Episode 144 - Connie Lee, part 1: Assessing in the Arctic

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Connie Lee PT, Cert MDT

In episode #144, I’m joined by Ms. Connie Lee of Iqaluit, Canada. She’s spent the last eight years delivering mechanical assessment and treatment to those in the eastern arctic region of Canada.  She shares what she’s learned from the indigenous people of that area, delivering therapy via tele health and more.  

 

Connie Lee is a physiotherapist who has worked as a rural/remote generalist clinician for 12 years. The last eight of those years she has spent working for the Government of Nunavut in Canada’s Eastern Arctic. 

Connie graduated from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario with an Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology Degree in 2000.  She continued on to complete a Master of Science Degree in Physiotherapy at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario in 2004. In 2013 Connie received her certification in MDT and is currently enrolled in the MDT Diploma Programme.

Growing up in rural Ontario influenced Connie’s interest in providing health care in underserviced areas and becoming a strong generalist clinician was a direction dictated by the need for service in these environments.   Practicing in Nunavut and meeting the challenge of providing accessible and equitable service to remote fly-in communities, Connie came to recognize the value of MDT as an effective and efficient tool for assessing, treating and discharging clients from a distance via Telehealth.

Connie and her partner live in Iqaluit, Nunavut where they have been active Foster Parents for five years. They are also the lucky adoptive parents to one awesome 6-year-old boy.

Show Notes

Background

Connie shares a little bit about her life in northern Canada, as well as her professional journey. She shares how her interest in physiotherapy began, and how her course of study groomed her for her current endeavours. She talks about her introduction to MDT, and the series of events that brought her to the arctic. 

 She talks about her certification experience as well as her current involvement in the McKenzie Institute International Diploma.

 

Learning from the People

Connie talks about the population with which she works, their characteristics and beliefs, and the culture of the indigenous people. She discusses the logistics of working in such a massive geographic region, and the strengths and challenges which arise with the use of telehealth in treatment.

 

We hope to deliver this content to the committed professional who wants to improve his/her care and we hope to do it in a way that is easily accessible, the world over, in today's technological age.

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