My name is Daniel and I’m a physical therapy student from the University of Cagliari, in Sardinia. I attended my traineeship experience at the Isokinetic rehabilitation clinic in London for a period of 2 months, between December 2021 and February 2022.
Isokinetic London is a private Sports Medicine rehabilitation centre, treating adult outpatients affected by any kind of musculoskeletal injury. This is carried out in four different environments: a hydrotherapy pool, a rehabilitation gym, a biomechanics laboratory and an on-field facility. The sessions include the use of hands-on treatments, modalities and supervised exercise, all based on the most recent EBM findings. Here they use a team based approach where consistent communication is a key factor, involving different professionals such as Physiotherapists, Sports Therapists, Sports Osteopaths and Sports Medicine Consultants.
I founded out about this center looking through the SEND organization list. I always wanted to do an abroad experience in London, and after I founded out that this clinic is one of the Fifa Medical Center of Excellence I immediately applyed for this internship: After looking in the clinic’s website I’ve contacted the head of rehabilitators and sent a video-curriculum in order to propose as an intern candidate. Luckily, I made a good impression and they offered me an internship period of two months. (I was so excited!)
After I got accepted I started to save up some money in order to be able to afford a 2 months period in London. Generally speaking, the cost of life in Uk and London is higher compared Italy, so I had to save up at least enough money to live in a hostel for two months and with the help of the Erasmus scholarship I was able to enjoy my stay abroad without any problems.
At the beginning of my erasmus experience I arrived to the clinic to meet the supervisor, and he showed me all the facilities and me all the tasks and how to interact with my coworkers and the patients in the clinic, therefore I was assigned to a tutor that followed me during the entire internship. The rehabilitation sessions typically involved a functional assessment of the patients, carried out also through the use of special tests, with a subsequent diagnosis and the creation of an appropriate physiotherapy plan, based on EBM, what emerged from the assessment, the goals of the treatment (shared with the patients) and the patients’ needs. Where relevant, more people are involved in the treatment plan, e.g. the integration of hydrotherapy and physiotherapy. In this two months experience I’ve been able to assist the rehabilitation processes carried out by the official physiotherapists, and during this shadowing period I’ve learned a lot about the most innovative techniques related to phisical therapy and sport rehabilitation treatments.
My impressions of this clinic is absolutely positive: through this experience I was able to learn from the best specialists and improve my professional knowledge in the rehabilitation field. Also, due to the friendly and cohoperative enviroment, I was able to establish good relationships with them: it was a very fulfilling experience and I will remember it as one of the best of my entire life.
I highly recommend to apply an Erasmus experience: not only allowed me to visit a different country and discover a different culture, but it also helped me to improve my english (specially in my study field) and improve both my accademic and professional background. It is a life changing experience and I wish that everybody could try it at least once in their life in order to understand how beautiful our world is and how is important to open our mind to new horizons and challenges, improving ourselves for a better life and a better future!
Daniel Pilia Romero, student at University of Cagliari
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