Who's a Physiotherapist?
Would you like to help people recover from injury? Want to help them rehabilitate to normal life after an injury? If so consider a career in physiotherapy! While doctors treat the actual injury, physiotherapists take over for the rest and recovery period.
As a physiotherapist, you will help people cope with their injuries and find ways to regain their strength and confidence after a mishap. Be it a simple ligament tear or coping with the loss of a limb, you will help your patients get back to their normal lives. You would do this through massages, exercise routines, and use special techniques such as electrotherapy. Seems like something you want to do? Click here to read more.
Are you passionate about physiotherapy? Want to pursue it as a future career option? Explore a day in the life of a Physiotherapist – Dr. Meghna Matange
What will you do?
Where will you work?
How do you get there?
What skills would you need?
Critical thinking
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Scientific Skills
Scientific skills encompass a range of abilities that enable individuals to conduct scientific research, understand scientific concepts, and apply scientific reasoning. Having strong scientific skills is crucial in fields such as healthcare, environmental science, engineering, and research, as they underpin the ability to innovate and solve complex problems. They also foster a deeper understanding of how scientific principles impact everyday life. build this skill
Time Management
Time management refers to the ability to plan and organise how much time you spend on specific activities. Good time management enables individuals to work smarter rather than harder, helping them prioritise tasks, set goals, and allocate time efficiently. It includes skills such as prioritisation, scheduling, and setting deadlines, allowing individuals to maximise productivity and reduce stress. This skill is especially valuable in fast-paced environments, where the ability to adapt and adjust priorities can significantly impact performance.
Communication Skills
Communication skills are the ability to clearly express ideas, information, and feelings, both verbally and in writing, so others can easily understand. This includes listening effectively, using the right tone, and being aware of non-verbal cues like body language. These skills help you explain your thoughts clearly, build relationships, and work better in teams. Good communication is important in almost every job, from customer service to leadership roles, because it ensures that tasks are understood and done correctly, and it helps prevent misunderstandings. build this skillHow do you make it to the top ranks?
Assistant Physiotherapist
At an entry level, you will be working with senior physiotherapists, helping them with their patients. This is the best time to enrol in short courses and learn more about the latest treatments.
Junior Physiotherapist
By this stage, you will be working directly with patients, identifying their problems and finding the best treatment options for them from manual therapy to exercise-related therapy. You will also be learning and applying new tech-based therapies.
Senior Physiotherapist
At a senior physiotherapist level, you will be handling more responsibility and looking at more complicated cases. Your role would also involve working with doctors and surgeons from other departments. You will also be responsible for guiding your juniors.
Physiotherapy Superintendent
As a superintendent, you will manage your team of physiotherapists and divide tasks. This role involves more managerial responsibility.
Chief Physiotherapist
As a chief physiotherapist, you will be the head of the department. You will maintain the quality standards of your department and everyone will report to you. This is a completely supervisory role. If you choose to have your own clinic, you will be required to simultaneously perform a number of roles, including that of a senior physiotherapist and a superintendent.
Thinking about building your career as a Physiotherapist? Take the Mentoria assessment and talk to our career counsellors to get personalised step-by-step guidance for your future career path.
Pursuing your career locally VS abroad
There are three ways to pursue physiotherapy as a career. Students mostly prefer to get a BSc in Physiotherapy degree or take up a professional Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) course. BSc involves a four-and-a-half-year-course, while a BPT goes on for four years with a six-month internship. Both of these courses would cost you about INR 1,00,000 – INR 5,00,000. The cost of university fees for the physiotherapy degree in a government organisation may cost around INR 60,000 – INR 1,00,000, while for a private college, it could range between INR 3,00,000 – INR 6,00,000. The third option is a one-year diploma course, which can give you the opportunity to pursue an internship as an assistant physiotherapist and work your way up from there, on the basis of experience. However, it is not enough to land a job with a major hospital.
Professionals with a PhD have plenty of opportunities abroad for research and development in pharmaceutical companies and institutional laboratories. The USA, UK, Canada and some other European countries are hotspots for this career. Additionally, professionals can choose to teach physiotherapy for mentally and physically disabled children at defence medical establishments and rehabilitation centres abroad, where the scope of work is better than that of India. If you wish to study abroad, many colleges offer the combined Bachelor of Health Science and Master of Physiotherapy programme of four years or a Bachelor of Science degree with a specialisation. Students can follow this up with the Doctorate of Physical Therapy and upon completion, qualify for the physical therapy licensure examination.
How much would you get paid?
The exact number depends on where you’re working, your education, skill-set and experience. But we can give you a general idea.
What are your career options?
Neurology Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy professionals in neurology deal with patients suffering from neurological damages, diseases or disorders. This includes a range of illnesses from multiple sclerosis to Parkinson’s disease or even cerebral palsy, which affects the patient’s functional dependence on the brain or spinal cord. You will help them reduce their motor defects and regain their normal functions.
Cardiovascular Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy professionals in this field deal with patients who have suffered heart attacks or have a disorder or disease of the cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary system. This could range from disorders like cystic fibrosis, COPD, or any other kind of heart disease. You will help these patients with cardiac rehabilitation, helping them build endurance through exercise and finding ways to reduce stress.
Orthopaedic Physiotherapy
This is one of the most common branches of physiotherapy. You will deal with patients suffering from musculoskeletal injuries like a sprain, fracture, back or joint pain, arthritis, ligament tear, or have recently had surgery for the same. Rehabilitation for these patients includes exercise, stretching, muscle stimulation and basic strength training.
Paediatrics Physiotherapy
As the name suggests, physiotherapy professionals in this field deal with patients under the age of 16 or 18. You will work with children who have congenital birth defects or other kinds of developmental delays. This could range from cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, scoliosis or a kind of brain injury. You may work at a hospital, rehabilitation centre, school, or even on a personal basis, helping families in the care and assistance of the patients.
Geriatrics Physiotherapy
Just like paediatrics physiotherapists, these professionals work only with a certain age group, which mostly includes patients above the age of 60. Your main task is to ensure that your patients stay mobile and lead a healthy lifestyle, while also helping them cope with any disease or disorder they might be suffering from, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, joint stiffness and soreness.
Women’s Physiotherapy
There are physiotherapists who excel on all issues related to women’s health. This could be related to a specific condition like disorders of the pelvis or just the treatment of women across different life stages, such as prenatal or post-natal care. Since common disorders or diseases affect women differently than they do to men, you would help them cope with these issues and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Sports Physiotherapy
This is a special branch of physiotherapy where professionals work with athletes. Most sports clubs and sports organisations hire in-house physiotherapists or keep one on retainer for any sports-related or other injuries their athletes are likely to suffer from. You will not only be trained in physiotherapy but also have vast knowledge about the sport, the kind of injuries a player is likely to suffer from, and work on treating the same.
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