O Hands
161 Shakespeare Road, Milford, Auckland 0620, New Zealand
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Mrs Stephanie Mitchell
Hand Therapist
Registered Hand Therapist BHSc (Physiotherapy) MHPrac (Rehabilitation) PGCert (Accupuncture) I grew up on Auckland's North Shore and qualified as a physiotherapist in 2001 from AUT. I have been working as a hand therapist since 2006 and became fully registered in 2008. I began my physiotherapy career as a rotational physiotherapist at Waikato Hospital in 2002 and then later at North Shore Hospital. In 2004 I then spent a year working for the NHS around England and Scotland. Working in the hospital system both here and abroad was invaluable in giving me a good understanding of a broad range of health conditions and their management having spent time on cardiothoracic, neurological and orthopaedic medical and surgical wards. After 6 months travelling around Europe/America and South Africa I returned to New Zealand and began working at a large specialist hand therapy clinic in West Auckland. I completed my hand therapy training at AUT during this time and became a fully registered Hand Therapist in 2008. I then continued to study at AUT and completed a Masters of Health Practice and Post-Graduate Certificate in Health Science in Western Acupuncture in 2010. I have continued to work as a hand therapist for the past 15 years, I was working as a locum hand therapist for a number of practices around Auckland, before joining Odele here at O Hands, and now Ellen who has joined us from Takapuna Hand Therapy. View details »
Ms Ellen van Essen
Hand Therapist
NZRP Registered Hand Therapist (HTNZ) MHSc (Hons) PGD (Hand & Upper Limb) My family immigrated from The Netherlands when I was 4 years old, and settled on Auckland’s North Shore where I grew up. I qualified as a Physiotherapist in 1991 from AUT, and later went back to do a Post Graduate diploma in Hand & Upper Limb Therapy in 1999, and complete a Master of Health Science in 2004. I was introduced to acute post-op hand injuries while working on the Burns & Plastics wards at Middlemore Hospital, moving into the role of section Physiotherapist of the Hand Therapy unit in 1994. I have been a fully registered Hand Therapist since 2000. Learning my hand therapy skills in a hospital environment gave me a broad base of knowledge ranging from burns and scar management, wound care and complex hand injury management. Hospitals are also training institutions, giving me the opportunity to get involved in teaching dozens of therapists who spent time in the unit gaining skills in this fascinating specialised field of rehabilitation of the hand and upper limb. As well as Middlemore Hospital, I also spent time working in the hand therapy units at both Whangarei and Waikato Hospitals. After working in a private Hand Therapy practice in Perth WA for 18 months, I returned to NZ to open my own private clinic close to my home in Takapuna. For the past 12 years I have been a sole practitioner running my clinic – Takapuna Hand Therapy - from a character villa in Belmont, mostly servicing the Peninsula between Devonport and Takapuna. Sadly, the villa was sold to developers, and I closed my practice in March 2021, joining the team at O Hands on Shakespeare Road in Milford. It is good to be working alongside other hand therapists and getting involved in teaching and training again. Many of my patients from Takapuna Hand Therapy have either “followed” me or “found” me in Milford. I am passionate about hand therapy and I hope to be able to continue offering my patients the expertise I have gained in this field over the past 25 plus years. View details »