Webinar: Career pathways in Physiotherapy

On Wednesday, 11 September 2024, we held a special webinar celebrating 30 years of physiotherapy graduates from the University of Melbourne. This event featured a dynamic discussion with our esteemed alumni, who shared their unique career journeys within the field of physiotherapy.

These are the distinguished individuals who joined us, sharing their experiences and insights in the field of physiotherapy:

Claire Laurie

Claire Laurie is a physiotherapist with 15 years experience working in public hospitals in Victoria. She is currently a senior paediatric oncology physiotherapist at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and is completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Her research involves investigating the changes children experience in muscle structure and function during treatment for bone and muscle cancer.

Christian Boivan

A 2019 DPT graduate who promptly returned to Canada, Christian is currently working in outpatient private musculoskeletal physiotherapy.

He spends part of his day at a clinic in downtown Calgary, AB; while also running a small independent practice out of a specialized strength sport facility. This has him working with active people, from a casual Peloton-er to Professional Strongmen, and has allowed him to travel internationally to support some of Canada's strongest athletes at events such as The Arnold Sports Festival and World Strongman Championships.

Outside of clinical care, Christian has spent the last several years working as a member of a national committee at Lifemark Health Group, to improve policy and procedure to support gender inclusive care. This has included creating new intake forms, core onboarding curriculum on the basics of gender inclusive care, and training for leadership on internal biases.

His current passion is working with local Interventional Radiology Physicians in both clinical care, and is hoping to participate as a researcher in clinical trials starting this fall!

In his spare time he likes to woodwork, and take pictures of his cats.

Ellie White

Ellie is a proud Kija Bardi woman, lecturer and First Nations Health Lead within the Doctor of Physiotherapy at the University of Melbourne, of which she is alumni of. Ellie has experience working clinically as a physiotherapist at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, and as the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Program Coordinator for St Vincent’s Health Australia. Ellie is particularly passionate about creating positive change to make healthcare and education settings more accessible to and equitable for First Nations peoples.

Erin Bicknell

Erin Bicknell is a Clinical Lead Physiotherapist (Subacute) at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She has over 14 years of experience in private and public health in both the UK and Australia. Erin is a developing clinician researcher having led clinical-based studies in post-stroke fatigue and BPPV, and is an associate investigator on larger MRFF & NHMRC-funded neurological and falls projects. She holds a Master of Rehabilitation (Neurological Physiotherapy) and is co-host of A Neuro Physio Podcast.

Eliza Whitford

Eliza completed her Doctor of Physiotherapy from The University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Health Sciences from La Trobe University. She is currently employed as a physiotherapist at CBD Physiotherapy, working in a predominately musculoskeletal and sports setting. She is an avid recreational runner and a former competitive dancer. In her early career she has already been exposed to and had a variety of experiences working with various sporting organisations, including Athletics Victoria for juniors Track and Field national championships and several VAFA football clubs.