I'm Durga — a CORU-registered physiotherapist and MSc-qualified exercise physiologist, practising at Staff Grade level at University Hospital Galway. My work begins the same way each time: with the person in front of me and the question of what they need to move well again. Across neurological, orthopaedic, respiratory and intensive-care rehabilitation, the clinical reasoning follows from there — evidence-based, and unmistakably person-centred.
I. CLINICAL RANGE
Four areas where my practice runs deep — from the acute ward to the hydrotherapy pool. The breadth matters because rehabilitation rarely respects neat boundaries: the respiratory patient is also deconditioned, the stroke survivor also has a fractured hip, and good care has to hold all of it at once.
Acute & Inpatient Rehabilitation
I deliver autonomous physiotherapy assessment and treatment to acute inpatients at one of Ireland's largest Model 4 teaching hospitals, across medical, surgical, orthopaedic and respiratory caseloads. The work is rarely about a single joint — it is about reading the whole patient, formulating an evidence-based plan, and progressing it day by day toward restored mobility, function and a timely, safe discharge. Most of that happens inside a busy multidisciplinary team, where the physiotherapist's voice has to be both clinically precise and clearly heard.
Neurological Rehabilitation
Stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury demand patience and precision in equal measure. I assess and rehabilitate patients through the slow, deliberate work of restoring movement, balance and independence — grounded in neuroplasticity and the understanding that recovery is built from thousands of well-judged repetitions. I have supported neurology and stroke caseloads across acute wards and delivered advanced modalities, including robotic walk-machine gait training, to give that recovery the best possible foundation.
Respiratory & Intensive Care
Respiratory and ICU physiotherapy is where rehabilitation and acute care meet. I have delivered chest physiotherapy, breathing re-education and early mobilisation for critically ill patients — clearing secretions, protecting the airway, and getting deconditioned bodies moving before weakness sets in. It is detailed, vigilant work, and it often decides how the rest of a patient's recovery will go.
Exercise Physiology & Advanced Modalities
An MSc in Exercise Physiology & Rehabilitation gives my practice a physiological spine — biomechanics, kinesiology, neurophysiology, and exercise testing and prescription used as genuine therapy rather than generic advice. That foundation lets me reach for advanced modalities where they earn their place: robotic-assisted gait training to rebuild a walking pattern, and aqua therapy to let patients move in water where gravity on land would not yet allow it.
II. CAREER
From the Lecture Hall to the Acute Ward
Scroll right to follow the path.Scroll down to follow each chapter.
Dec 2025 — Present
Staff Grade Physiotherapist
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL GALWAY · GALWAY, IRELAND
Autonomous physiotherapy assessment and treatment of acute inpatients at one of Ireland's largest Model 4 teaching hospitals, across medical, surgical, orthopaedic and respiratory caseloads. I formulate and progress evidence-based rehabilitation plans — optimising mobility, function and a timely, safe discharge — alongside respiratory, post-operative and neurological physiotherapy delivered within the multidisciplinary team.
Jan 2025 — Dec 2025
Physiotherapy Assistant
HSE · SLIGO UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL · CO. SLIGO
Supported physiotherapy-led rehabilitation across frailty, orthopaedic, stroke, neurology, paediatric, surgical, respiratory and intensive-care wards. Assisted hands-on post-operative, neurological and respiratory physiotherapy — including chest physiotherapy and breathing re-education — and documented patient progress within the MDT.
Jun 2024 — Jan 2025
Physiotherapy Assistant & Activity Co-ordinator
RUSHMORE NURSING HOME · CO. GALWAY · INTERNSHIP
Delivered mobility-focused physiotherapy and daily-living support to elderly residents with compassionate, individualised care. Co-ordinated recreational and social programmes that measurably enhanced residents' physical and emotional wellbeing — my first sustained lesson in rehabilitation as something that belongs to a whole life, not just a body.
