mad Rona’s on Sunday, November 13th. If you are curious, please let me know that you would like to come by. I’m keeping the gathering relatively small as I am not a big gathering person and I would like to have time to chat with those who have made time to attend. I am excited to offer drinks, snacks and some “take home” information. I will do the same 15 minute’ish presentation at 4:30 and again at 5:15 to allow for people to arrive when it is convenient for them.  We will have the coffee shop to ourselves from 4-6 pm on that afternoon.  Please RSVP to nadine@formphysiotherapy.com or 604 306 0127 as space will be limited to 30 attendees. I look forward to meeting you!