Let’s Talk About: Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy & more (with Dr. Anood Faqih)

Featuring the first interview of 2021!

Today we have with us Dr. Anood Faqih. Dr. Anood is an Orthopedic, Trauma, Sports and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist in Pune, India.

She is the co-founder of Physio Studio, a physiotherapy clinic in Pune. She completed her Bachelor’s in Physiotherapy (BPTh) & her Masters in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy (MPT) from Sancheti Institute for Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation.

Here are a few questions we asked her:

Q. What motivated you to become a Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist?

A. Over the years, as a student my interest in the filed of Orthopedics and Orthopedic Physiotherapy deepened. Call it good mentorship from my professors or the subject itself being so compelling.

Q. Can you tell us about your clinic ‘Physio Studio’ and shed some light on what kind of treatment programs you offer?

A. Physio Studio is a super specialty Orthopedic Physiotherapy Clinic. We see a variety of orthopedic cases, be it acute injuries, post-operative cases or complex traumatic injuries. My primary interests being the knee and shoulder. The team is inclined towards custom-built programs and providing care to the best of their abilities to all our patients. We have also conducted orthopedic and ergonomic programs in different cities in India.

Q. What are some of your best moments in the field?

A. Every time a patient who comes to us walks out relatively pain-free and in a better state right from the first session, be it a post-operative case who is low on confidence or a patient in acute pain.

Q. How has COVID-19 affected you? What kind of challenges have you faced? Do share your experience of adapting to the pandemic.

A. The clinic was non operational in the initial 1-1.5 months of the lockdown period. However, we did conduct online sessions and consulted patients virtually. It took sometime to pick up again but then we noticed an exponential rise in cases due to working from home; and being more sedentary and home bound. We still adhere to all safety measures we did back then even though there has been a significant drop in the number of covid cases.

Q. Do you feel that India has realized the significance of Physiotherapy over the years? What more do you feel can be done?

A. India has realized this to some extent but the majority of awareness is in the bigger cities. The significance is known marginally in smaller towns; and maybe non existent or very low in the rural areas. The awareness about physical therapists specializing and working in various fields still needs to be known and explored. That needs to be done!

Q. As a physiotherapist, what do you think is your biggest superpower?

A. It is the ability to make a difference in the most remarkable ways.

Q. What advice would you like to give to anyone who is interested in becoming a physiotherapist?

A. This is a challenging and a rewarding profession. You need to be patient yet fast-moving. Totally worth it!

Interview by Dr. Manasi Anand (PT)

We hope you enjoyed this interview & gained some insight about being a physiotherapist.

If you are a physiotherapist or dance movement therapist and would like to be featured or if you know someone who can be featured, do write to us at rejoiceinmotion@gmail.com