Winter 2018 Faculty Profile
Gail Wainwright working alongside Daphne Pereira as Daphne takes on her new role as ACCE.
Faculty Profile: Daphne Pereira, BPT, MPT
Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (ACCE)
In this winter issue of Physiotherapy Matters, faculty, staff and students are excited to welcome Daphne Pereira, as Dalhousie’s School of Physiotherapy’s new Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (ACCE).
When asked, Daphne explains that it was her love for human biology that set her on a path to exploring options within the healthcare environment. Initially she began her pursuit by enrolling in courses in Microbiology and Pharmacy but neither seemed to “fit quite right.” This uncertainty changed to clarity when on vacation with her father in Bahrain, where she was introduced to a physiotherapist who gave her a tour of the hospital and rehab units. Daphne describes the moment as, “click! The switch flicked right on!”
Daphne acted on this “aha” moment by applying to the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, a global education town with around 28,000 students from 57 countries. Here she completed her Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) program, a 4.5 year entry-to-practice curriculum. After graduation, she worked with the Oncology, Burns and Plastic Surgery unit for nine months in Kasturba Hospital, India and then enrolled in a 2-year Masters program with physiotherapy training in Cardiorespiratory and Intensive Care Unit Management.
During this program Daphne gained experience with in-patients pre and post cardiac and pulmonary surgeries and continued to follow their progress in the out-patient rehabilitation clinic. “Being with the patient throughout their continuum of care was a very rewarding and satisfying experience”, Daphne offers.
In addition to her physiotherapy experience with cardiopulmonary patients, Daphne has academic experience in classroom lecturing, laboratory instruction and bedside clinical teaching at Manipal University, India. In Daphne’s words, “It provided me an amazing opportunity for knowledge transfer between academia and clinics. I enjoyed it so much I stayed put for a long time until marriage took me to the Cayman Islands for seven years.” While in the Cayman Islands Daphne coordinated the Clinical Shadowing Placement Program for medical students and served as American Heart Association’s (AHA) Training Center Coordinator and Basic Life Support (BLS) Instructor.
Daphne shares that it was the clinical, teaching and coordinating aspects of the ACCE position that led her to Dalhousie University. As she eases her way into her new role, Daphne is already looking for ways to incorporate her vision in the area of advanced clinical skills in cardiorespiratory physiotherapy practice and simulation learning.
Daphne would like to work toward enhancing clinical education for first year students through the use of simulated learning with part-task trainers and medium to high fidelity human patient simulators in Physiotherapy. In addition, she plans to explore the feasibility and application of key cardio-respiratory interventions like arterial blood gases, pulmonary function tests and radiographs in physiotherapy treatment planning and management as outlined by the National Association for Clinical Education in Physiotherapy (NACEP).
With these energetic goals, we are certainly pleased to have her join our faculty. Our sentiments echo the words of acting ACCE, Gail Wainwright who offered, “I am delighted to be working with Daphne as she transitions to full time ACCE. Her enthusiasm for clinical education, her interest in simulation and her skill and knowledge in cardio respiratory make her the ideal person for this role.”