The newest physiotherapist to achieve specialist status, Jacinta Horan, has a wealth of experience in her specialty of Sports Physiotherapy. “I love the challenge of working in the sports physiotherapy field, the variety it provides and the atmosphere of games environments and love being part of a team where we all strive to achieve on the world stage while enjoying the experiences we gain.”

Jacinta has been working as a sports physiotherapist for the last 19 years and in that time has worked as the lead physiotherapist for NZ women’s rugby – Blackferns and 7s for nine years including World Cups and the Rio Olympics, as well as other international roles with NZ Waterpolo, athletics, surf lifesaving, and HPSNZ roles at Youth Olympics and World University Games

Her day to day work is in her private physio practice Bureta Physiotherapy in Tauranga. “I work with the general sporting public and high performance sport athletes, and alongside this do some sports consulting work overseas.

“One of my special interest areas is the female athlete and I am part of the High Performance sport working group WHISPA – Healthy Women in Sport, the performance advantage.”

So why become a specialist? “It’s been a long road but a challenging and rewarding one to become a specialist, but I’d encourage others to consider this option. That’s because I believe it is an important development for our profession as we continue to push for recognition of our advanced skills.”

We’ve just finished consultation on changes to the specialist scope – you can find out more about that here.