2023
Rehabilitative Physiotherapist
WELLKNOX MEDICAL REHABILITATION CENTRE · HYDERABAD, INDIA
Assessed and rehabilitated patients recovering from road-traffic trauma, spinal cord injury, stroke, brain injury and fractures. Delivered advanced modalities — robotic walk-machine gait training and aqua therapy — to optimise functional recovery and mobility, and learned to hold a long view of recovery when progress is measured in weeks.
2023 — 2024
MSc, Exercise Physiology & Rehabilitation
UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY · IRELAND
Exercise physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology, neurophysiology, integrated physiology, metabolism & nutrition, exercise testing & prescription, and exercise as therapy. The science that now underpins every progression I write — turning 'do some exercises' into a measured, physiological plan.
2017 — 2022
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT)
DR. NTR UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES · INDIA
Anatomy & physiology, orthopaedics, clinical neurology, cardio-respiratory physiotherapy, rehabilitation & geriatric medicine, and research methodology & biostatistics. Four years that turned an interest in how the body moves into a clinical discipline.
Dec 2025 — Present
Staff Grade Physiotherapist
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL GALWAY · GALWAY, IRELAND
Autonomous physiotherapy assessment and treatment of acute inpatients at one of Ireland's largest Model 4 teaching hospitals, across medical, surgical, orthopaedic and respiratory caseloads. I formulate and progress evidence-based rehabilitation plans — optimising mobility, function and a timely, safe discharge — alongside respiratory, post-operative and neurological physiotherapy delivered within the multidisciplinary team.
Jan 2025 — Dec 2025
Physiotherapy Assistant
HSE · SLIGO UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL · CO. SLIGO
Supported physiotherapy-led rehabilitation across frailty, orthopaedic, stroke, neurology, paediatric, surgical, respiratory and intensive-care wards. Assisted hands-on post-operative, neurological and respiratory physiotherapy — including chest physiotherapy and breathing re-education — and documented patient progress within the MDT.
Jun 2024 — Jan 2025
Physiotherapy Assistant & Activity Co-ordinator
RUSHMORE NURSING HOME · CO. GALWAY · INTERNSHIP
Delivered mobility-focused physiotherapy and daily-living support to elderly residents with compassionate, individualised care. Co-ordinated recreational and social programmes that measurably enhanced residents' physical and emotional wellbeing — my first sustained lesson in rehabilitation as something that belongs to a whole life, not just a body.
2023
Rehabilitative Physiotherapist
WELLKNOX MEDICAL REHABILITATION CENTRE · HYDERABAD, INDIA
Assessed and rehabilitated patients recovering from road-traffic trauma, spinal cord injury, stroke, brain injury and fractures. Delivered advanced modalities — robotic walk-machine gait training and aqua therapy — to optimise functional recovery and mobility, and learned to hold a long view of recovery when progress is measured in weeks.
2023 — 2024
MSc, Exercise Physiology & Rehabilitation
UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY · IRELAND
Exercise physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology, neurophysiology, integrated physiology, metabolism & nutrition, exercise testing & prescription, and exercise as therapy. The science that now underpins every progression I write — turning 'do some exercises' into a measured, physiological plan.
2017 — 2022
Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT)
DR. NTR UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES · INDIA
Anatomy & physiology, orthopaedics, clinical neurology, cardio-respiratory physiotherapy, rehabilitation & geriatric medicine, and research methodology & biostatistics. Four years that turned an interest in how the body moves into a clinical discipline.
III. REGISTRATIONS & INSTITUTIONS
CORU
Registered Physiotherapist · PT069212
Indian Association of Physiotherapy
Life Member · L-56169
REPS Ireland
Registered Exercise Professional · 77303
University Hospital Galway
Staff Grade · Model 4 Teaching Hospital
HSE · Sligo University Hospital
Physiotherapy-led Rehabilitation
Rushmore Nursing Home
Co. Galway, Ireland
Wellknox Medical Rehabilitation
Hyderabad, India
University of Galway
MSc · Exercise Physiology & Rehabilitation
Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences
BPT · India
IV. AREAS OF PRACTICE
Eight Domains, One Standard of Care
From the acute ward to the hydrotherapy pool. Scroll right.
