Ready?
Physiotherapist — your shift
Assess, then warm, then move, then load — and never load something you have not assessed. Do the job one step at a time. Tap the thing that should happen next.
Full screen — no distractions
What does a physiotherapist do?
You get bodies moving again after injury or illness — and most of the skill is knowing how much is enough and when to stop.
Also called: physio, physical therapist, rehab therapist.
A day looks like
- 1You assess before you treat, every time, because the pain is often not coming from where it hurts.
- 2You put your hands on a joint and feel what it will and will not do before you ask the person anything.
- 3You give somebody four exercises instead of twelve, because four is the number they will actually do.
- 4You spend part of every appointment persuading somebody that soreness and damage are not the same thing.
Hardest part
People want you to fix them and most of the work is theirs. You can be excellent for forty minutes a week and it will not outrun what happens in the other hundred and sixty-seven hours.
Best part
Watching somebody walk out of the door doing a thing they were told six months ago they would never do again.
How you actually become a physiotherapist
- At schoolBiology and an interest in how bodies move — sport helps but is not required.
- TrainingA three-year physiotherapy degree with clinical placements, then registration.
- How longThree years to qualify, then a rotation of two years through wards, outpatients and respiratory.
- Your first jobBand 5 rotational physiotherapist — you do everything, including chest physio at three in the morning.
Frequently asked questions
- Is physiotherapy just massage?
- Massage is a small part and not the important one. The core of the job is assessment — working out what is actually wrong — and then loading tissue correctly so it rebuilds. Most of the treatment is exercise the patient does themselves.
- Do physiotherapists only work with sports injuries?
- That is the visible part. Far more physiotherapy happens on hospital wards: getting people breathing properly after surgery, walking after a hip replacement, and moving again after a stroke.
- Does it have to hurt to work?
- No, and 'no pain no gain' causes real harm here. Some discomfort during rehabilitation is expected, but sharp pain means stop. Knowing the difference is a large part of what the training teaches.
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