27/06/2014

Physiotherapy Alumni Javier Viñuales Wins Huesca Young Entrepreneur Award

Javier Viñuales, a Physiotherapy alumnus (Class of 2001), was selected as the winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award handed out in the 9th edition of the Huesca Business Awards. The awards are presented annually by the Aragonese Institute of Development (IAF), the Huesca Province Business Confederation and the Huesca Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Viñuales opened his own rehabilitation centre, Fibersalud, in 2006 after completing his Physiotherapy studies at the UIC, doing further training in Italy, and working for a time at one of the most prestigious clinics in Switzerland.

To decide on the winner of the prize, the Huesca Business Awards examined the history of the centre which, after eight years, has become a point of reference for the whole of Aragon. The Fibersalud centre, which opened with just three employees, now has a team of eleven professionals, 500 m2 of facilities and ten treatment rooms in two patient treatment centres: Fibersalud and Fiberestudio. The team includes four physiotherapists, an osteopath-acupuncturist, a physical education expert, a psychologist, a rheumatologist, a family practitioner, a doctor-nutritionist, and a receptionist.

Fibersalud offers state-of-the-art treatments and disciplines such as hyperthermia and shock-wave therapies, as well as neurological physiotherapy, acupuncture, osteopathy, traumatology, sports physiotherapy, and pre- and post-natal courses. Fibersalud is also involved in the research and development of new techniques for treating patients with neurological and heart diseases, and collaborates with the Association for the Permanent Rehabilitation of Rheumatic Disease Sufferers.

Viñuales, a tutor of UIC students on internships, remembers the university with affection and urges future physiotherapy professionals to feel proud of their profession. “We may not save lives, but we do help people to live longer with dignity”, he said. Viñuales went on to encourage students to specialize, do research and professionalize in their practice of physiotherapy, which is, he says, " a field where almost every practitioner has a vocation".