Acute Care
Acute Inpatient Physiotherapy
Assessment & Treatment
Medical · Surgical · Orthopaedic · Respiratory
The core of my Staff Grade practice at University Hospital Galway: autonomous assessment and treatment of acute inpatients across medical, surgical, orthopaedic and respiratory caseloads. Every patient gets an evidence-based plan that is progressed daily and bent toward one outcome — restored mobility, restored function, and a discharge that is both timely and safe. It is high-volume, high-judgment work, carried out shoulder to shoulder with the multidisciplinary team.
Neuro
Neurological Rehabilitation
Restoring Movement & Balance
Stroke · Brain Injury · Spinal Cord · Balance
Rehabilitation after stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury — relearning movement, balance and independence through deliberate, graded repetition. The work is grounded in neuroplasticity: progress is measured in small, hard-won gains, and the plan is rewritten as the patient changes. Across acute and rehabilitation settings I have helped patients move from bed to chair, from chair to frame, from frame to their own two feet.
ICU
Respiratory & ICU Physiotherapy
Airway & Early Mobility
Chest Physio · Breathing Re-education · Early Mobilisation
Chest physiotherapy, breathing re-education and early mobilisation for acutely and critically ill patients — clearing secretions, protecting the airway and getting deconditioned bodies moving before weakness compounds. Trained in respiratory techniques for the ICU patient and early mobility programmes for the critically ill, this is the vigilant, detail-driven work that frequently decides the trajectory of the whole recovery.
Gait Lab
Robotic-Assisted Gait Training
Robotic-Assisted Training
Walk-Machine · Gait Re-education · Neuro-recovery
Delivering robotic walk-machine gait training to rebuild a walking pattern after neurological and traumatic injury. The robotics supply consistent, high-dose repetition of a normal gait cycle; my role is to set the parameters, read the patient's response, and translate the machine's repetition into real-world function on the ward and at home.
Hydrotherapy
Aqua Therapy
Therapy in Water
Buoyancy · Pain Relief · Graded Loading
Using the properties of water — buoyancy, warmth and resistance — to let patients move where gravity on land would not yet allow. Aqua therapy unloads painful joints, reduces fear of movement, and gives early-stage and post-operative patients a place to rebuild strength and confidence before progressing back onto dry land.
Trauma
Spinal Cord & Trauma Rehab
Recovery After Injury
Road-Traffic Trauma · SCI · Fractures
Assessing and rehabilitating patients recovering from road-traffic trauma, spinal cord injury and fractures — long arcs of recovery where the goal is function and independence rather than the level of the injury alone. Built on spinal cord injury treatment principles, the work pairs careful, staged loading with the psychological patience these recoveries demand.
Geriatric
Frailty & Geriatric Rehab
Mobility & Dignity
Falls · Daily-Living · Person-Centred Care
Mobility-focused physiotherapy and daily-living support for frail and older adults, delivered with compassionate, individualised care. For an older patient, regaining the stairs or the walk to the kitchen is regaining a whole life — so the plan is built around what matters to them, not just what is measurable on a chart.
Post-Op
Post-Operative Rehabilitation
Restoring Function
Orthopaedic · Surgical · Progressive Loading
Post-operative and orthopaedic rehabilitation — guiding patients through the weeks after surgery when the outcome is genuinely decided. A replaced or repaired joint is only a beginning; the result depends on graded loading, range restoration and the confidence to move, all progressed safely from the first day after theatre.
Acute Care
Acute Inpatient Physiotherapy
Assessment & Treatment
Medical · Surgical · Orthopaedic · Respiratory
The core of my Staff Grade practice at University Hospital Galway: autonomous assessment and treatment of acute inpatients across medical, surgical, orthopaedic and respiratory caseloads. Every patient gets an evidence-based plan that is progressed daily and bent toward one outcome — restored mobility, restored function, and a discharge that is both timely and safe. It is high-volume, high-judgment work, carried out shoulder to shoulder with the multidisciplinary team.
