Northwest Physiotherapy Group

Russell graduated as a physiotherapist from Melbourne's Lincoln Institute of Health Sciences in 1982. He initially worked for 2 years in general orthopaedic and rehabilitation physiotherapy in a hospital setting. He then worked in private practice, Community Health at Sunbury and occupational health at Metropolitan Rehabilitation Services.

In 1990, he set up private practice at the Essendon & Moonee Ponds Physiotherapy Clinic. He was a physiotherapist for the Footscray Football Club commencing in the 1988 preseason and was senior physiotherapist during the 1991 to 1996 seasons. During that period he gained extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of orthopaedic conditions and sports injuries. The players were treated from the acute phase to full fitness. He worked closely with the medical staff, fitness advisors and coaches to formulate effective treatment and preventative programs.

Russell has improved his clinical skills and knowledge base with continuing education courses. His special interests are the treatment of lumbar/pelvic dysfunction, rehabilitation hydrotherapy and nervous system manual therapy.

Graham is an experienced clinician, graduating from La Trobe University in 1993. He has established a strong medical background, working in such hospitals as Ballarat Base, The Alfred and Austin and Repatriation Medical Center. He has also worked in England, where he had the opportunity to further develop his manual and orthopaedic skills, and has worked full time in private practice since returning to Melbourne in 1996. He has recently completed a Masters in Manipulative Physiotherapy through which he developed specialist skills in the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.

Graham's approach is methodical and hands-on, emphasizing quality of service and holistic patient management. Education and facilitating self care are also integral parts of this treatment. Graham's area of clinical interest are acute lumbar injuries, cervicogenic headache, neural conditions, knee injuries and tennis elbow. The later is the subject of his Masters thesis which was completed in 2001.

We would like to introduce to you our new Physiotherapist, Helen Shih, who began with us on the 10/5/2010.

Helen graduated from the University of Otago in New Zealand. She has been working in a private practice since she graduated and gained broad experience treating people of all ages with a variety of sporting and other musculoskeletal injuries. She is certified in Dry Needling and uses it as a part of her treatment when necessary. Her aim is to get people back to sport/work/everyday activities safely and pain free as quickly as possible without recurrent pain and injuries. In addition to this, Helen also speaks Mandarin fluently which assists her in managing a culturally diverse patient case load.

While Helen has a passion in sports medicine, she also has special interests in post-op rehabilitation, and treating people with low back pain, headaches, vertigo/dizziness, imbalance, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, vestibular and anxiety disorders. She will also be taking the weekly hydrotherapy sessions at the Broadmeadows Health Service purpose built indoor pool.