My experiences

This course has had the biggest impact of anything I have done in my career to date (18 years). It has reignited my interest in my career and now I feel I can continue working as a physiotherapist for the next 20 years. It has changed how I view and treat patients, with the biggest change being listening skills and the ability to be empathetic with my patients. This is particularly true for patient who I would have found difficult to mange in the past; now because I feel better equipped to help them I can be more compassionate. I feel I can now offer a physiotherapy treatment that is truly tailored to each individual that I treat and I believe that my patients receive a much better standard of care. This in turn has made me a lot happier in my work and made it more enjoyable. Overall I feel I have benefited hugely from this course, and the hard work was worth it.

The clinical placements really consolidated my learning and benefited me most. Once I finished the quadrants, I thought I had a good idea of the new concepts and how to use them in practice. But it was the placements that really progressed my leanring and made me feel like I had improved my practice. The initial advice I was given to do the course part time instead of full time proved to be the correct choice for me and I feel I would not have got as much out of the course if I had rushed through it. I felt well supported through the course. The course tutors Clair and Colette were available in person, email or skype to discuss any problems that I had.

Michelle Heraughty originally qualified with a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy from the university of the west of England, Bristol. She worked in Ireland for 5 years in the Irish Health Service building her experience. She then focused on Musculoskeletal practice working as a Senior Physiotherapist in Outpatients for the next 7 years. To gain more experience she moved to Canada where she worked in a private practice in Whistler BC, a ski and downhill biking resort. There she dealt with acute musculoskeletal injuries as well as keeping the long term residents skiing and biking. In 2017 she returned to Ireland and is now working part time in the Irish health service as a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist carrying out Musculoskeletal Triage assessment on patients referred to the Rheumatology Service. She also has her own private practice that she opened on completing her Masters.