Claire completed her BSc Physiotherapy degree at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (1989), and shortly after this, as a “Junior” at Groote Schuur Hospital was fortunate to have Claire Waumsley and Jackie Doidge as her instructors and received training in Acupuncture concepts and Intramuscular Dry Needling Techniques. Claire traveled to the USA in 1993, pursued Residency training in Orthopedic Manual Therapy (Kaiser Hayward 1996), was admitted as a Fellow of AAOMPT, and completed the OCS via the APTA in 1998. Further study included: Master in Health Science at Pacific University, OR (2002); a transitional DPT from the University of Montana Missoula (2012); Dry Needling Practitioner Certification (2012) and a postgraduate diploma in Interdisciplinary Pain Management from the University of Cape Town (2017).

Claire Returned to South Africa in 2001 and taught OMT concepts to postgraduate students for the South African Society of Physiotherapy and the University of Stellenbosch. She assisted on Dry Needling courses with ODNS, SA. Claire used intramuscular dry needling extensively in her Physiotherapist practice for 20 years in Franschhoek, South Africa. She has found it to be an essential component of Manual therapy treatment and an invaluable adjunct in treating patients with Neuromusculoskeletal conditions.

Claire returned to the USA in 2019 and currently lives and works in Olympia, WA. as Faculty to St. Peter’s Family Medicine Residency program, teaching Family Medicine Residents the essentials of Musculoskeletal Medicine in a Primary Care clinic setting.