Pleased to meet you!

Introducing your team...

Client Testimonial

5 weeks from the start of flag football season I was suffering from pain in my knees and back, which prevented me from even jogging. After 3 weeks of physio with Christine I was pain free and on the practice field, ready for the start of the season. Thanks so much!
Justin Bodden

The ASAP Team

Meet your A Step Ahead Physiotherapy team.
A wealth of expertise brought together to look after you.

Christine
Jen

 

Christine Gibbs PT, BS, MPT

Christine graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology from California State University, Fresno. She continued her education at CSUF and graduated Magna Cum Laude with great distinction, earning a Master of Physical Therapy degree in 2001. Throughout her career, she has worked in a variety of settings and has treated all body parts from head to toe. She enjoys fixing people from all levels of fitness and has ultimately found her niche in sports rehabilitation and gait biomechanics. She is trained in a wide variety of manual therapy techniques, custom orthotic fitting, and specializes in biomechanics of the lower extremity and foot function. Becoming a Cayman Islands Physiotherapist has enabled her to continue with her passion for fixing people in an ideal environment and A Step Ahead Physiotherapy, Cayman is the perfect place!

Christine is an avid golfer, runner, and triathlon enthusiast. Due to this passion for athletics, she is keen to help others restore their health and fitness to enable them to return to their passions. Christine moved to the Cayman Islands in 2002 and has embraced the island lifestyle with her husband, Gary, and 2 cats, Cleo and Harley. She is proud to have been selected to serve on the National Council for Persons with Disabilities. She is looking forward to making improvements in Grand Cayman for those living with disabilities. 

Education and Training

  • BS, Exercise Physiology - California State University, Fresno, USA www.csufresno.edu/fresnostate
  • Master of Physical Therapy - Magna Cum Laude with great distinction, California State University, Fresno, USA

Continuing Education

Areas of Focus

  • Lower extremity biomechanics
  • Running injuries and dysfunction - keeping the runner running!
  • Foot dysfunction and how it affects everything above it
  • Video gait analysis
  • Video golf swing analysis

Professional Memberships

  • American Physical Therapy Association www.apta.org California Chapter Physical Therapy Association www.ccapta.org

Community Involvement

Personal Interests

Triathlons, Half Marathons, Golf, Scuba diving, Water Skiing, Travelling and Cooking.

Jen Lavelle PT, BSc.

Jen qualified from the University of Salford in 2012 with first class honors. During her studies she worked with Elsevier Publishers on developing an interactive Anatomy app, as well as being featured in a chapter of Tidy’s Physiotherapy on muscle imbalance. She is currently completing a Post Graduate Certificate in Advancing Physiotherapy accredited by Keele University. As a teenager, Jen trampolined at a national level and then went on to coach athletes of varying abilities, including those with special needs. As the third most dangerous sport in the UK, she saw many accidents and subsequent rehabilitation efforts. This, alongside the strength and conditioning aspect of her training, fuelled her interest in Physiotherapy as a profession. As a competitive athlete, weekly conditioning sessions developed a passion for clinical Pilates, Iyenga yoga, and tai chi that has inspired her interest in neuromusculoskeletal healthcare.

Jen has over three years experience as a senior clinician in the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. She has worked at the senior level, in both acute and community services. She also has extensive knowledge in musculoskeletal and orthopedic services, medical respiratory teams, and in neurological rehabilitation (including complex forensic presentations). Jen also has a wide-range of experience in rehabilitation for cardiovascular specialties including post-surgical, amputees, and stoke. She worked with the NHS Advancing Quality Alliance Frailty Research and Development Group in 2014. Jen is competent in acute and community respiratory therapy, including management of non-invasive ventilation and tracheotomy care.

Due to her local connections to Cayman, Jen couldn’t help but take the opportunity to escape the UK weather to work under sunnier skies. She has a keen interest in scuba diving, paddle boarding, and swimming which makes her perfectly suited for a tropical climate. Jen couldn’t relocate without bringing her beloved Land Rover Defender, and is often found enjoying leisurely drives out to East End on her days off.

Education and Training
  • BSc. Physiotherapy, University of Salford
  • MSc. module Applied Clinical Anatomy (Keele University) – study into anatomical variation of the thoracic outlet
  • MSc. module Physiology of Neuromusculoskeletal Tissues (Keele University) – study into cellular mechanisms of exercise induced changes in arthritic joints
  • MSc. module Research Methods in Health (Keele University)
  • MSc. module Evidence Based Practice (Keele University) – ongoing
  • CPD Course: Concepts in Neurological Rehabilitation (Keele University)
  • CPD Course: Management of Spasticity (University of East Anglia)
  • CPD Course: Advanced Therapeutic Management of Respiratory Disorders (Keele University)
  • CPD Course: Motor Control Retraining: Kinetic Control Theory (Keele University)
  • CPD Course: Sports Taping (University of Salford)
  • Advanced (Level II) Vestibular Assessment and Rehabilitation (Allan Sealy – Health Education Seminars)
  • AACP Foundation Course in Western Medical Acupuncture
Areas of Focus
  • Hypermobility and joint instability (Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, hereditable connective tissue disease, generalized hypermobility, recurrent dislocation/subluxation)
  • Older Peoples Rehabilitation (Frailty, metabolic disorders, Parkinson’s disease, palliative care)
  • Chronic pain and fatigue syndromes (ME, CFS, RSD/CRPS, FM, post-viral syndromes)
  • Cardiovascular rehabilitation (post-event, post-surgical, heart failure, valvular disease)
  • Pulmonary rehabilitation (pulmonary fibrosis, restrictive lung pathologies including rheumatology)
  • Vestibular rehabilitation (BPPV, Meniere’s, labrynthitis, falls and balance problems)
  • Neurological rehabilitation (Stroke, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebella Ataxia, Neuromuscular disorders, Acquired Brain Injury, Cerebral Palsy – all including challenging behaviors)
  • Rheumatology and orthopedics (arthritis, post-trauma, elective orthopedic surgery)
  • Complex Respiratory Therapy (management of breathlessness, motor neurons disease, neurologically compromised airways, tracheostomy care and non-invasive ventilation)
  • Hydrotherapy and clinical Pilates
Professional Memberships
  • Member of the Council of Professions Allied with Medicine (CPAM)
  • Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)
  • Member of the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC)
  • Member of the British Thoracic Society (BTS)
  • Member of the British Neuroscience Association (BNA)
  • AGILE Special Interest Group (Chartered Physiotherapists Working with Older People)
  • Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP)