Meet the Staff: Rashmi Bandekar, Physical Therapist

As the manager of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital’s outpatient physical medicine and rehab department, Rashmi Bandekar, PT, DPT, helps patients resume the activities they love.

Each day, she forms special relationships with her patients at USC-VHH while helping them through a wide range of conditions — and shares in their joy when they’re able to get the most out of life again.

Bandekar spoke more about her career path and job duties.

What inspired you to become a physical therapist?

Most of the time our suffering is from not being able to participate in the things that bring us joy. That’s exactly why I became a physical therapist.

When I was growing up, I had my own injuries from soccer and spent almost two years in physical therapy. I realized how powerful a profession it was because it changed my life and helped me get back to playing sports.

Most of the time our suffering is from not being able to participate in the things that bring us joy. That’s exactly why I became a physical therapist.

Rashmi Bandekar, PT, DPT, outpatient physical medicine and rehab department manager

What is your average day working at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital like?

My day involves about 50% patient care and 50% administrative tasks. My patient specialty is orthopaedic physical therapy and pelvic health physical therapy, which includes treating patients with pelvic pain, incontinence, those who are pregnant or who have just given birth and others who experience issues with bowel/bladder or sexual functioning.

I truly get the best of both worlds in my role — I get to treat patients while trying to build and grow our outpatient department to make it the best it can be.

Tell us about your life outside of USC-VHH.

I enjoy spending time with my family and friends — including my little puppy, Arya. I love cooking and baking; I’m Indian and because of this my life really revolves around food and delicious flavors.

Something that most might not know about me is that I like adventurous activities — I’ve rock-climbed, cliff-dived and I love water sports. In fact, I recently got my scuba diving certification.

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