We are Women’s offers the WCH community a chance to get to know each other and share our stories.
Name: Gillian Sonley
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Title & Department: Physiotherapist, TAPMI (Pain Clinic)
On the WCH team for: 8 years
1. What does your typical workday look like?
Most days are dedicated to patient care for people living with chronic pain. We do subjective and objective assessments to try and understand the contributing factors to pain experiences which can be complex. We collaborate with patients to try and develop realistic goals, explain relevant pain science, and teach therapeutic exercises to try and improve patients’ confidence in their mobility and ability to manage symptoms. Other time in the day is often spent collaborating with my incredible colleagues in our interdisciplinary team to try and determine solutions and care navigation for more complex patient needs. Ongoing program development as well as clinical education and trying to keep up-to-date myself happen in whatever time is left!
2. What excites you the most about working at WCH?
WCH has always felt like a small community to me, and in particular, the TAPMI team feels like a family. It’s really important to me to feel both challenged and supported at work, and I feel lucky to say I enjoy coming to work every day. I think that really great people tend to choose to work at WCH, and they stay for some of the same reasons.
3. How does your work contribute to creating a positive patient experience?
A lot of people, in particular those who are under-resourced or from marginalized communities sadly do not have the financial means to access rehabilitation care for chronic conditions outside of hospital programs. Many patients appreciate the opportunity to access quality, evidence-based and compassionate care no matter their unique challenges. People generally want to be active and improve their quality of life, so we use both our physiotherapy and communication skills to guide patients to use activity in a healthy way to achieve their goals.
4. Tell us one thing that your colleagues would be surprised to learn about you!
Although I maintain my identity as a proud Cape Bretoner, I was born in Toronto at the old WCH building. Another reason why WCH is very special to me!