Neuro
Neurological Rehabilitation
Restoring Movement & Balance
Stroke · Brain Injury · Spinal Cord · Balance
Rehabilitation after stroke, brain injury and spinal cord injury — relearning movement, balance and independence through deliberate, graded repetition. The work is grounded in neuroplasticity: progress is measured in small, hard-won gains, and the plan is rewritten as the patient changes. Across acute and rehabilitation settings I have helped patients move from bed to chair, from chair to frame, from frame to their own two feet.
ICU
Respiratory & ICU Physiotherapy
Airway & Early Mobility
Chest Physio · Breathing Re-education · Early Mobilisation
Chest physiotherapy, breathing re-education and early mobilisation for acutely and critically ill patients — clearing secretions, protecting the airway and getting deconditioned bodies moving before weakness compounds. Trained in respiratory techniques for the ICU patient and early mobility programmes for the critically ill, this is the vigilant, detail-driven work that frequently decides the trajectory of the whole recovery.
Gait Lab
Robotic-Assisted Gait Training
Robotic-Assisted Training
Walk-Machine · Gait Re-education · Neuro-recovery
Delivering robotic walk-machine gait training to rebuild a walking pattern after neurological and traumatic injury. The robotics supply consistent, high-dose repetition of a normal gait cycle; my role is to set the parameters, read the patient's response, and translate the machine's repetition into real-world function on the ward and at home.
Hydrotherapy
Aqua Therapy
Therapy in Water
Buoyancy · Pain Relief · Graded Loading
Using the properties of water — buoyancy, warmth and resistance — to let patients move where gravity on land would not yet allow. Aqua therapy unloads painful joints, reduces fear of movement, and gives early-stage and post-operative patients a place to rebuild strength and confidence before progressing back onto dry land.
Trauma
Spinal Cord & Trauma Rehab
Recovery After Injury
Road-Traffic Trauma · SCI · Fractures
Assessing and rehabilitating patients recovering from road-traffic trauma, spinal cord injury and fractures — long arcs of recovery where the goal is function and independence rather than the level of the injury alone. Built on spinal cord injury treatment principles, the work pairs careful, staged loading with the psychological patience these recoveries demand.
Geriatric
Frailty & Geriatric Rehab
Mobility & Dignity
Falls · Daily-Living · Person-Centred Care
Mobility-focused physiotherapy and daily-living support for frail and older adults, delivered with compassionate, individualised care. For an older patient, regaining the stairs or the walk to the kitchen is regaining a whole life — so the plan is built around what matters to them, not just what is measurable on a chart.
Post-Op
Post-Operative Rehabilitation
Restoring Function
Orthopaedic · Surgical · Progressive Loading
Post-operative and orthopaedic rehabilitation — guiding patients through the weeks after surgery when the outcome is genuinely decided. A replaced or repaired joint is only a beginning; the result depends on graded loading, range restoration and the confidence to move, all progressed safely from the first day after theatre.
“Rehabilitation isn’t measured in degrees of range or reps on a chart. It’s measured the morning a patient reaches for their own independence.”
Durga Bhavani Dampuri
V. CLINICAL NOTES
Notes from the Ward ...
"The most important distance a critically ill patient walks is the first."
The First Six Metres
Why early mobilisation in the ICU is some of the most important work in the hospital, and why it has to start before the patient feels ready.
Read →
"Robotics give us repetition. The patient gives us the will. Recovery needs both."
Re-teaching the Body to Walk
What robotic-assisted gait training can and cannot do, and where the physiotherapist's judgement still decides the outcome.
Read →
"Clear the chest, and the rest of the rehabilitation finally has room to work."
Breath Before Strength
On respiratory physiotherapy as the quiet foundation of acute rehabilitation, clearing the chest so the rest of the work has room to happen.
