A day in the life of a Home Physio Melbourne Physiotherapist

The day starts the night before. I check my phone, find my first patient’s location and get the travel time all sorted out and set an alarm. Depending on my preferences I’ll download a podcast or an audiobook to listen to the next day. Seeing as a lot of the day is spent in a car, I find it a great time to catch up on any physio research, a comedy podcast, get lost in a history podcast or listen to Stephen Fry regale me with stories of Ancient Greek mythology.
I won’t bore you with morning routines and rituals so we will rejoin the ride along in the car on the way to patient number one. Now, if you are an adventurous coffee drinker and by that I mean, not so much of a snob that you must have your exact order from the exact same place at the same time every morning, then going to different places every morning allows for you to try coffee from all over Melbourne.

Most of the patients that we see by virtue of them choosing a home service are usually long-term patients. Now you can say that for most physio practices, however, having regular 45min – an hour-long sessions with these people in their own homes allows us as practitioners to get to know the patients in a space that feels comfortable for them. This has a series of benefits, I find that they are much more comfortable, there isn’t a barrier of going to an unknown space before they get comfortable enough to be open with you. It also allows for us to assess them doing the things that they are specifically struggling with.
Is your patient struggling lifting a specific box, reaching a washing line, transferring out of bed? Great, you can see the exact problem and work towards achieving that goal directly.
Another very important benefit of going to people’s homes, and this may be the most important, is pet pats!
Once I leave the patient’s house, I get my notes done ASAP. I’ll then pop on the podcast, find where I’m off to next and start the process again. Most of my patients are long term patients. This gives you a chance for some serious rapport building as you really become part of their lives.

For me the biggest reason why I love physiotherapy is that I get a chance to meet people and help them, wherever they are in life, but from that you get to learn about them, their life, their story. Being in their home just enhances that side of physio.
The nature of the service dictates that the patient load and the variety of cases is large. I may go from a post-surgical repair of a humerus, to a post-stroke patient learning to walk, to a back pain and then to an elderly lady’s home who had a fall recently and wants to get back into exercise. I see (1)NDIS patients, (2)TAC patients and of course (3)private patients.

• Seeing this wide span of patients has improved my skills as a physio, and it keeps you on your toes, but importantly it keeps the day interesting.
• No two days are the same, clinically or even necessarily where I end up!
• I have lunch in a different park or if you’re that way inclined from a different restaurant/café every day.
• I see different parts of Melbourne, I have small breaks at the beach, or sitting in a tree doing notes.

It truly is a free, liberating side of the job.

After I get through my 5-6 patients for the day – another upside if the numbers grinder of a clinic where you see 10-20 people daily is too draining – it’s back off home. The workday ends with an email updating the HPM team about how everyone went and when to see them next.
I guess I got side tracked in terms of giving you an actual time-tabled ‘day in the life of’ but as each one is different, I hope you get the idea of what a normal day involves.
The job is a fantastic place to grow as a physiotherapist if you are quite self-driven and enjoy the idea of being more relaxed, and on the move more than being in your treatment room for days on end.

Physiotherapy is a very personal and interactive profession. I love that we get to meet people and help them, wherever they are in life. However, one of the best things about mobile physiotherapy is getting to know our patients outside of the clinic setting. It’s just a different experience when you’re in their home and you can see how they live day-to-day.
We still offer home visits for those patients who require it, so if you or someone you know needs physio but doesn’t want to go to a clinic, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Thanks for reading!www.hubandspoke.health
ben@hubandspoke.health
+61413 677 222