This event will bring together clinician researchers from across Australia to explore current assessment and management pathways for patients presenting with low back and low back related leg pain in the Emergency Department.
Research conducted in WA, SA, Victoria and Queensland will be on view, developed and implemented by advanced practice physiotherapists. Each presenter will deliver 15-20 minute presentation, with a panel discussion at the end of the presentation where online audience participation will be encouraged.
Dr Caitlin Farmer, MACP, is the Clinical Lead for Advanced Practice Physiotherapy at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and has worked in advanced practice spinal triage and ED roles for more than 15 years. She has a postgraduate clinical Masters of Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy from Latrobe University and completed her PhD, which investigated optimising imaging reports in people with low back pain, with Wiser Healthcare at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in 2023. She is also the current Victorian Branch President and on the National Advisory Council for the Australian Physiotherapy Association.
Joseph Orlando, MACP, works in advanced practice physiotherapy roles across the emergency department, spinal assessment and pain management services of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network. He is undertaking a higher degree by research with Adelaide University exploring factors that lead to hospital presentation and admission in people with low back pain, and alternative pathways to manage this patient cohort.
Pippa Flanagan, MACP, is an Advanced Scope Physiotherapist with over 20 years experience treating low back pain in both private practice and the Emergency Department. She has worked in ED and outpatient Neurosurgery clinic at Fiona Stanley Hospital for the past 11 years and is currently completing a PhD focused on improving the care provided to patients presenting to ED with low back pain using an implementation research approach.
Janelle Heine is an Emergency Physiotherapy Practitioner at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Brisbane. She has worked in this role since 2014. Her interest in back pain in the Emergency Department started as part of a 2019 clinical audit on clinician adherence to best practice guidelines for the management of back pain. Since then, she has been involved in further low back pain research in the emergency department, including a recent trial called the RIME trial that focused on the reduction of inappropriate medication in the management of low back pain. Janelle appreciates the complexity of managing low back pain patients in ED, and understands how multiple factors such as ED flow, patient expectations, NEAT pressures and clinician experience can make this cohort of patients difficult to manage well in the fast-paced ED environment.
Advanced Practice and Musculoskeletal National Groups
05/08/2026
1.5 Hours
Please note: The content of this Lecture on Demand (LOD) was captured via a recording of a live lecture at the APA premises. Due to the nature of the event and the recording method, this LOD may not have captured some of the questions/comments from live audience. Your purchase of this module indicates your acceptance of this.
