The exercise physiologist role is another key part of our multidisciplinary approach to obesity surgery. Exercise for bariatric patients is very different to general training exercises. Our team will show you the correct techniques at our purpose built gym inside our Perth clinic.
Exercise Physiologist Role
Video transcription
My role here is an exercise physiologist. And patients come in and see us at the Mercy gym prior to having bariatric surgery to be assessed for their exercise abilities. So we go through a range of things before they go in to have their surgery so that afterwards when they come back and see us, we can set them up on an exercise program.
Generally, most patients haven’t exercised in the past. And if they have, they haven’t exercised for quite some time. They don’t understand what exactly they need to do to help facilitate with their weight loss.
We generally see the patients six weeks after surgery. We then revisit their program at 12 weeks post-surgery. Review it 6 months and then also 12 months after.
Follow-up post-surgery is important. And the reason we get patients coming back is to reiterate what they should be doing post-surgery.
Being a bariatric patient, the guidelines for exercise are really different to those of the general population. So we need to reiterate that to patients so that they know that they are in a special patient group.
Following up with the patients post-surgery is important because them being bariatric patients, they’re in a specialized exercise group which is very different to that of the general population. So we need to reiterate to them that their guidelines are specialized and that they need to stick to the programs that they are given.
Follow-up also makes them accountable and it keeps them motivated and keeps us seeing their progression as they go forward.
I like working here at Mercy Bariatrics. It’s a bit of a cliché but it’s really great and rewarding to see the patients come back, see the progress that they’ve made and their life-changing journey.
It’s a great team of people that work here. I love working here. It’s a great team environment. Everybody is really caring. It’s great to see the progress that patients make when they come back after having the surgery. It’s motivating for me. It keeps me excited about my job seeing the life changes that they’ve made.
Mercy Bariatrics Perth
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