Michael Makarov is a Life Sciences student at the University of Toronto, where his academic interest is in molecular networks within the cell and their role in mutagenic processes. He joined Advanced Physio Plus as a volunteer to see how a rehabilitation clinic works from the inside, shadowing our Registered Physiotherapist and learning how care is planned and delivered.

His role here is entirely observational. Michael does not assess, treat, or provide care of any kind. He is here to understand how clinical decisions are made, how a treatment plan takes shape and changes over the course of a recovery, and how the day-to-day operations of a clinic actually function. Patients are always asked before he observes any part of a session and are free to say no.

What Michael is learning with us

• The patient journey, from first assessment through to discharge
• How assessment findings become an individualized treatment plan
• The role of physiotherapist assistants, and how supervision works in practice
• The rehabilitation technology and modalities used in a working clinic
• Clinic operations: scheduling, documentation and the administrative side of care

Outside the clinic, Michael is a keen boulderer, scuba diver and hiker. What draws him to those is much the same thing that draws him here: he learns by doing and reading.