Name and Title(s):
Kim Hall – Registered Physiotherapist
Where do you work?
I am the CEO of Physio2U – in-home physiotherapy services
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Being able to see people regain independence and restore their quality of life. Working in home care, I do one-hour one-on-one sessions, I can see people in their own environments and make sure they have a program to do in their environment. That might mean independently or with the help of family members or caregivers. We can work on their very specific functional goals, like getting in and out of their own bathtub or up and down their stairs at home. It is impactful and efficient to be inside someone’s home working on those functional goals.
What advice do you have for physical therapy students?
In addition to your clinical placements, I encourage you to do shadow sessions. Even if it is one day or one or two hours, make sure you shadow a wide variety of both public and private practice areas. Some of the areas I chose to shadow were in sports clinics, specific to IMS needling, a transitional care unit, and volunteering in long-term care settings. I encourage students to gain more observational and practical experience outside of the student placements.
What do you enjoy about working with patients in Fraser Health?
Fraser health is our largest health authority in the province and there are a lot of opportunities to work in a wide variety of settings and a wide variety of clientele. I can work in very rural settings like Hope, BC or in a huge, urban metropolis like Surrey, BC where there are so many programs and cutting-edge technologies that are quite advanced.
What is a common misconception with your work?
That homecare is dull. I love the variety of clients that we see and the variety of home settings that we visit.
What drew you to physical therapy?
I love helping people and helping people maximize their potential in their everyday life. I also love the science behind human anatomy and human physiology and think that it is incredible what the human body is capable of.
What is unique about what you do?
I have pushed myself to continually grow and develop, not only as a clinician but I have also been involved in numerous committees and I have also been a CPTBC elected member on the board for 6 years now. This has expanded my knowledge about regulation and how we work with the ministry of health to ensure the public remains safe and that physiotherapists are practicing with a certain level of competency and not putting public safety at risk.
When I started my own business 7 years after graduation, I learned a lot about people management and leadership and optimizing a company culture to attract and retain top clinicians. I think that it is exciting as a physiotherapist that there is so much we can do in our careers that go beyond clinical practice.
What is one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
I was invited to speak at the world congress of physiotherapy in Geneva, Switzerland in 2019 specifically about business. Considering my entrepreneurial journey, that was a cherry on top to be able to be invited to the top event in the world for physiotherapists and to meet people from around the world who are also perusing physiotherapy in business. As a female leader, it felt very empowering to be able to show women in developing countries what is possible as a woman.