Looking for steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia? well, you’re on the right page.
Becoming a Physiotherapist in Australia isn’t really rocket science, and neither is it a walk in the park. Considering the demands of becoming one, you’d need a lot of intentionalities backed by a resilient will to go through with all of the processes it will take.
Generally, a Physiotherapist is a person who cares for persons unable to make certain movements with their body as a result of age, injury, or a deteriorating health condition.
And as such, they are exposed to working with a broad range of patients; from the young even to the aged.
In this article, we will be shedding light on the steps on how to become a Physiotherapist in Australia.
What are the Job roles of a Physiotherapist?
Physiotherapists are healthcare professionals that apply non-surgical methods of alleviating pain, and health conditions that affect the ability of an individual to optimally use the limbs and other functional areas of the body.
They do this by evaluating, diagnosing, and prescribing different treatment plans consistent with the individual and the health condition he or she has to grapple with.
They employ various science-based procedures that could include; dance routines, physical exercises, and so on.
A lot of times these trained professionals would have to work closely with the patient so as be able to design a treatment plan that will be consistent with the individual’s needs, one that as much as possible will not hinder his or her already laid out schedule.
All these exercises and dance routines are tailored in such a way that while the individual is at it, the joints will be manipulated, and the muscles will be stretched and massaged all at once, depending on what treatment process is required by the patient.
Some other times defined pieces of equipment like stretchers are also employed in this healing process. This is employed mostly for the aged who cannot engage actively in physical activities like dancing or certain compulsory exercises.
Holistically, a Physiotherapist’s job bothers around rehabilitation, intervention, treatment, and education on ways to prevent the occurrence of mobility-related problems. Below are the steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia.
Steps on How to Become a Physiotherapist in Australia
- Successfully complete a Physiotherapy Degree from an accredited institution
- Get Registered
- Commit to continued personal development
Because of the specialty related to the profession, Physiotherapists usually require high-level training, to be able to serve patients effectively, and this can be gotten in several ways.
For example, a prospective physiotherapist assistant may consider taking a level 3, 4, or a diploma course which can span as low as a few weeks to a full year of course study and relevant training.
Meanwhile, to become a physiotherapist you’d need to complete a four years bachelor’s degree in Physiotherapy from a reputable institution, or alternatively study and obtain a double degree for five years. This university must be accredited by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia. Now, let us throw more light on the steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia.
1. Successfully complete a Physiotherapy Degree from an accredited institution
As earlier said, one of the prerequisites to becoming a Physiotherapist in Australia includes studying any of the physiotherapy courses in the university accredited by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia. Some of the courses an individual can take are outlined below;
- Bachelor of Physiotherapy- The entry-level degree to practice Physiotherapy in Australia.
- Bachelor of Applied Science – You’d have to major in Physiotherapy if you must take this course.
- Bachelor of Exercise Science – Here you’d be thought the various exercise routines that help massage certain muscles in the body, and those that should be incorporated in the healing and treatment plan to be prescribed to patients.
- Master of Physiotherapy degree.
After deciding which course you’d like to take, you also need to consider the available channels and routes you can take in actualizing your dreams of becoming a Physiotherapist. The routes are through TAFE institutions, universities, or private colleges.
If you choose to go through the TAFE channel, then you should know it offers diploma courses like Practice Management and related diploma qualification certificate courses that improve your chances of being admitted into a full-time degree program in any of the accredited universities.
The University route is the most popular route and can be undergone through various accredited universities in Australia, most of these courses give room for students to gain first-hand clinical experience, as well as the opportunity to work alongside various professionals in the field.
Some degree courses even offer high achieving students an avenue to be inducted into the honors stream, which of course improves their chances of being absorbed easily into a health institution upon graduation.
The following are accredited institutions that offer Courses in Physiotherapy in Australia;
Private colleges are another worthy route to take note of, various private colleges in Australia offer degrees that are typically in the certificate, diploma, and advanced diploma levels.
Some of the courses they offer include; Injury assessment, sports injury treatment, and clinical practice management.
2. Get Registered
The next step on our list of steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia is getting registered with the Physiotherapy Board of Australia, and you can get registered through the Australia Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Registration is highly mandatory, and its importance is to evaluate your readiness to be trusted with the health of people living in Australia.
Typically, it is expected you apply at least 6-weeks before your graduation date.
