We recently caught up with Kat Yee, one of our experienced and passionate Exercise Physiologists (EPs) working at NeuroMoves Lismore to chat about what drew her into the world of exercise physiology, and what she’s learned about the differences between access to healthcare in regional communities compared to major cities.
“I grew up playing a lot of competitive sports, so understanding movement mechanics was a part of my life from quite a young age.
I’ve always been interested in how the human body works, but it wasn’t until contact sports sidelined me with bilateral ACL tears requiring surgical intervention that I started applying movement mechanics to rehabilitation instead of sports performance, so I could get back to playing.
Fast forward 7 years and I found myself studying a Bachelor’s of Sports and Exercise Science at Southern Cross University (SCU) in Lismore. I became obsessed with neuroscience and motor function, which led me to use all my free electives to take the neuro units; I couldn’t get enough!
I decided to continue my studies to complete a Masters in Exercise Physiology, which brought me to NeuroMoves Lismore for a student placement. At the time it hadn’t quite clicked for me yet that I was destined to work in neuro as I was keeping my mind open to see what else this career had to offer. But once I was on placement, it all clicked for me.
I saw the creativity of the therapy and how much fun the clients were having despite doing really hard work. This combined with the theory to practice, treatment merging with technology and research, and the dedication, teamwork, and ethos of working towards a shared goal, that I realized all my experiences had been leading me to a career in this field.
I’m fortunate enough to be part of NeuroMoves, an organisation that fosters career growth and experience, which has given me opportunities to work at some of our more Metropolitan sites too.
It’s a bit shocking to see how much more accessible and available things are just by being in a city in comparison to rural New South Wales. It’s wild how many more options there are!
Where we are in Lismore, we find ourselves having to advocate and help solve accessibility issues for our clients more frequently so that they can be part of and access their community.
Not only that, but being further from specialists means that our clients are more impacted by treatment fatigue due to lengthy travels, and that even trying out a piece of adaptive equipment to see if it’s right for them can be arduous and even a barrier.
I try to encompass strong working relationships based on trust, communication, and shared goals with all my clients because that’s what really makes their therapy beneficial.
After a recent adventure to Fiji with client Luke, I’ve realized how critical having strong supports that are right for the person are and can really make or break an experience. I will advocate for that with all our clients, through our local and national team, and with the rest of our organisation any way that I can.”
Read more about Kat and Luke’s trip to Fiji here.
Additional Resources:
What is an Exercise Physiologist?
Exercise Physiology at NeuroMoves
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