How to become a professional sports physiotherapist??

[Ironmike]

Physiotherapy degree (3 or 4 years depending on country). Then (at the moment anyway) about 2 years as a junior band 5 doing rotations (if you're lucky). Then apply for band 6 posts. Then probably a year or two as a band 6 before top private clinics will look at you (usually about 5 years postgrad experience is stipulated for the top jobs). Pay wise, if you look at the agenda for change payscale on the NHS website, you are probably looking about the equivalent of Band 7 wages, so 35-50k ish per year. However, I know of physios charging themselves out at £100 per hour, so if you get to that sort of level I guess anything up to £100k per year?

[keb050]

Thankyou..I just finished my High School and now I'm gonna apply for BPT(bachelor of physiotherapy) which is a four and a half years course..btw I'm in India.After that I'm gonna take Masters in Sports physiotherapy.
What are bands???Like band5,band6 what do they indicate???

If you have any advice for me please feel free to post Cheers

[Ironmike]

Bands are just levels of seniority. Band 5 is what you would go in as as a new physio just out of uni, and then they go band 6, 7, 8a, 8b, 8c as you rise up the ranks. 8a is typically where the most senior physio in a department will be before you then leave clinical post and go to management. Not sure how it works in India.

[bobo]

To be honest in my opinion the rules of the game have changed due to the job situation.

In the past it may have been the accepted route that you'd get a rotational job, work up to senior level and specialise but now rotational jobs are gold dust so people are specialising straight out of university. When I say specialising I simply mean going straight to work in an area (private/sport/whatever) without always having done rotations.

Some will say that it makes you a better all round physio if you've done rotations due to the transferrable skills but if you absolutely know where you want to work then theres no reason you cant go right ahead and do it. Obviously nothings changed in terms of the best jobs going to the most experienced people but you have to start somewhere and these days it's unlikely you'll leave uni and go straight into a rotational post.

With NHS jobs being so competitive, new grads need to leave uni with the boxing gloves on as there will be some far more experienced people applying for band 5 jobs...