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About Me |
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Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 80145 Fax: 519-661-3866 E-mail: dwalton5@uwo.ca |
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Dave Walton PT, FCAMT, PhD(Cand.) Dave completed his Bachelor’s of Science (with distinction) degree in Physical Therapy from UWO in 1999. He began working at a private physiotherapy clinic in London Ontario Canada that dealt primarily with musculoskeletal disorders. It is here that he met his wife Amanda. They were married 2 years later in the spring of 2001. Dave returned to school in September of 1999 as a full-time graduate student in the Master’s of Science in Physical Therapy program at UWO, while continuing to work as a part-time clinician. His master’s thesis, entitled “The effect of endurance training on reflex inhibition after fatigue”, under Dr. Jayne Garland, introduced him to many of the basic science principles underlying neuromuscular fatigue. His work was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology in 2001. Upon the completion of his MSc, Dave returned full-time to clinical practice, this time as a staff physiotherapist in the outpatient department at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital, where he continues to practice today. He worked for 5 years as a full-time clinician under the mentorship of Bev Padfield, one of the countries foremost recognized experts on manual and manipulative therapy. Under Bev’s tutelage, Dave progressed through the post-graduate education system of the Orthopedic Division of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association, ultimately obtaining his credentials as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Therapy in 2004. It was during this 5-year stint that Dave developed a fascination with the phenomenon of pain, possibly stemming from his background in neurophysiology and a desire to find an application for that knowledge in clinical practice. In 2003 Dave and Amanda welcomed their first daughter into the world. In 2005, they were blessed with a second daughter. These two girls are an ongoing source of pride and motivation in Dave’s drive towards personal betterment. Dave continued with other ventures as well. He became a part-time faculty member, course manager and lecturer for the UWO Master’s of Physical Therapy program when it began in 2002. He has continued to lecture in this program in various forms since that time, and in 2007 he received the part-time teaching award of excellence from the Faculty of Health Sciences, the sole recipient of that award. Further, he and a partner were the owners and service providers for a well-conceived but short-lived private home-based physiotherapy business. This business dissolved when Dave returned to school once again, in the spring of 2006. In 2005, an innocent letter to the editors of the Orthopedic Division Review, which happened to be on pain, became the catalyst for what has become a strong movement towards developing a pain sciences special interest group under the umbrella of the CPA. The small but dedicated group that has provided the momentum for this movement has since consolidated itself as the Canadian Physiotherapy Pain Sciences Group (www.cppsg.squarespace.com). In February of 2008, a survey of CPA members went out asking about interest from the membership in developing a formal pain sciences division. The results of this are yet to come... In 2006, armed with a Doctoral Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Dave returned to UWO, this time enrolled in the PhD program in the Health and Rehabilitation Sciences program, PT field, under the supervision of Dr. Joy MacDermid. His topic area is secondary prevention of chronic pain, and his population of choice is people with whiplash injury from car accidents. He has written several articles for the CPPSG newsletter, the ODR, the Parkwood Exchange, Physiotherapy Today, and more recently has begun presenting his preliminary work at international conferences in Vancouver, Los Angeles, Nashville and Toronto. Dave would like to thank all those who have played an instrumental role in getting him to the point he is today, especially to his wife and two daughters. |
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