Black History Month: this is what a therapist looks like
As part of Black History Month 2024, we are sharing the story of Duaine Nwadikwa, Senior Rotational Physiotherapist who tells us all about how he got into physiotherapy as a career, and about some of the challenges he's faced along the way. Read on for Duaine's story:
My name is Duaine, and I am proud to be a Black physiotherapist and role model for Black and other minorities who are looking to pursue a career as an allied health professional.
From a young age, I have always had an interest in sport and the idea of rehabilitation. More specifically, improving from injury without the need of surgery; the concept fascinated me. I have a cousin who has needed physiotherapy his whole life and I was able to see first-hand the importance and the impact of physiotherapy in an individual’s life.
I’ve been working as a qualified physiotherapist in the Trust for two years and have been fortunate enough to now be a senior physiotherapist at the start of my budding career. This, however, has not been without its challenges.
As I entered my undergraduate degree, especially during placements, I realised that the profession was predominately white. In the beginning, it was a bit of a culture shock because I’d grown up in and around the diversity of south east London. University was one of the first times I can remember being self-conscious and having to portray myself in a certain way to avoid judgement or stereotypes. Despite this, I still found myself, at times, labelled with terms such as, ‘aggressive’ and ‘intimidating’ which was far from the truth.
lmost overnight my perception changed because I realised no matter what I do people would have pre-conceived opinions of me, and so I knew I had to act unapologetically in all aspects of my life, including work.
When I first started in 2021, I was probably one of, maybe, two Black physiotherapists. Since then, we’ve employed a lot more people from diverse backgrounds and it feels more representative of the community. When I first came here it was a bit of culture shock for me because I thought it was like a different world from the community around it, but it definitely feels more representative now.
LGT allowed me to be myself without being judged, and this is also due to the Trust being in the diverse area of Lewisham and Greenwich. I’m often stopped and asked how I became a physiotherapist, what steps I took to get to where I am, and I’m asked to mentor peoples’ children and provide frameworks on how to achieve this. I find that people here appreciate me for who I am as they see me as a relatable figure they can have an understanding with.
I really want to help with access into the profession, and I realised I’ve been naturally been doing it. When nurses talk to me about what I do, I really want to show them there’s other ways, especially because I didn’t take the conventional route to get here. There’s other ways to gain access to physiotherapy courses, and I want to provide a service to others to help them gain that. I want to keep advancing my clinical skills and become a specialist in whatever area I choose.
It's amazing to see how diverse the therapy team and hospital have become and how accepting of different cultures and backgrounds the Trust is. The other day, someone stopped me and said, “I’m proud of you” even though I didn’t know the guy. There’s a reputation about the culture and diversity of Lewisham; I’m a south east London boy and they can tell.
I'm proud to say I've reclaimed the narrative on what a Physiotherapist looks like and I hope to inspire the next generation to get into their chosen professions.