Physiotherapy is a branch of healthcare that appeals to people for different reasons, but at its core it is a job that revolves around a love for helping people.

You might have a passion for sport and feel a desire to play a part in that world professionally. You may have had positive personal experiences with a physiotherapist and seen the impact they can have on people’s lives.

In any sense, the work is seen as a vocation by those that do it.

Like most roles in healthcare, it can be a challenging and stressful career – high CAO points mean it is difficult to even gain entry to physiotherapy, with the standard BSc requiring 590 points at University of Limerick, 577 at Trinity and 588 at UCD last year. Once you make it out the other end, you are highly employable, and your career options are wide-ranging.

Options for studying physiotherapy

There are other options for those who don’t quite meet the points requirements. You can access a physiotherapy master’s degree via a related undergraduate degree, such as sport rehabilitation and athletic therapy at SETU in Carlow, which required 473 points last year.

If you go down this route, you will have to apply for a preregistration master’s programme after your undergrad because physiotherapy is a regulated profession that requires specific training. Thankfully, given the need for more workers in the area, it may become easier to access physiotherapy in years to come. Online programmes are soon to be introduced and there is talk of an apprenticeship model in the future.

“Physiotherapy is a huge growth area,” says Dr Marie Ó Mír, CEO of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP). “We anticipate the workforce will need to grow by 100 per cent in the next 10 to 15 years. The Department of Education and Department of Health have identified that they’re going to increase [third level] places. There are also master’s programmes. We think the volume of graduates is going to double in the next two to three years.

“A lot of people go in with a preconceived notion of what they would like to do or what a physiotherapist is. But when you’re in college, you have to do 1,000 hours of clinical practice. You move through all the different areas, be it neurology, rehabilitative, post-stroke or brain injury. [You’re] working with children, animals, sports teams – there are so many different areas.”

You may also choose to study physiotherapy abroad. The Netherlands is a popular option for Irish students, but be wary of the requirements that need to be met on your return home. To qualify as a physiotherapist in Ireland, those 1,000 hours of clinical placements need to be completed, and specific topics have to be covered.

What happens after college?

“Most people, when they come out and they’re graduated, the traditional route is to go to one of the large hospitals,” Dr Ó Mír says. “You’re still kind of training. You spend two or three years working every four to six months in a different area and then you get a feel for what you really like.

“There’s a huge amount of opportunities. There are physios now very involved in digital tech, physios who have created their own apps around Parkinson’s and stuff like that. There are physios working in academia, in wearable technology and VR technology. You have physios who want to be business owners, so they run their own private practice.”

Dr Ó Mír herself worked mostly in hospital settings because she enjoyed the feeling of being part of a team and a physiotherapy department where you are supported by colleagues. Others prefer to be their own boss.

One of the things that separates physiotherapy from other healthcare roles is the professional relationship you can develop with patients. You spend more time together, often over a series of sessions, and you have to know how to motivate your patients in the right way. It doesn’t have to come naturally immediately, but over a career in physiotherapy, you will undoubtedly become a very strong communicator.

“You’re listening to people all day long,” Dr Ó Mír says. “They may come to you with a lot of issues, and you have to distil that down into helping them find their actions and goals and what the patient wants to achieve. Communication isn’t just talking all the time; it’s being a really good listener.

“Then problem-solving. I always think physios are just problem solvers. You become really good at multitasking and problem-solving – you can apply it to any area. Whether it’s at home with your own family or with sports or anything. You go through emotions and people have tough days, but the best bit is you’re with people – the strength of people and helping people. When they get their first big win, it’s the pure joy of that as well.

“You have to like people. If you don’t have that interest in wanting to help people progress, it’s not the career for you. You’re with the public all day long so you have to enjoy that. It isn’t for everybody.”

Supports for physiotherapists

The ISCP is the national, professional body representing physiotherapists in Ireland, with more than 4,000 chartered physiotherapists in its ranks (there are just over 6,000 practising physiotherapists in the country). It has 19 professional networks designed to support specialised roles within physiotherapy, including clinical interest groups such as acupuncture, paediatrics and rheumatology.

“We’re a small community,” Dr Ó Mír says. “There’s 6,000 of us, but it is a very close network. [With] the ISCP, our job is to provide the ongoing training. For the rest of your career, you have to spend a certain amount of time training, continuous professional development every year. It’s 30 hours every year to meet your regulatory requirements. We provide a huge amount of that training.

“We also provide mentorship, professional guidance – we’re there as a resource for all our members and we set up clinical interest groups. If you have a special interest, we help you develop your network, your leadership skills but also your education components as well.”

Another part of the ISCP’s work is guiding the industry in the right direction. That means opening it up to a diverse range of new workers, and ensuring it tackles long term societal issues. Dr Ó Mír mentions health promotion – a front-facing, empowering approach to medicine that encourages patients to look after themselves and make healthy choices. It aligns well with the pursuit of physiotherapy, and with sustainability goals in an industry that uses a lot of energy.

“We would love to see people from all demographics,” she says. “To me, the population of Ireland is changing. It’s becoming much more multiracial, multicultural. If you’re from a different background, it is lovely to have somebody from that cultural background treating you who will understand that. We need diversity in the healthcare workforce to represent the way the Irish population is changing.

“Physiotherapy is a very sustainable profession. We’re low carbon, we’re involved in health promotion and keeping people out of hospitals and out of surgery. We talk to people about utilising your own green spaces for your health. It doesn’t all have to be gym-based – getting out for a walk, getting out for a swim, doing your squats in the park. If you’re interested in sustainability, physiotherapy is great.”