Self-employed as a New Grad

[pookie8911]

Hi,

I recently graduated with a Physio degree, and am yet to find a job! But, I'm wondering what the stance is as far as working self-employed as a new grad, within a private practice? I get the impression I should veer away from it as it's a lot of responsibility without any post-grad experience under my belt, but is this right?

Thanks!!

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[robbsdan]

Hi I was in a similar position to you 3 yrs ago and decided to set up a practise. It was exciting and still is but it can be very difficult as what i feel you have the obvious additional responsibilities in terms of finance, accounts, running of and even purchases/consumables etc. I have found it difficult to keep up in terms of CPD /In services etc etc but certainly not impossible. I do feel that i have missed out on peer to peer discussions/debates within the work place and even getting advice/knowlodge from more experienced Physiotherapist.

I do feel that i have grown and developed as an individual, a Physiotherapist and a business individual but also feel there are part that maybe i have miss out on. To a certain extent i was forced into this position as there were and still are very few jobs in public sector, even private available but certainly the experience i have and the knowledge i have gain will hopefully stand in good stead in the future if i ever decide to lease my practise.

Hope this is helpful and given you some insight!

[juliej]

A lot of experienced physiotherapists may advise you not to do this, but I think rather than detering new grads from setting up their own practice's, they should be supported as this help increase the awareness of the profession and stops new grads going elsewhere for employment and losing their clinical skills. I'd suggest that you start small, so that if it doesn't work out then you haven't put everything into it. For example look for a room in a local gym or sports centre and ask if you can hire it but pay per person so that you are not forking out rent when you are yet to book in any patients. Speak to your old lectures and ask whether you can contact them if you have a query or difficult patient, we're lucky that nowadays we can pop a clinical ques on here or another forum and get loads of great advice which may subsitute as peer discussions and advice. Also try to attend a local hospitals IST or look for any free course- I went on a free course on recent advances in spinal surgery- its good for networking and chatting to physio's/ sports therapists/ GP's etc about referals and different patients. There's also free business courses that local authorities run- you can contact them through the job centre and you get a business advisor who will inform you about such courses and available funding.

You could also try and make links with local sports/fitness clubs giving them discounts or travelling to them once a week. Remember though, money is limited at the moment so people are less likely to part with cash when they think that they can get the same treatment free through the NHS albeit after a 4 month wait.

[bluebear]

Hi,
A lot of people have done it before and with varying degrees of success. You really need to consider two jobs here. Firstly you as a clinician. Even if you were one of the top graduates you will still find that many things come in your door that you haven't seen before. How will you handle this without erroding the confidence of the person presenting to you? I've been in private practice for 7 years and still get things that I haven't seen before, but my experience allows me to instill confidence in the patient that we will find a solution..........which is usually then followed by a Q and A with other staff, and then some form of online investigation.
I think the peer support element is important, but doesn't have to come from someone at your work. When I started out I was part time private, part time public, and used senior staff at the hospital to sound out ideas. Most of the time I was on the right track but it helped to have that reassurance. If you have someone you know that has been out for a while you could ask them whether they would mentor you, and meet once a week, or fortnight just to give you some support.
PD is a challenge, but there are now a number of online resources which are fantastic (I won't give the free plug but I can give you one name if you like). They one we use at work has an extensive online video library broken into 20minute blocks covering beginner to advance skills...........obviously miss out on the hands on but a good starting point.

Secondly, you have to job of running a business. There are a lot of elements to this as someone else has elluded to, and from someone that is currently making the transition to businessman from clinician, it does take a different mindset, which unless you were truly remarkable IMO would be a lot to take on as a new grad, but again, many have done it before.

Rather than a stand alone you might look to a gym or medical centre, where even though you may not have other physio's, the "business" as such isn't yours, you just rent a room and worry about your rent and accounts.

How long have you been looking? Have you applied for jobs and been unsuccessful? If so you should seek feedback as to the reasons someone else got the job over you, and even talk to the people that interviewed you about your plans, (if there isn't a conflict re location/competitors).
My advice would be to continue looking for work with someone else, but if you do go it alone hopefully the above helps, and please, let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Good luck.

I just noted your location........Things might be quite tough in healthcare over there at present. This might not only make it hard for you to find work, but it may also put the pinch on a new start up business.

Good luck with your decision.

BB