Sources of material for a highschooler interested in physio?

[lkemezys]

Hey guys, I am 17 years old guy currently studying in a gymnasium, Lithuania. I plan to study physio in Scotland, Robert Gordon university. Now I am doing my best to get good grades, meet different physios, see how they work and all that stuff. But I thought that maybe there are some good books or other material about physiotherapy in general that would'nt be too complicated for a smart highschooler to understand and would give a great overall understading about physiotherapy. It's not like I want to know everything, just the basic knowledge that would help me later on.

Thanks for help!

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[juu]

Stuff you can study in high school to prepare for studying Physiotherapy would be the basics of certain subjects, so that you will understand it better in university. The basics/foundations of Physiotherapy all lies in a good understanding of the human body and how it work. Physiotherapists are often called (functional) movement specialists, because they are often able to see what may have gone wrong in the body, just by how somebody moves. Just like a good engineer/mechanic will know their machines inside out and so be able to find the problem when something goes wrong, so Physiotherapy requires a good understanding of how the body is made and functions, in order for you to provide the appropriate treatment/recommendations for a person's problem.

Basic biology - like what you learn in your last 2 years of high school. What's covered in high school is often covered in 1-3 lectures or so in university though, but learning it before hand does help you understand and grasp the further information you get in uni. It will help prepare you for physiology.

I'd look at starting to learn anatomy as well. There's so much to remember/memorise in anatomy and having a good understanding of anatomy definitely helps you with most of the other subjects in Physiotherapy. There are quite a few websites that teach anatomy. Should be easy to search and find. Learn names of bones, arteries, veins, muscle names, origins, insertions, nerve supplies and the muscle functions. Having a good understanding of anatomy helps a lot with physiology and actual clinical practice. If you want, you can work on expanding your understanding on different body systems as well, like the circulatory system, digestive system, nervous system (get complex this one), etc. Focus on one part of the body at a time, starting with the skeletal system for that part of the body and then working your way through ligaments, muscles/tendons, nerves and veins/arteries.

Basic chemistry and physics (that which is taught in the last 2 years of high school) is also helpful. Particularly levers, vectors and angles, energy conversions or how it travels, elasticity and tension, chemistry equations and similar. A basic understanding of statistics (particularly normal distributions, odds ratios, etc) will help you if you plan to go into research. Mental math ability is helpful too (although I am quite slow in this area)!

Actual Physiotherapy practice, combines all this knowledge (and more!) to help inform good evidence based practice. Grasping the foundations of many subjects enables you to better learn the more advanced stuff that will come with ease, because Physiotherapy practice is quite logical. There is always a logical flow.

Other things you can work on in the mean time is communication and people skills. Customer service skills are very important in Physiotherapy and unless you can get along (develop rapport) with people quickly/easily, you may find actual Physiotherapy practice difficult. Work on letter writing skills, report writing skills and public speaking. Having a part time job to develop people skills/communication skills may be helpful. A good Physio knows how to explain things clearly, concisely and is always friendly. Physios are also often called upon to present cases or discuss/liaise with other health professionals. The importance of communication can not be expressed enough.

There are lots of general things that can help, such as speed reading, language comprehension, learning basic phrases in other languages, learning to use an interpreter, memory retention, multi-tasking, time management, problem solving, flexibility in planning, pattern recognition, etc. There are general skills that are used in almost any job, but are particularly helpful for a Physio.

I have not given you specific reference material, because there is no universal 'best' text for any of these subjects that I know of. Most of the things I have suggested are things that should be easily accessible to you, even if you are not studying those particular subjects. However, every university has a different curriculum and their methods of teaching can be very different. So you may find that some of the things I have mentioned, may not be emphasised as much in uni. I advise you mostly focus on getting your good grades and working on people/communication skills, as well as a side reading of anatomy.

All the best with your studies. It may get difficult, but you can do it.

[lkemezys]

Wooaaaah, what an awesome and comprerhensive answer! Thanks a lot, you have opened my eyes and given great ideas on how to start. I guess I'll better start learning, because it definetely seems like there is a lot I can do to prepare

I am really thankful!