Clare Austin and David Dimech are the co-founders of an innovative new project to provide physiotherapy services to the people of rural and remote Australia. Project Physio is an extraordinary idea that marries the joy of travel with modern information technology to build a viable, ongoing business.
Clare and David, both Physiotherapists with undergraduate degrees in Exercise and Sports Science, met in Sydney whilst studying. Their first jobs were in Wollongong, New South Wales and it was there that they hit upon the solution to meet their multiple ambitions of travel, building a business and servicing a part of the community in desperate need.
They purchased a 21-seater Toyota Coaster and spent twelve months designing and building the ex-community bus into an off-grid, self-contained motorhome. This enables the two to have secure accomodation and a means to travel between communities around the country. Upon the completion of their bus build, Clare and David had some time off to relax, test their new home on the road and plan the next phase of their project; to build a business.
The business consists of three sources of interrelated service provision. Firstly, providing locum services for rural and remote physiotherapy practices. Secondly, running their own physiotherapy business in areas (both geographical and patient type) that are currently underserviced. And thirdly, providing telehealth physiotherapy services to patients that require ongoing care, once Clare and David had relocated.
Whilst Covid19 has impacted many businesses, Clare and David took advantage of the wider awareness and acceptance of virtual healthcare as a result of the pandemic. So, rather than their patients being abandoned when the pair move on, the professional relationship can be maintained via telehealth. In this way, David and Clare will build a strong clientele who they can continue to service wherever they are in the country. And the people of rural and remote Australia can continue to receive physiotherapy services from two practitioners they know and trust.
At the time of writing, Clare and David are on the Yorke Peninsula, just West of Adelaide, working with a medical and aged care clinic who have had difficulty finding a physiotherapist for their patients. Their plan is to continue to travel through the Northern Territory and then further West. If successful, they plan to continue helping regional and remote towns across Australia for the next 1-2 years.
Central to Project Physio’s success is technology, and that includes the versatility of being able to provide telehealth from anywhere whilst having a stable and central presence with their website. Clare explained that during their marketing decisions they chose the domain name www.project.physio because of its simplicity and exact match to their business name. The innovative nature of a .physio domain name also supports their brand identity of skilled users of advanced technology.
With Project Physio it seems that Clare and David have found the perfect way to enjoy the usually impossible dream of travelling and building a business at the same time. So, it is not without envy that we wave them farewell for their next project.
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