MICHAEL FITZGERALD
HELEN FITZGERALD
BSC. Occupational Therapy, Accredited Hand Therapist (as awarded by the Australian Hand Therapy Association)
Helen graduated from university in 2000. Initially working in the public sector at Royal Perth Hospital she worked in Rheumatology; Burns and Plastics; and Spinal Cord Injury rehabilitation for 18 months before developing her Hand Therapy skills during locum work in the UK. On her return to Perth she worked as a Senior Therapist in the Hand & Upper Limb Clinic at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for 8 years before moving into the private sector and devoting her clinical and management time to InHand. Helen is an active member of the AHTA and is involved with mentoring and education for the association. She has a special interest in acute open hand trauma including tendon rehabilitation. She enjoys the challenge of complex clinical reasoning and is passionate about the art of custom splint fabrication and is an AHTA course presenter in this area of practice. She has also published research regarding conservative management of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. As a practice Director and Principal Therapist Helen splits her time between clinical management and a client caseload.
AMANDA RANFORD
BSc. Occupational Therapy, Accredited Hand Therapist (as awarded by the Australian Hand Therapy Association)
Amanda graduated from university in 1994. She initially worked in the UK as a locum doing a variety of burns, plastics and orthopaedics before entering a dual managerial/clinician role developing a hand therapy department. Back home Amanda was the manager of the Geraldton Regional Hospital OT department, where she developed the hand therapy caseload, before working in both private practice and the public sector in Perth. Amanda is passionate about tendon repair rehabilitation, arthritis and splint making. She has a developing interest in the rehabilitation of complex wrist injuries and paediatric fracture management.
BETHANIE TREVENEN
BSC. Occupational Therapy, Accredited Hand Therapist (as awarded by the Australian Hand Therapy Association)
Bethanie has been working in the area of hand therapy since graduating in 1999. During this time she has worked in several private hand therapy practices in Perth, as well as working overseas as a hand therapist. She also enjoys her teaching role at Curtin University, teaching both undergraduate and masters students in the area of hand therapy since 2007. Whilst specialising in the area of orthopaedics for 13 years, she also has a special interest in the area of plastic surgery, especially tendon rehabilitation. She is passionate about striving for patients to return to their pre-injury roles and lifestyle.
JOCASTA LILLEYMAN
BSC. Occupational Therapy, BSC. Acupuncture
Jocasta graduated from University in 2002. After initially working in a private hand therapy clinic in Perth she moved to the UK in 2005. During her time overseas she has worked in some of the busiest trauma hospitals in London gaining extensive experience in the treatment of plastics, orthopaedics and rheumatology conditions. She has also spent time in Sierra Leone working in the local hospitals in a teaching and training capacity. She returned to Perth and joined the team at Inhand in 2020. She has a special interest in tendon and peripheral nerve rehabilitation and rheumatology conditions.
NIKKI SHORTILL
BSC. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Nikki graduated from Curtin University in 1997. She has worked in the area of hand therapy for over 15 years. She has worked as a Senior Therapist at Sir Charles Gairdner and Fremantle Hospitals in Perth and furthered her experience with 2 years in public health system in the UK. For the past 10 years she has been living and working in Melbourne where she has worked as a senior therapist in a combination of both private practice and public health. Nikki has demonstrated her commitment to training students and new therapists, co-writing the Edith Cowan University Occupational Therapy curriculum for hand therapy, and teaching at Curtin University and for the Occupational Therapy Association. Nikki is passionate about hand therapy and loves seeing her clients return to the activities they love.
ELISHA STEFANELLI
BSC. Occupational Therapy, ACCREDITED HAND THERAPIST (AS AWARDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN HAND THERAPY ASSOCIATION)
Elisha graduated in 2005 from Curtin University and worked in the UK in stroke rehabilitation, general medicine and home visiting before moving back to Perth to work in a private hand therapy clinic. After leaving the profession to have a family she has returned to hand therapy to pursue her passion for hand and upper limb rehabilitation and splint fabrication. She is currently completing extra study to become an accredited hand therapist. She has a particular interest in hand trauma, pain management and education in the management of arthritis. Elisha brings a friendly and positive vibe to the clinic and is always open to listening to each individual and their particular hand issue.
LINDA CANTY
BSC. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, ACCREDITED HAND THERAPIST (AS AWARDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN HAND THERAPY ASSOCIATION)
Linda is a Certified Hand Therapist who graduated in 2012 from university in the Netherlands. During her Dutch university training she completed a placement in hand therapy in Warrnambool, Victoria which sparked her interest in living in Australia. After graduating she worked in hand therapy in the Netherlands until she moved to Townsville, North Queensland, in 2015. She relocated to Perth in 2019 and with her combination of Dutch training and Dutch and Australian clinical experience Linda brings diversity to the team at InHand and enjoys sharing knowledge and learning off her colleagues. Having worked in both public and private practice she is experienced in most hand and upper limb conditions and has a special interest in hand trauma and rehabilitation of the wrist.
RINA ETO
MASTERS OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY, ACCREDITED HAND THERAPIST (AS AWARDED BY THE AUSTRALIAN HAND THERAPY ASSOCIATION), BSC.
Rina graduated with a Masters of Occupational Therapy in 2015. After working in the community disability sector and public hospital setting, she later pursued her passion for hand and upper limb rehabilitation. After joining the InHand team in 2018, her passion for anatomy, continuous learning and evidence based practice led to completing her hand therapist accreditation through AHTA. Rina enjoys treating a range of hand trauma, including sporting injuries of thumb/fingers, wrist injuries including fractures and conservative management of tennis elbow.
