Gabrielle Jackson has been a star player at EPM since 2018, but her journey with us began way before she applied to join the team.
As she prepares for her next adventure in Australia, we look back on her journey with Elite…
Gabrielle first set foot in the Elite Physical Medicine clinic as a patient.
She was an elite gymnast who suffered a back injury in 2010 and came for physiotherapy here following a recommendation.
She recalls:
“I had heard about the excellent service that Elite provided for athletes and came to see whether physio would help my back, as the approaches to treatment I’d had elsewhere has been unsuccessful.”
Gabrielle was treated for four months, with physio to settle her lower back pain as well as a bespoke conditioning programme to help her manage symptoms and increase strength.
Following her treatment, Gabrielle returned to gymnastics within a few months and went on to continue competing at a high level for another five years afterwards.
Whilst getting injured was never in her plan, Gabrielle is grateful to have discovered EPM and felt instantly at home.
She said:
“I just LOVED the environment and how knowledgeable the team were. The level of care was excellent and everyone was so clued up when it came to high level sport.
Coming to Elite made such a huge impact on my ability to self-manage my injury throughout the rest of my career. They enabled me to gain an in-depth understanding of my issues and how to stay super strong. This not only helped with pain management but also hugely contributed to my later success as a gymnast.”
When she did eventually retire from gymnastics in 2015, Gabrielle wanted to be able to make the same change for other people and became driven to enable people to continue doing what they loved to do and succeed in their chosen sport.
EPM are proud of the professional collaboration and shared expertise that occurs across our multidisciplinary team, and the extent to which we use cutting-edge science in our day-to-day work. This is something that Gabrielle has contributed to, and enjoyed being part of.
Gabrielle said:
“I love the diversity of skills we have and how everyone brings something different to the team. It’s amazing to be able to cross-refer patients to physios and specialists from different sports backgrounds. EPM also have a lot of high-quality equipment which is often not available at other clinics. Their continued investment in technology makes it easier for us to provide exceptional care and enables all the practitioners who work there to stay ahead of the curve.”
Gabrielle has found it reassuring that when a patient of hers needs a scan, a referral to a consultant, or a specific strength and conditioning programme, there’s a colleague on hand who can help.
She says:
“It’s great to know that one of the team is able to help with any issue.”
“Learning from others has been instrumental in my personal development – especially Tom and (former EPM team member) Gus. My strength and conditioning knowledge has skyrocketed, as has my confidence with progressing patients.”
Alongside treating patients at the clinic, Gabrielle has been in demand at a large number of local, national and international sports teams and events. Gabs has played a vital role at Aylesbury RFC as their Head of Medical, and also works with the Senior Men’s rugby team for Buckinghamshire.
She has accompanied Team GB as one of their medical team at British Gymnastics and British Swimming championships in the UK and abroad, and been involved in supporting competitors at many other high level sporting events.
As well as building her practical experience outside of the clinic, Gabrielle has continued to add some impressive qualifications to her CV, with full support from Elite.
She says:
“EPM have always been flexible so that I could take on these new and exciting opportunities and been fully supportive throughout. I’ve completed S&C qualifications and got distinction in my MSc in Sports Medicine.”
“Not only has Elite helped me with this financially, but the ongoing support and flexibility to accommodate study time and exam periods have also been an important factor in my academic achievements.”
Elite have several pieces of specialist equipment and connections to leading experts, which enable us to offer more advanced assessments and interventions than other clinics.
From the bespoke rehabilitation gym to the close connections we have with local GPs and consultants, EPM is always looking to go above and beyond with patient care.
For her MSc research dissertation, Gabrielle used the Force Decks at the EPM clinic to measure reliability of using isometric and plyometric press ups as an upper body strength test.
Force decks are used in clinic to test baseline strength, measure improvements, screening athletic performance, goal setting and assessing asymmetry.
Using players from the Aylesbury Rugby Club as test subjects, Gabrielle completed an outstanding piece of research which subsequently won her an award at UCL.
She says:
“Winning the Best Post Graduate Individual Research Project for Post grads in the field of MSK and Orthopaedics (The John Scales Award) was a HUGE achievement and one I would not have been able to do without the support from Elite.”
The next chapter of Gabrielle’s career will begin in Summer 2023 when she moves to Australia to continue working in high level sport.
She says:
“I’ll still be working with clients face-to-face but I am also pursuing a career as an online physio, offering personalised strength and conditioning programmes so that I can continue to help people whilst I’m travelling and living an active lifestyle with my partner.”
Amidst all the excitement, Gabrielle is taking her responsibility of handing over to our newest team member Catrin Morris, very seriously and has shared what she’ll miss about working here.
“The overall support of the team, from the clinical leads to the administration team, is amazing. The whole team is like a little family looking out for each other which I think is rare in this environment.”
“I love my colleagues and will be missing them hugely when I leave. The atmosphere that has been created here is laid-back but hard-working and everyone respects each other. Andy and Tom have got the team spot on and I thank them hugely for getting this right, as this has been a huge factor in my job satisfaction.
I love how we go above and beyond to help our patients and we created lovely loyal relationships with patients.”
The team will certainly miss Gabrielle and have made countless happy memories of working (and playing!) hard.
Clinical Director, Andy McCrea, has known Gabrielle since her gymnastics days.
“I first met Gabrielle as a bubbly, energetic teenager who was a determined young gymnast and dedicated to her sport. Nothing really has changed!
The same energy and determination is now applied to her career and in the last 5 years she has become a very capable and experienced physiotherapist, recognised by her Masters achievement and in elite sport through her work in swimming and gymnastics.
I am very sorry she is leaving but excited too, she has a great opportunity in Australia and I look forward to her sharing her stories.”
Colleague Amanda Sussman said:
“It’s been such a pleasure to work with Gabrielle. She always kept her door open to me and offers help and support to other members of the team. Her knowledge and experience not only benefits her patients but also the team around her. I wish her the best of success in all her future endeavours!”
