Help student with assignment? just a couple of quick questions?

I am a year 10 student (15) on the North Shore of Auckland. One of my subjects in year 10 is 'Enterprise Business Studies' and as part of my current assessment I must conduct a small interview with someone who has done or is currently doing a career similar to the one I have chosen. My chosen career is physiotherapy. I was wondering if you could help me by answering the following questions:

1) In your view is being a Phyiotherapist rewarding and if so why?

2) Does being a Phyiotherapist require many hours of work if you are working as a practitioner in a hospital?

3) If I wanted to become a sports physiotherapist what extra qualifications and attributes would I need to succeed?

Hi Nathan

1) In my opinion physiotherpay is one of the most rewarding professions as we are aiming to restore what is 'normal function' for the patient. Some patients may have an acute injury whereas others may have had an injury for year (chronic)- . regardless of the length of time the patient is injured for, the main focus is to return them to activities of daily living- whether it be rehabilitating a sportsperson or restoring a normal walking pattern in an elderly patient.

2) The length of time a physiotherapy course takes varies from country to country. In the UK its 3 years however in NZ its 4 years. However all the main topics are covered within the degree courses. Once graduated, working hours can vary from 35-37 hours a week in hospitals, and even more so in private practice. In the UK, 7 day working has been introduced, therefore physios work weekends and then have a day off in the week.

3) In regard to being a sports physiotherapist i would advise that you keep your options open until you have been to university and covered all the different aspects of physio. for example: neurology, respiratory, oncology, womens health, burns and plastics, orthopeadics, community, care of the elderly, outpatients. Before uni, I was adement that I would not go into private practice and sports physiotherapy, however, most of my placements were outpatients related therefore I developed more in this area. I now work for 2 rugby teams and am also in private practice! However for a sports physio you have to be committed, available to work weekends, motivated, highly skillful in Assessment and Rehab, teamplayer, great communication skills.

Hope this helps!

Hi Nathan,
I have sent you a messge.

Also: you could just call any of the Physio clinics on the Shore, e.g. Roland Jeffries and I am sure they are happy to help.
Or send your email to the Physiotherapy Society's North Shore ranch committee for publication in their newsletter : [email protected]

Regards,
Fyzzio