QMYOU Alumni Magazine QMYOU 87 Issue 11 | Page 9

After three seasons, I moved to a more senior role at Livingston Football Club but they went into receivership and my post was made redundant. So I undertook locum work to fund completion of my master’s degree, and headed to Australia to complete this. On my return I worked as maternity cover at the Fitness Assessment and Sports Injuries Centre (FASIC) at the University of Edinburgh, and was then appointed to a permanent post within Scottish Rugby, working at Glasgow Warriors. I was a Team Physiotherapist then became Lead Physiotherapist after a few years, and subsequently became the Physiotherapist Manager and National Team Physiotherapist before becoming Head of Performance Medical for Scottish Rugby, where I was responsible for the medical services we provided to all of our squads. I was at Scottish Rugby for 11 years, across several posts. In 2016 I was chosen as the Lead Physiotherapist for GB Women's 7s, and supported them in their journey to the Olympics in Rio. How did you secure the role working with Cirque du Soleil and can you tell me about what the position entails? Truthfully, as is often the way with sports jobs, I stumbled across the post of Director of Performance Medicine at Cirque du Soleil online. I had always been intrigued by this company and the art it creates, but had never imagined such a post existed. And so I decided it was time to take a chance to change my career path, and applied - five interviews later, I was offered the role and moved to Montreal where Cirque has its international headquarters. My role is largely managerial now, since I don't yet have French competence, and so cannot register as a physiotherapist in Quebec. I lead and manage a team of between 65 and 70 therapists across 25 shows which are globally located or travelling. We support approximately 1,400 artists who perform daily, and this group is enormously diverse, from clowns to acrobats, dancers to musicians and many other disciplines. This diversity means we encounter truly diverse injuries also - from aerial artists with problematic shoulders, to tumblers with tendinopathies. We are also responsible for the emergency response within our shows, which is similar to sport in that if an accident happens, we are the first responders on-stage to provide care. We work across five pillars - Injury Risk Reduction, Acute Care and Emergency Response, Rehabilitation, Healthcare Administration and Performance Support. Interestingly though, injury is infrequent in this space - artists may perform up to 480 times per year, which is quite unlike sport, and their performances are very similar to each other, also unlike sport. But it appears that by undertaking consistent activity, you form protection against injury through familiarity and specific adaptation to the demands. And so we spend a notable amount of time seeking to prevent injuries to further support this. My role now is to support my team to deliver healthcare and we employ people from multiple professional backgrounds, as this reflects the professional differences which we are exposed to as a global company. We have physiotherapists from the UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Belgium in our team, but also US Physical Therapists, Canadian Athletic Therapists and US Athletic Trainers. physiotherapist, and some of the most memorable or impactful are actually from my time in the NHS, though there have been some from my time in sport also. I personally find making a difference is an enormous motivator for me - seeing change for the good makes me want to do more, and never seems like a chore. And I get a buzz from their success and their reaction to success, particularly when some of your knowledge and experience is a direct contributor. The overcoming of adversity touches people profoundly, and it is an honour and responsibility that people trust you to help them when they need it. This is one of the things that makes physiotherapy and physiotherapists special. ❒ About Cirque du Soleil Originally composed of 20 street performers in 1984, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group completely reinvented circus arts and went on to become a world leader in live entertainment. Established in Montreal, the Canadian organization has brought wonder and delight to over 180 million spectators with productions presented in 450 cities in 60 countries. There must be a sense of satisfaction when someone you’ve been working with on an issue vastly improves through physiotherapy and is able to live their life to the full again. Can you tell us what it’s like helping someone through that process? There have been many cases in my time as a QMYOU / Alumni Interview 9