Meet the Staff

Patrick: patrick@straightback.com.au

Patrick graduated from SAIT in1986 and first worked as a graduate at the Royal Adelaide hospital in the graduate program. From there he worked in rural NSW and a private practice in Darwin before joining Sue Trott in practice in McLaren Vale at the start of 1991.

Patrick has attended many conferences and courses including Pilates, Dry Needling and Diagnostic Ultrasound in recent times. Patrick’s approach to treatment is very much hands on. Passive mobilisation, manipulation as well as massage are all used in a multi-dimensional approach to treatment.

Formerly a keen footballer and runner, he now keeps fit by swimming, walking and cycling. He is interested in virtually all sports of which he is an acknowledged armchair expert.

Wendy: wendy@straightback.com.au

Wendy graduated in 1985 from SAIT and went into medium term rehabilitation for TQEH at their rehab centre in Royal Park for 18 months. From there she started work at the Daws Road Repatriation Hospital for another 18 months before starting her own private practice at Reynella. At Reynella wendy worked in general and sports physiotherapy and ran hydrotherapy and gym classes. She sold this practice in 1993 while pregnant with my first child. During the next few years wendy worked part time locums as she added to her family.

She commenced part time employment at Southern Vales Physiotherapy in 1995 before joining as a partner in 1998.

Joel: joel@straightback.com.au

After completing his schooling at Unley High School in 1994, Joel attended the University of South Australia where he completed the degree in Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy in 1998. His elective concentrated on sports physiotherapy. Upon completing university, Joel worked as a new graduate at Flinders Medical Centre for 18 months, where he was involved in most rosters including: general outpatients; outpatient hands; hydrotherapy; and inpatient post-operative physiotherapy. During this time he was also the physiotherapist for the South Australian womens’ hockey team.

Following his time at Flinders Medical Centre joel lived in Canada for 18 months on a working holiday doing anything from baking bread, muffins and cakes, to building houses, but mostly just holidaying. Since returning from Canada in 2001, he have been working at Straight Back Physiotherapy in the McLaren Vale and Moana rooms. He also runs hydrotherapy classes 3 times a week in the Seaford StateSwim pool.

Karina: karina@straightback.com.au

Karina recently joined Straight Back Physiotherapy in August 2008. She has completed a Masters in Physiotherapy (Graduate Entry) at the University of South Australia and is a member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association. Karina has a previous university degree in Applied Science (Human Movement), which she completed in 2005. This degree had a sports science focus, with emphasis on areas such as exercise prescription and  biomechanical analysis of movement. Furthermore, Karina has previously been involved in the running exercise and nutrition studies and her interest in sport has included time as a sports trainer at the University and Masters Games events.

Previously a keen basketballer, Karina now enjoys keeping active through exercise at the gym. In her spare time she enjoys socializing with friends, going to concerts and travelling.