Physical Therapy

&  Wellness Center, Inc.

7800 Red Road. Suite 105. South Miami, FL 33143

Maria Belen Vela Pinto, BS, TSP

Rehab Aide

Maria Belen Vela was born and raised in Ecuador.

Since she was young, Belen has been interested in sports, healthy nutrition and the importance of mental health. She grew up in the equestrian world as her principal sport, where she learned discipline, hard work and resilience. 

Belen did horseback riding and vaulting, which qualified her for the Olympics in Brazil. She made the choice to instead seek out a professional career, and at the age of 19 she decided to move to the United States. 

After moving to the US, Belen decided to continue with her education and complete her degrees in Sport & Exercise Science, and Sport Psychology at Barry University in Miami. During her Master’s, Belen worked as a Sports Psychologist where she was able to work with long distance runners & Mount Everest climbers. 

During her studies, Belen achieved 9 half IronMans (distance of 70.3 miles ) and 1 full IronMan (total distance of 140.2 miles). 

Three years ago, Belen reached out to Dr. Tischenko for the opportunity to complete her required observation hours to apply to a doctorate degree program for Physical Therapy. 

She has now completed her observation hours and has joined the administrative team @ PT Wellness Center as a rehab aide and scheduler. She will be assisting all our group class patrons with their schedules and the therapists with any clinical responsibilities they need assistance with. 

She is looking forward to helping the team and growing her knowledge, while she completes all pre-requisites for her doctorate application.​​

Jecilin Castro giraldo, BA

Office Administrator

Jecilin Castro-Giraldo graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelors in English and International Relations, and a certificate in Public and Professional Writing.

Before working for Physical Therapy and Wellness Center, Jecilin was a substitute teacher at an elementary charter school. It is there that she met Dr. Anna K. Tischenko, who was volunteering at a school event. They struck up a conversation about a possible job opportunity which eventually led her beginning her work with Physical Therapy & Wellness Center in 2019. 

Jecilin has been able to grow and expand her skill set since starting at the clinic, and has gone from  administrative assistant, to patient coordinator, billing specialist, and now Office Administrator. She is passionate about her work, and hopes to continue to learn from both the therapists and patients alike. Jecilin is excited to keep diversifying her skill set, and to grow with the company. She has now been part of the team for 4 years, and hopes to continue contributing to the success of the clinic. 

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