Name and Title(s):
Corinna Ng
Registered Physical Therapist, Clinical Instructor
Where do you work?
GF Strong Rehab Centre – NMS Outpatient Student-Led Clinic (Vancouver, BC)
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
One of the most rewarding parts of my job is being able to work closely with other healthcare providers at my clinic to support our clients as a whole – not just their physical needs but their mental and emotional needs. As well as encouraging them to achieve their rehab goals and support them beyond their time in the clinic.
Many of our clients live with progressive neurological conditions where improvements in function are not necessarily possible. Therefore, helping them to explore other ways to achieve independence and find meaning in their life beyond their physical abilities has been so important and involves a full team approach.
Why does physiotherapy matter?
Physiotherapy matters because we are able to prescribe movement as medicine. We can teach clients to be independent despite limb loss by adapting exercises with different equipment.
What is a common misconception with your work?
A common misconception of my work is that we only prescribe exercises. While exercise prescription is a huge part of my treatment tool, I often complement exercises with manual therapy, hands-on facilitation of movement, and targeted movement patterns for function. I also work in prescribing appropriate gait aids, bracing needs, and try novel tools/equipment such as functional electrical stimulation and body weight support treadmill to enhance treatments.
What drew you to physical therapy?
I always had an interest in health care. Right after graduating from my pharmacology degree, I decided to enter into research for innovative treatments for diabetes. After 2 years of working in the lab, I realized this type of work wasn’t fulfilling and started to consider other career options.
Coincidentally at that time, I met a physical therapist who joined our lab where she shared her passion for the diversity of physical therapy which piqued my interest. I started to reach out to different physical therapists to talk to them about their roles and shadow them at work. This is when I decided that physical therapy was what I wanted to do. I am glad I made the change I did.
What is unique about what you do?
I work in a student-led clinic so in addition to client care, my main responsibility is to mentor physiotherapy students year-round in our clinic. I often have up to 4 students working with me and our clients in the clinic – guiding them to learn, assess and treat clients living with a variety of neurological conditions. My clinic intake is not limited to just students from UBC. I’ll also take students from afar such as New Zealand and Australia.
What is one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
I was not a very active kid growing up and only started to be active and engage in sports when I was in my 20s. Just last year, I completed my very first marathon in my 40s which was a huge achievement for me.