How do you get into a program?
Usually you are referred on discharge, by the hospital that treated you. If that did not happen, or if it has been a while, your GP or your cardiologist can refer you. The Heart Foundation's cardiac services directory lists programs by area if you want to see what is near you before you ask.
What happens in cardiac rehabilitation?
Supervised exercise, monitored, and built up gradually, alongside education about medication, risk factors and what your heart can safely do. Programs typically run for several weeks. The supervision exists because early on, the safe intensity is narrower than people expect and needs to be set rather than guessed.
Where does an exercise physiologist fit?
Usually after. The common gap is the point where a hospital program finishes and someone is left knowing they should keep going but not how hard, or for how long, or what to do when something feels different. That handover is what an exercise physiologist can pick up: a program that continues the work at a level appropriate to your capacity, progressed on measurement.
If you have not been through a program yet and you have had a cardiac event, do that first. This is not the article that should talk you out of it.
Where to next. If you have finished a cardiac rehabilitation program and want to keep going with supervision, our exercise physiologist works from Kew and Oakleigh. Bring your discharge summary and any exercise limits your cardiologist has set. Book an appointment.