Read →
"Neuroplasticity isn't a miracle. It's a thousand patient, deliberate repetitions."
After the Stroke
Neuroplasticity in plain language, and the unglamorous, deliberate repetition that turns it from theory into a patient walking again.
Read →
"We rehabilitate function and a person — not just the level of the injury."
The Spine Remembers
Rehabilitating after spinal cord injury means rehabilitating function and a life, not just the level of the lesion.
Read →
"In the pool, gravity negotiates. Patients move where the land wouldn't let them."
Water as a Therapist
How buoyancy, warmth and resistance let patients move where gravity on land would not yet allow.
Read →
"A replaced knee is a beginning. The outcome is decided in the weeks that follow."
Restoring the Joint
Post-operative orthopaedic rehab, and why the result of a surgery is really decided in the weeks that follow it.
Read →
"For an older patient, regaining the stairs is regaining a whole life."
Dignity in the Detail
Working with frail and older adults, where regaining the stairs or the walk to the kitchen is regaining a whole life.
Read →"In the pool, gravity negotiates. Patients move where the land wouldn't let them."
Water as a Therapist
How buoyancy, warmth and resistance let patients move where gravity on land would not yet allow.
Read →"A replaced knee is a beginning. The outcome is decided in the weeks that follow."
Restoring the Joint
Post-operative orthopaedic rehab, and why the result of a surgery is really decided in the weeks that follow it.
Read →"For an older patient, regaining the stairs is regaining a whole life."
Dignity in the Detail
Working with frail and older adults, where regaining the stairs or the walk to the kitchen is regaining a whole life.
Read →"The most important distance a critically ill patient walks is the first."
The First Six Metres
Why early mobilisation in the ICU is some of the most important work in the hospital, and why it has to start before the patient feels ready.
Read →"Robotics give us repetition. The patient gives us the will. Recovery needs both."
Re-teaching the Body to Walk
What robotic-assisted gait training can and cannot do, and where the physiotherapist's judgement still decides the outcome.
Read →"Clear the chest, and the rest of the rehabilitation finally has room to work."
Breath Before Strength
On respiratory physiotherapy as the quiet foundation of acute rehabilitation, clearing the chest so the rest of the work has room to happen.
Read →"Neuroplasticity isn't a miracle. It's a thousand patient, deliberate repetitions."
After the Stroke
Neuroplasticity in plain language, and the unglamorous, deliberate repetition that turns it from theory into a patient walking again.
Read →"We rehabilitate function and a person — not just the level of the injury."
The Spine Remembers
Rehabilitating after spinal cord injury means rehabilitating function and a life, not just the level of the lesion.
Read →"In the pool, gravity negotiates. Patients move where the land wouldn't let them."
Water as a Therapist
How buoyancy, warmth and resistance let patients move where gravity on land would not yet allow.
Read →"A replaced knee is a beginning. The outcome is decided in the weeks that follow."
Restoring the Joint
Post-operative orthopaedic rehab, and why the result of a surgery is really decided in the weeks that follow it.
Read →"For an older patient, regaining the stairs is regaining a whole life."
Dignity in the Detail
Working with frail and older adults, where regaining the stairs or the walk to the kitchen is regaining a whole life.
Read →"The most important distance a critically ill patient walks is the first."
The First Six Metres
Why early mobilisation in the ICU is some of the most important work in the hospital, and why it has to start before the patient feels ready.
Read →"Robotics give us repetition. The patient gives us the will. Recovery needs both."
Re-teaching the Body to Walk
What robotic-assisted gait training can and cannot do, and where the physiotherapist's judgement still decides the outcome.
Read →"Clear the chest, and the rest of the rehabilitation finally has room to work."
Breath Before Strength
On respiratory physiotherapy as the quiet foundation of acute rehabilitation, clearing the chest so the rest of the work has room to happen.
Read →VI. GET IN TOUCH
Let’s talk.
Whether it’s a referral, a clinical question, a teaching or speaking invitation, or a role — leave a note. I read everything.