2025 Round-up
31/12/2025
2025 has whizzed by! The clinic is buzzing and we are so lucky to have a great team that continues to thrive and grow. We are so grateful to every person who has trusted us with their care and we continue to work hard to further improve the services we provide.
January
Education has been a big theme for us this year, both with our team members investing time and energy in their own education as well as providing education for others.
Niamh and Luana had the honour of being invited to AACD Hospital in Brazil. They got a tour of the hospital and were blown away by the set-up and care there for people with scoliosis. Niamh also enjoyed spending time with another International Rigo Concept teacher, Eleonora De Paula. Niamh spent time shadowing Eleonora work with scoliosis patients and enjoyed sharing stories and ideas.
Garett joined Virginia on Virginia’s Health Corner for an Instagram Live discussion and education session on hypermobility, PoTS and MCAS.
Cookie, our therapy puppy, turned 2! She is doing really well and is in the clinic more often. She’s enjoying getting to meet lots of people and brings many smiles and laughs to people of every age.
February
Deirbhle ran an online “Freedom to Move” programme. This was a gentle movement and mindful awareness initiative for adults with persistent issues who find it hard to exercise in traditional ways.
McGowan Physio welcomed our dear friend, Garikoitz Aristegui, back to the clinic. Gari is the Rigo Concept school manager and is a fantastic teacher, physiotherapist and orthotic technician. The first half of the L1 course was run successfully in February.
March
We ran our first school scoliosis screening. This was a big event and between Niamh and Garrett they screened 226 teenagers. Slightly less than 4% of the group were flagged as having an imbalance significant enough to warrant onward referral for X-ray. It was an amazing experience as the school was very accommodating and Luana ensured that the entire event ran like clockwork.
April
Garikoitz returned to teach the second half of the Rigo Concept L1 course. This course saw Ireland gain another five scoliosis specialist physios. Ciarnaid Hayes also attended the course, further improving the team connections and multidisciplinary care we can offer to our patients.
Gari formally recognised McGowan Physio as a Rigo Concept centre. He awarded Niamh and Luana a beautiful wooden plaque to mark the occasion.
McGowan Physio benefited greatly from this course as we also gained another team member. Shane Butler, scoliosis specialist physio, joined the team.
Niamh and Luana headed off to Croatia for SOSORT. SOSORT is the leading global conference for the conservative management of scoliosis.
May
Niamh was on the road again. Firstly, she presented in Portlaoise at the ISCP Paediatric Conference on scoliosis with Bianca Daly, Orthotist from Orthotic Solutions.
Next, she travelled further afield, all the way to Japan. Both Niamh and Garett attended the World Congress of Physiotherapy. Garett did an incredible job presenting some of his PhD research on education for scoliosis.
Shane also spent time travelling this month. He headed off to Neja in Germany for training on the Rigo brace for scoliosis. Shane had the joy of being trained by Dr Rigo himself.
Garikoitz returned to teach the second half of the Rigo Concept L1 course. This course saw Ireland gain another five scoliosis specialist physios. Ciarnaid Hayes also attended the course, further improving the team connections and multidisciplinary care we can offer to our patients.
Gari formally recognised McGowan Physio as a Rigo Concept centre. He awarded Niamh and Luana a beautiful wooden plaque to mark the occasion.
June
June is Scoliosis Awareness Month and this year we launched our Scoliosis Advocates Programme. The advocates are young people who have gone through scoliosis treatment with us and wish to give back. They have helped us at events and are always on hand to offer advice to anyone facing bracing or surgery. Find out more about them on our advocates page: https://mcgowanphysio.com/advocates/
Mr Darren Lui hosted our team (Niamh, Shane and Daniella) and other professionals interested in the management of scoliosis for a meeting where information and ideas were shared. Niamh presented two case studies at the event.
July and August
The team spent the summer busy completing their online coursework for Angela Jackson’s Kids Back 2 Sport course.
We ran our mini Scoli Camp again, which is fast becoming the best day of the year. Our advocates were incredible on the day, inspiring the young attendees and impressing parents in equal measure. The young people worked hard on their exercises while having fun getting to know each other and hearing everyone’s story.
September
Niamh taught another Intro to Scoliosis course at McGowan Physio. The group included many highly experienced physios and it made for great conversations and questions. We hope some attendees will be inspired to go on to become scoliosis specialist physios.
McGowan Physio grew again in September with the opening of a second official location. McGowan Physio N.I. opened its doors, providing scoliosis specialist services to the local community.
October
Mariana our new receptionist. Known to everyone as Mari, the warm and welcoming new smile at the front desk of our clinic. We are happy to have Mari on our team.
Niamh was on the road again, first to Kilkenny where she was hosted by Theresa of Kilkenny Physio Clinic. She taught a wonderful group of physios the Intro to Scoliosis course.
Niamh was also in Belfast presenting with Ciarnaid Hayes at the Irish Orthopaedic Paediatric Society (IPOS) meeting on the team management of scoliosis.
Next was the annual Rigo Concept teachers meeting, attended by physios from all over the world. This two-day meeting was held online.
A number of the team (Niamh, Garett, Danielle and Shane) travelled to Enfield to Compass Physio, hosted by Aoife from Children’s Physio Ireland. Angela Jackson delivered a full day of practical learning focused on the young athlete, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
In October, McGowan Physio celebrated its fourth birthday. The clinic remains focused on specialist areas including scoliosis, HSD, PoTS, young athletes, spinal fractures and pain management. We continue to be involved in research and advancing our practice, and hope to offer more courses and teaching opportunities.
November
Niamh travelled to England to present at the British Scoliosis Society (BSS) with Garikoitz Aristegui. Niamh spoke about Physiotherapy Scoliosis Specific Exercise (PSSE) while Gari presented on bracing. Together they answered questions on the Rigo Concept, making it a very successful meeting.
Jonathan Bull, Orthotist, spent time shadowing and learning with Niamh at McGowan Physio N.I. Jonathan will be launching the Rigo Brace in Belfast in the coming weeks, an exciting time for scoliosis care in Northern Ireland.
Dr Garett Van Orschot successfully completed his PhD. We are incredibly proud of this achievement and look forward to reading it in full.
Garett also presented on PoTS as part of an HSPC-funded interdisciplinary event in early November.
December
We were delighted to welcome two new team members, Ruth Wilson and Claire Brennan. Both are physiotherapists with strong backgrounds in paediatric care and are excited to learn the specialist areas we pride ourselves on.
We also took time to come together as a team to celebrate the end of a great year and look ahead to many more.
As the holiday season approaches, McGowan Physio is filled with joy and anticipation. We deeply appreciate the thoughtful gifts and cards from our wonderful patients and their families. Your kindness and support mean the world to us.
Reflection
2025 has been a year of education and growth and we hope this continues into 2026 and beyond. We look forward to offering more courses and specialist services to our fantastic McGowan Physio community.
As always, we welcome your feedback and are keen to provide any additional services you feel would be beneficial, so please get in touch. A warm and sincere thank you from our team to each of you for choosing McGowan Physio to support your health, fitness and wellness journey.
We hope you can look back fondly on your progress in 2025 and look forward to new goals and continued health success in 2026.