Head of Physiotherapy Operations at Phyt Health | Dr. Ashwini Marathe, MPT

This week’s spotlight features Dr. Ashwini Marathe, MPT. who is head of physiotherapy operations at Phyt Health. Phyt Health is an online physiotherapy platform assisted with Artificial Intelligence. In this spotlight, Dr. Ashwini explains what is Artificial Intelligence and how it is being used in physiotherapy. I believe digital health companies are truly at the intersection of health and technology. Go ahead and read this spotlight to learn more about this contemporary career path.

What is your name, job title and workplace? 

Dr. Ashwini Marathe, MPT, Head of Physiotherapy Operations at Phyt Health 

What is your educational background?

Bachelors in Physiotherapy (BPTh) from LTMMC, Sion, Mumbai. The graduation Year 2006

Master’s in Physiotherapy from the University of Indianapolis. The graduation Year 2009

What did you do after graduation?

After finishing my bachelor’s I moved to the USA to complete my master’s at the University of Indianapolis. I worked for 1 year before getting married. We shifted to Boston and I worked in the USA for 3-4 years. I worked there at Whidden Hospital which is a part of the Cambridge Health Alliance. 

Due to personal reasons, we moved to India around 2013. I started my own clinic after coming back. Later on, Qi spine clinic approached me. I really liked their concept so I started working with them. 

After a maternity break, I was leading Qi Spine’s flagship clinic in Churchgate. I left Qi Spine to start a business venture with my husband, FitMom Project. But, being a young mother, I couldn’t devote a lot of time there. 

Following this, I started seeing private patients. That provided me with flexibility in the time since my kids were small at that point. 

How did you get your current job at Phyt Health?

I came across this opportunity through a common friend. Phyt Health initially started as a wellness company that combined artificial intelligence with fitness exercises. Soon they decided to move into the physiotherapy domain. That is when they wanted my expertise to run the department. 

Editor’s note: In the simplest terms, AI which stands for artificial intelligence refers to systems or machines that mimic human intelligence to perform tasks and can iteratively improve themselves based on the information they collect. ~ Oracle.com

I joined Phyt Health in September 2021. Just before that, I finished the course on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare from Stanford University. That course helped me because now I can understand what the tech team needs from me. I help them with data collection, data mining, and training in Artificial Intelligence. 

I would also like to mention that I am pursuing my DPT online at the University of Montana. 

Tell us more about the DPT course you are pursuing. 

I am pursuing DPT from the University of Montana. They offer the DPT program to international students at a subsidized rate. I am doing the course from the comfort of my home in India. It is a 2-year course. For me, they offered an accelerated course from Master’s to DPT. 

It is a completely online course. Towards the end of the course, you will need to submit a capstone project. You can take classes at your own pace but there are deadlines for assignments and exams. If you have any questions, you can email or set up a zoom call with your professors. 

You can reach out to me if you want more information. They have a referral system. I am happy to help you with the process. If you get enrolled using the referral, you and I both get a referral bonus. 

Tell Us More about Phyt Health. 

It is an Artificial Intelligence assisted online physiotherapy platform.

Providing telerehabilitation comes with its own set of challenges. Many times during online consultations physios base their judgment simply by eyeballing the various aspects of evaluation. We wanted to ensure that we are accurately measuring the range of motion, postural deviations, and gait abnormalities.  

Our goal is to use the patient’s own cell phone camera to record ROM, Gait, and Postural Deviation. Later, we implement AI to accurately detect abnormalities. Ultimately to make physiotherapy accessible and affordable. 

Another thing we are working on is the gamification of exercises. This is to kill the boredom that comes when performing exercises. It helps to improve patients’ compliance with the exercise program. Additionally, we use AI to track the progress of the patients. 

We are looking to expand into other domains such as Neuro rehab, Cardiorespiratory rehab.  There are some advanced features we are working on but I can not disclose that information as of now. 

What does the research say about AI assisted physiotherapy?

There has been a lot of research done in our field using high-end technology. But ultimately it boils down to how to make the technology affordable so it can be used in everyday life. 

Thus, it started with observing participants in a gait lab with a lot of sensors, force plates, and cameras taking views from multiple angles. Then the technology emerged with the use of wearable sensors to track the movement. 

At Phyt Health, we are advancing this technology further where we don’t use any of these devices except for cell phones. I would say the research is evolving with technology.

What is your typical day of work?

I don’t have a fixed timing as such. Some Days I work for 10 hours and some days even more. It depends on the need. 

Typically in the morning I treat patients and perform some quality control work with the team. I train the new physiotherapists. After that, I have meetings with the sales, marketing, and customer care teams. I take the data from them and coordinate with the tech team. 

We are constantly collecting feedback and working on improving ourselves. At the end of the day, we have management meetings to discuss how the company is performing. 

I am managing clinical as well as non-clinical aspects of work. We also have a team of physiotherapists. I am called in for the case escalation. Moreover, I help with product development. We are working on different things such as posture assessment, and gamification of exercises. When the tech team needs a physiotherapist’s input I am called in. 

I work closely with the marketing team for content development. We are in the process of developing an app. So I am looking after developing an exercise library for our app. 

What is the typical day of a physiotherapist who just joined Phyt Health? 

Initially, a physiotherapist would undergo 2-3 interview rounds in clinical and HR. Once the candidate accepts the offer, they have to undergo training for the first few weeks. The training involves understanding our systems and processes, especially the AI part. 

Along with that, we provide training about conducting physiotherapy sessions online. Following that they would shadow the senior PTs during their sessions with patients. We hold a lot of practice mocks to ensure the PT is ready to work with patients. 

We use multiple techniques such as McKenzie, Neurodynamics, Kinetic Control, Schroth method, etc. Having certifications in these techniques is definitely a plus. Physiotherapists need to dwell on the psychological aspects of pain in order to treat patients successfully. 

A typical day of work is 8 hours. They would be treating patients and doing consultations. Each session is about 45 minutes long.  As they gain experience, they will be given an opportunity to train new PTs. Since this is a tech company, we are particular about the documentation for each patient. 

Some of my teammates are new moms. They have the flexibility to decide their own schedule. Based on their personal schedules, they pick a shift. 

What do you like about your work at Phyt Health? 

It is exciting and challenging. I always wondered what the next level was for me. Phyt Health is the answer to my question. Being a student for life, my job offers new learning opportunities. I feel I provide a valuable contribution to my company and I enjoy being a part of it. 

What is the pay like at Phyt Health? 

It depends a lot on what you can bring to the table. If you have a knowledge base in a specialized domain, the pay can be higher. In other cases, it is at par with the market. I would say pay varies based on a candidate’s credentials and experience. 

What are the courses that helped you in your career? 

I am a certified MDT. AI in Healthcare from Stanford university was helpful. Additionally, I am enjoying my DPT course. 

Apart from these, over the years, I did many certifications, courses, and workshops on various physiotherapy topics. 

What is your advice for physiotherapists? 

I feel physiotherapists should keep on working on developing their professional skills. Pursue courses, and certifications to upgrade your knowledge. Look for your passions. Please don’t go on pursuing every course that comes your way. 

I want to tell this to young moms specifically, before taking the maternity break, see how many skills you have honed. Make it a priority for yourself. 

Don’t shy away from learning from juniors. Have healthy interactions. You may never know what the younger generation would teach you. 

Also, look into the online DPT course from the University of Montana. If you want more information, feel free to reach me. 

Is Phyt Health planning to hire PTs in the future? 

Yes. You can forward your resumes to careers@phyt.health

Where can people reach you? 

You can reach me on LinkedIn or Instagram.