Are you thinking about becoming a physiotherapist?

Respiratory Physiotherapy

Respiratory physiotherapists work in hospitals (including the intensive care unit), doctors’ surgeries and in the community: treating people with a variety of breathing problems. They perform assessments of breathing pattern, listening to the sounds a person makes when breathing using a stethoscope and look at X-rays. Then use positioning, manual techniques and exercises to help people to overcome chest infections, recover from surgery and to cope with lung diseases.

All Physiotherapists who work in the NHS hospitals after qualification will be required to treat respiratory patients at night and over the weekends. They receive specialist training and work on a rota basis to ensure that the hospital has 24 hour cover to treat the most unwell patients.

Neurological Physiotherapy

When people suffer from Strokes, head injuries and other problems with their nervous systems they often lose the ability to move and function as well as before they became unwell. Where possible Physiotherapists use their skills and knowledge to help people to regain movement and work alongside other healthcare professionals to find ways to overcome disabilities that remain.

Orthopaedic or Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy

This area of Physiotherapy involves treating problems or injuries to the muscles, bones, joints and nerves. This can involve working in hospitals seeing people in accident and emergency after a trip or fall, getting them moving after a joint replacement operation or surgery to stabilise broken bones. The majority of Physiotherapists in this area work in clinics either in the NHS or privately and will treat a wide variety of conditions including neck and back pain, sports injuries such as ankle sprains, whiplash injuries or arthritis.

Women’s Health Physiotherapy

In women’s health, Physiotherapists help with problems associated with pregnancy and after giving birth, such as pelvic girdle pain, and abdominal muscle separation (diastasis recti). They also help with incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse issues.

Care of the elderly

As people age, they can be affected by a number of problems including mobility issues, fractures after falls, breathing problems, brain injuries or other neurological conditions. These conditions may be complex and take longer to recover from in older people due to other potential health problems. One specialist area in care of the elderly is assessing the risk and cause of falls, with a view to providing rehabilitation to prevent future falls.

Paediatric Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists who work with children have to have specialist knowledge of how the body changes and grows through childhood and how children learn to move and develop skills. This knowledge is used to identify abnormalities in development and address the areas that can be improved with Physiotherapy. They treat children with conditions that maybe present from birth such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or hypermobility and acquired problems such as sporting injuries or broken bones.

Sport Physiotherapy

From local clubs to premiership football clubs and Olympic teams, Physiotherapists play a vital role in ensuring athletes are performing to their best. As well as helping athletes to recover from injuries, Physiotherapists work to prevent injuries by ensuring athletes have good posture, cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength and flexibility. This specialism of Physiotherapy is likely to involve more early mornings, evening and weekend work and time spent outside in all weathers.

Physiotherapists are autonomous practitioners and therefore need to be responsible, reliable and motivated to provide a high standard of care. Each patient is different and so Physiotherapists need to be adaptable, able to think on their feet and problem solve to ensure that people receive the best possible care.

One of the most important skills in Physiotherapy is communication, the ability to listen, understand a patient’s needs and adapt communication styles accordingly. Team working skills are also essential as Physiotherapists need to work alongside other healthcare professional in order to provide holistic care for patients.

Physiotherapists need to continue to study throughout their careers, to ensure they are up to date with the latest clinical research. This involves proactively attending courses, supervision with more senior clinicians and reading medical journals.

Working in healthcare involves interacting with people from many different races, religions and backgrounds. Healthcare professional must have the capacity to treat everyone equally and ensure they remain non-judgemental at all times.