sierra dowling

Physiotherapist (Resident)

BSC (Hons) biomedical science (Ottawa), MSC Physiotherapy (Queen’s)

Sierra grew up in Waterloo, Ontario and wholeheartedly embraces the mantra of “Movement is Medicine”. Not only for her clients, but also for herself.

She has been engaged with a multitude of outdoor activities including hiking, biking, tennis, pickleball and running, but more recently has found a passion for RYT yoga. So much so that she is now a certified yoga instructor, and continues to learn more skills and techniques so that she can not only lead yoga classes (private and small group), but also incorporate it into her physiotherapy treatments.

Sierra became a certified yoga instructor in 2021 and began working on-on-one with clients right off the bat. Through her yoga instruction, she discovered that she really enjoyed working with individuals of all ages and abilities to help them reach their goals and get better, stronger and healthier through movement.

It was after she realized that she could offer more to her clients in their rehabilitation by furthering her education and skill set as a physiotherapist, thereby adopting a wider scope of practice.

While I may be considered the ‘rehabilitation expert’ in the clinician-patient relationship, I don’t necessarily see it that way. I was raised to believe that nobody knows you better than you know yourself, and so I prefer to think of the clinician-patient relationship as more of a partnership, where I am working alongside my patients to help them achieve their goals and get back to doing what they love.

Sierra prides herself on her lighthearted upbeat outlook on life and she shares this optimism and fun approach to life with her clients. This helps instill confidence and helps motivate clients to not only approach their rehabilitation with purpose and intention but to realize that there are ups and downs along the rehabilitation journey.

I grew up playing many sports and have always loved being active. Naturally, I was bound to get injured at one point, and I did, partially tearing my meniscus and ACL. I went to physiotherapy for this injury, but I didn’t have the greatest recovery experience. Looking back, I think that experience helped to shape me as a clinician and my approach to working with patients – I aim to ensure patients feel heard and cared for throughout the entire process and want them to know that with a little bit of hard work, they can meet their goals.

Sierra enjoys working with clients who are looking both in the short term and long term to get their functionality back, whether it is after an injury, an illness, or a surgical procedure. She prides herself in not only developing progressive rehabilitation plans taking clients from where they come through the door of the clinic to a place of functionality, but she inspires them to look beyond and help them realize what their bodies are truly capable of.