3. Commit to continued personal development
It is expected that you must be able to give at least 20 hours of your time to creating or chairing certain health campaigns, educating people on exercise routines that are healthy, especially for those with mobility problems.
This is done annually to ensure that you are kept on your toes and that you continue to update your knowledge base consistently.
Inert skills required to thrive efficiently as a physiotherapist in Australia
As it is with every career and endeavor in the world, certain skills enable the job to be done quite seamlessly.
Physiotherapy also has some very vital skills that are required the thrive effortlessly in the field. These inert skills include the following;
- Amazing communication skills; A physiotherapist typically has to attend to several patients daily, the ability to communicate very clearly and efficiently will help in prescribing appropriate treatment plans to patients.
- Team-playing ability; You’d usually find physiotherapists working with a team of doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, especially if their particular condition is more than what a single person can handle perfectly. As a result, it is imperative that a budding physiotherapist must have the ability to work with a team.
- Time management and planning; Because of the demands of the job, it is imperative that the professional must understand how to allocate time to different aspects of both his personal life and professional life to ensure that patients are attended to as when due and that his personal and family life does not suffer.
- Patience; this here is a very important skill, since a lot of times most physiotherapy cases are usually ones that take time, so you’d need to sustain a lot of this to see the patient through the whole experience.
- Another inexcusable skill every health professional must have is data management and record-keeping as you’d be dealing with various patients, you’d need to have the ability to manage the records of patients, so you can know just exactly the treatment plans for each of them and not make the mistake of mixing one for the other.
List of Job roles for a Physiotherapist in Australia
Having seen the steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia, what are the job roles for physiotherapists in Australia?
When you hear of a Physiotherapist, the first thing most people would think are injuries and bone fractures and the rest, but will it interest you to know that physiotherapists all don’t perform the same function?
Here is a list of specialized areas some physiotherapists decide to major in after studying and practicing general physiotherapy for some years.
- Orthopedics
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Physiotherapy
- Neurological Physiotherapy
- Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy
- Ergonomics
- Sports injuries Physiotherapy
- Orthopedics
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Physiotherapy
- Neurological Physiotherapy
- Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy
- Ergonomics
- Sports injuries Physiotherapy
- Orthopedics
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Physiotherapy
- Neurological Physiotherapy
- Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy
- Ergonomics
- Sports injuries Physiotherapy
- Orthopedics
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Physiotherapy
- Pediatrics
- Respiratory Physiotherapy
- Neurological Physiotherapy
- Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy
- Ergonomics
- Sports injuries Physiotherapy
Now, you should note that irrespective of the area of specialization, the content of the training and study are just slightly different. Meaning that there’s a high similarity in the content of the study and training materials.
Applying for a Physiotherapy Job in Australia
One of the prerequisites to studying Physiotherapy in the first place is to be sure that is what you want for yourself and your life. Apart from the steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia, we will look at the things you should know about applying for a physiotherapy job in Australia.
This intentionality is what infuses the needed level of enthusiasm for and in the job when you eventually begin your career in Physiotherapy.
If for any reason you get on this journey without appropriate research and defined decision-making, you may be forced to live through a very difficult life.
When you have fully convinced yourself that this is the exact career path you’d want for yourself, then you can apply to university, completer your course work, and apply for an internship.
In a lot of cases, an inadequate internship will lead to a reduced chance of ever actually landing a great job. This is because a lot of job roles require that you must have prior practical knowledge of the job.
The next thing to do while on your internship is to start organizing your CV and resume. Ensure your qualifications are well highlighted.
And if you are already a physiotherapist with some years of experience then you’d need to add your experience as well.
With all of these, you can start applying for jobs in your area. All you’ve got to do is visit the recruitment agency website to know when there is new opening around you.
A great job will only be an outstanding interview performance away.
What does a Physiotherapist Earn as salary in Australia?
On average, Practicing Physiotherapists in earn salaries in the range of $75000 to $90000 yearly.
This average salary is usually dependent on a lot of factors. Some of these include;
- Area of specialty
- Years of experience
- Grade of degree
- Graduate or post-graduate
- Location
In general, many very good health institutions offer great working environments to professionals, and you’d have the time to combine both your personal and corporate life efficiently, and also earn well while at it.
What do you think about these steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia? Do you find them easy?
Conclusion
The journey to becoming a Physiotherapist can be a very fulfilling and gratifying one if you commit to following the right stipulated path.
So do well to follow these steps on how to become a physiotherapist in Australia and see your dream of becoming a Physiotherapist become a reality.