Decided you want to become a Physiotherapist?

What alternate routes are available to those who are committed to their goal but don’t get an offer for the undergraduate course?

• One option is to take a course taught through English at a European university – checkout EUNICAS and note how many are at lower fees!

• Not on the cards?  Here are some alternatives and these back-up plans can be a dream-saver – you need some insurance options.   Identify the closest courses which are of similar study to Physio and serve as a good foundation.  Then check/ask if they’re acceptable to the university of your choice as broadly scientific enough for entry to Physio at a later stage – either advanced entry to 1st or 2nd year in an Undergraduate degree or accelerated intensive Professional Masters (pre-registration) conversion course.

So your list might look something like this (in order of relevance);

1. Physio (your TOP choice, at as many Uni’s as possible)
2. Athletic Therapy & Training,  Sports Rehabilitation & Athletic Training, Physiology & Health Science
3. Health & Performance Science, Sports Strengthening & Conditioning
4. Sports Science, Sports & Exercise/Health Sciences, Sports Science & Physiology or even Health & Disease
5. A broad Science degree with Biology in 1st year and stated Degree Specialism in either Physiology or Anatomy plus other useful secondary subjects like Biochemistry/Chemistry/Physics

Your  insurance options do not all need to be at the same level – you can choose to take them at a lower lever with the ultimate aim of moving up the academic ladder to your goal.   You could take one at Certificate or Diploma level, or perhaps avail of the Further Education to Higher Education routes – if you choose the latter make sure that your FE/FET/QQI course is accepted (& relevant) for the HE course of your choice, eg a Physiology/Anatomy based course.

If you struggle to find the information you need then ask your friends, family or Guidance Counsellor for help (we all need a hand at times) and then talk it through with them.

This list is a guide only – there could well be other routes which you should investigate.

Register with professional organisations, graduate careers services and use job matching online systems to target your career search – 70% jobs not advertised.  Employers are turning to these sites in order to avoid the poor percentages of applicants meeting their selection criteria;  On traditional job sites just c 0.5% meet criteria ,  but on the Graduate Careers site such as www.gradireland.com c 24% meet the employers criteria.

Increase you chances of securing that job by finding and sign up with these services to receive relevant alerts. 

Employers are targeting their selection methods, so you need to target your career search in order to reach them.

Revised EU rules for getting Teacher training from Jan 2011;

You must also complete any period of professional accreditation in the country of your training and get fully recognised as a qualified teacher before you seek recognition in another country.

This means if you start a teaching qualification abroad after 1st Jan 2011 you must go on to do your probationary year (usually) and get registered/recognised as a qualified teacher in that country before you return home.

see  http://bit.ly/aOSrSW