Julia Allyne
When I was thirteen years old, my father decided that skiing would be a great family activity until he shattered his right lower leg coming down an icy hill! As the eldest of five children, my job was to accompany my Dad to physiotherapy treatment. The rest is history, as the saying goes, and by age twenty-one, I was working as a physiotherapist and later graduated from McMaster University medical school and residency program. Although I practiced for many years in a community family medicine setting, my deeper interests were always rooted in sport, exercise and musculoskeletal medicine.
As an Olympic team physician, I gained an appreciation for the high yield history and relevant examination since clinical decisions had to be made quickly and accurately and often on the competition field.Quote..
As an Olympic team physician, I gained an appreciation for the high yield history and relevant examination since clinical decisions had to be made quickly and accurately and often on the competition field. The motto “higher, stronger, faster” appropriately fits the pressures that medical practitioners often feel when trying to manage their patients’ expectations and also keep up with evidence-based practice. After completing a Master’s focused in education for health professionals, my journey led to work in development and design of interactive courses, clinical tools and online education. Finding the teacher inside the healer seemed to unlock a sense of creative simplicity that allowed me to take my years of training and share it collaboratively in every project.
What kind of projects have made me proud? The CORE Back tool has been a very satisfying journey – working with world renowned co-authors, witnessing the transformation of learners in a teaching session and then watching the spark of online learning quickly gain explosive momentum. I was at a gathering for the University of Toronto recently where on two occasions someone approached me and mentioned their use of the CORE Back Tool. Interestingly, one conversation was about the Core Tool spreading to Botswana and the other was about it spreading to Physician Assistants. I am excited for the launch of the CORE Neck Tool to see where the next destination will be.
Currently, I am working at Toronto Rehab where I have a focused practice in musculoskeletal medicine, rehabilitation and sport medicine. At the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, I am the director of the Enhanced Skills program in focused family practice. My work is still interesting or maybe I am still interested in my work, either way, a satisfying career is a valuable possession in these changing times.
My personal goal: to keep skiing at least until I am seventy-five, and that is a long way away! Thanks Dad!
– Julia Allyne, MD, CAC (SEM), FCFP, CEP Clinical Lead