But he's also had to guide many through challenging obstacles along the way, he adds. Some clients, for example, might have only recently lost their limbs before seeking to resume more advanced activities  such as running.

Many can still be dealing with grief and a decline in confidence as they seek to resume an aspect of their life that was particularly meaningful to them.

Offerman says he is on hand to screen, assess and test his clients, and tailor exercise programs to help meet their needs.

"I've got quite a lot of experience under my belt now, so I probably am a lot better at dealing with that compared to when I was a young clinician. I'm able to motivate people better and advocate for them when they don't realise they need advocating for."

Offerman is a senior clinician exercise physiologist at Royal Melbourne Hospital. He leads the exercise physiology team responsible for treating clients who have orthopaedic (including  amputations), cardiovascular and arthritic conditions. He also re-evaluates the lifestyles of clients in the hospital's rehabilitation department to assist them with healthy lifestyle plans.

"To be able to see a patient through that whole journey — you develop and take on the management of their own condition — and get their life back is very rewarding."

Offerman has a bachelor of applied science (human movement) and a master of applied science (exercise rehabilitation) from Victoria University. Before exercise physiologists became mainstream in hospitals, he was employed as a physical educator at Broadmeadows Health Service and Bundoora Health.

Since joining Royal Melbourne, he has been an exercise physiologist in a variety of teams including aged care, neurological and muscular skeletal, treating clients recovering from a diverse range of surgeries and injuries. He became a senior clinician exercise physiologist with the organisation about three years ago.

"Exercise physiology is a profession that's grown before my eyes," he says. "Ten years ago, I wouldn't have dreamed of becoming a senior clinician. There were very few senior clinician roles in Victoria. There still are but it's growing reasonably quickly."

Seeing these developments has influenced Offerman's optimism about the future direction of his career too, he adds.  "I'll just keep working hard and seeing how far we can go with this profession.

"It would be nice to have a little department of exercise physiologists in all different areas of Melbourne Health. That would be a little bit of a dream, I think, expanding exercise physiology into other areas."