Welcome to the School of Physiotherapy

The University of Notre Dame Australia is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Peter Hamer as the Head of the School of Physiotherapy.

Professor Hamer has been a practising physiotherapist in Auckland, New Zealand, Brisbane and Perth. He was previously a lecturer in Clinical Anatomy and Biomechanics at The University of Western Australia and also held academic positions with Curtin University of Technology and Auckland University of Technology.

Professor Hamer completed his PHD investigating the relationship between the mechanics that cause and or prevent exercise induced muscle damage and the cellular and tissue level responses that accompany these processes. He has an interest in this area for both normal skeletal muscle as well as skeletal muscle affected by disease and pathological processes. This interested extends from Professor Hamer's interest in the incidence, causation and biomechanics of injury and disease of the musculoskeletal system.

Professor Hamer is a member of the Australian Physiotherapy Association, the International Society of Biomechanics, the Australian Association for Exercise & Sports Science and Sports Medicine Australia. He has served on the National Board of Sports Medicine Australia and is currently the President of the WA Branch. He attained status as a Fellow of The Australian Sports Medicine Federation in 1988 and was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in the year 2000 as part of the Australian Honours system in recognition of his contribution to Sports Medicine within Australia and in particular Western Australia.

Course structure

This undergraduate course is developed around the concept of Physiotherapy as an applied science. The foundation sciences are introduced to the student in parallel with their Physiotherapy studies. From the first semester, emphasis is placed on the importance of clinical practice that is evidence based and the use of ongoing research in physiotherapy to provide this information is reinforced in all units of study. The student's responsibility to be an informed consumer of research is central to the teaching.

The course uses a problem oriented interactive approach to learning. Professional ethics and behaviour are key integrating factors; these concepts permeate all teaching from the first day of the undergraduate course.

Read more about the course we offer here...