Case studies : Physiotherapist: Ryan Allen

Ryan graduated from a physiotherapy degree from the University of Birmingham in 2009. He now works as a physiotherapist for Physioworld Ltd.

During my final year of my undergraduate degree I tried to get as much experience as possible outside of the clinical placements that the university gave me. I therefore continually sent out my CVs to sports clubs and private practices. In my final year I managed to get a part-time job working as a part-time physiotherapist for the Birmingham City Football Club academy, where I still also work. It was through this that my current boss contacted me.

I currently work out of two different private physiotherapy clinics for Physioworld in the West Midlands. Depending on the day and the clinic, I may see anything from 10-24 patients a day. I can therefore work anything from 5 hours to 12 hours a day as appointments are 30 minutes in duration. I try to get to work early to go through my clinic list, make plans for what treatment techniques I will use for individual patients and how I will progress their rehabilitation.

To increase my patient workload I may also attend big fitness and gym centres along with a sales rep for the company and offer free diagnosis sessions.

Over the last 14 months, since joining Physioworld, my patient caseload has become more complex and I have more responsibility in the whole management of patients’ complaints; from organising MRI scans to communicating closely with consultants. I also have students that shadow my clinic to give them a taster for what we do. My short-term goals are to manage an area of clinics for Physioworld as it strives to become a nationwide company. Long term I would like to work full time for a top Premier League football club.

I enjoy meeting new people everyday and the challenge of curing patients’ complaints whether they’ve had them for ten days or ten years. The rewards and self-satisfaction of healing people is also great.

The most challenging part of my job is the need for your communication skills to be spot on and to continually be aware of up-to-date treatment techniques. Seeing patients of all-different ages, ethnicity and with different musculoskeletal conditions means communication is key in order to work closely with the patient to achieve their personal goals of rehabilitation.

If you want to get into this career you need to have a good work ethic, excellent communication skills and be willing to work anti-social hours. You also need to have self-confidence in the skills that you have within your scope of practice. Getting into private physiotherapy practice is often easier than you think. Therefore, get your CV out there and sell yourself.