If you’ve ever thought about pursuing a career in healthcare or wellness, you might have considered the usual paths – becoming a doctor, a nurse, or a pharmacist. After all, these 3 are the most common when it comes to educational degrees in these sectors. However, there is another great option for you if you don’t want to compete with the crowd, or just want to help people by doing something else.
That great option is physiotherapy. Many colleges and universities in our country are now offering this course since a WHO (World Health Organization) report has recommended that there should be at least 1 physiotherapist per 10000 people. Is that enough reason for you to study physiotherapy after your 10+2? Probably not.
Read on to find out more about courses you can opt for at the best physiotherapy colleges in Coimbatore and also how it differs from other healthcare professions.
What is Physiotherapy?
Physiotherapy is a practice/profession that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of pain/discomfort and impairments through the use of physical treatments. Physiotherapists use a wide range of techniques and tools to conduct their work but the core principle they work with is a hands-on approach. What this translates to in the day-to-day life of a physiotherapist is that most of their work, whether diagnosis or treatment, is usually done using just their hands, with cooperation on their patient’s part as well.
BPT: An Overview
The Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) course is a 4-year undergraduate course that focuses on understanding the human body structure. During the course, students are taught about various forms of therapy that use the body’s natural abilities to manage and/or treat a host of conditions. Physiotherapy colleges in Tamilnadu like Cheran College of Physiotherapy prepare their students for a career in physiotherapy, where they can work in various fields like pain management, sports medicine, rehabilitation, etc.
Take a look at the table below to get a quick overview of the BPT course.
| Course Name | BPT |
| Full Form | Bachelors of Physiotherapy |
| Level | Undergraduate |
| Duration | 4 years + 6 months(compulsory internship) |
| Eligibility Criteria | 50% in 10+2 from a recognized board with PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Maths) subject combination |
| Average Course Fee | INR 30000 – 10 lakhs |
| Average Salary | INR 2.2 LPA |
How Physiotherapy Differs from Other Healthcare Professions
The whole healthcare field, with its close relation to fields like alternative medicine, health, and wellness can be quite confusing, and that makes choosing a profession in these fields even more difficult. Hence, we have tried to show what makes physiotherapy unique. Keep in mind though that the points we’ll discuss are not exclusive to physiotherapy itself, but physiotherapists sure are the only health professionals that can do all of them.
Diagnostic Function
Physiotherapists, like doctors, can not only treat patients but also diagnose their ailments. They can be the first point of contact for complaints about pain for example, which means you can just walk into a physiotherapist’s office and get diagnosed and treated. Unlike other healthcare professionals like nurses or pharmacists, graduates of BPT colleges in Coimbatore don’t necessarily need a doctor’s prescription/referral/orders to carry out their assessment or other functions.
Effective for a Wide Range of Problems
Physiotherapy is used to deal with a wide range of ailments at various stages. For example, physiotherapists can treat acute (very early) injuries on the field, or even treat chronic pain that might’ve been present for ages. Apart from rehabilitation, physiotherapy professionals also provide ‘prehab’ that is aimed to reduce the chances of getting injured in the first place, or just before surgery.
It can be summed up that physiotherapy aids patients in relieving pain, increasing range of motion, increasing endurance, and developing or redeveloping (after injury or surgery) motor skills. There are also various areas physiotherapists can specialize in which determines their career path too. For example, sports physiotherapy deals with treating and preventing sports injuries, and an expert in this might find themselves working with professional athletes in the field, or even taking care of injured sportspersons in a hospital setting.
Multiple Treatment Procedures
Physiotherapy treatments are not just limited to exercise-based therapy for rehabilitation from injury or physical disability too. People who suffer from chronic conditions can benefit in a lot of ways from a variety of physiotherapy treatments. Tools and techniques involving the use of heat packs, diathermy, infrared heat, ultrasonic waves, etc are taught to students in the best BPT colleges in Tamilnadu.
Only Uses Evidence-Based Interventions
Unlike alternative practices of medicine like Ayurveda, Unani, Homoeopathy, etc, physiotherapy falls strictly into the area of Western or ‘allopathic’ medicine. What that entails is that all physiotherapy diagnoses, treatment plans, etc, are all based on proven, tested science. In contrast, similar exercise/physical-based treatment methods like yoga and chiropractic treatments are usually untested, untestable, or even worse – proven ineffective.
That is why you’ll find physiotherapists working in tandem with doctors and other healthcare professionals, but not yogis or chiropractors.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are multiple ways in which physiotherapy can be different than other healthcare professions. But what actually makes it unique is that it achieves all these points that we’ve discussed so far without using any drugs or surgery. In fact, it is usually the other way around in most cases, where doctors recommend physiotherapy in tandem with the drugs and surgery, especially post-surgery.
The best physiotherapy colleges in Coimbatore like Cheran College of Physiotherapy also teach their students palliative care techniques. So that no matter if it’s an injury or chronic disease that has been causing loss of mobility or pain, they know exactly how to provide relief to their patients.
FAQs
- What are some of the job roles I can get after completing my BPT?
Some of the job roles that you can get after completing your BPT course can include those of a physiotherapist, lecturer, osteopath, therapy manager, sports physio rehabilitator, etc.
- Can I study physiotherapy further after BPT?
Yes. You can continue your studies in physiotherapy further with a Master of Physiotherapy (MPT) course.
- Can physiotherapists use Dr in their name?
No. Physiotherapists cannot use Dr in their name as they are not recognized as doctors but rather as rehabilitation professionals.
- What are some of the top companies that hire graduates from BPT colleges in Coimbatore like CCP?
Some of the top companies that hire graduates from BPT colleges in Coimbatore like CCP include Apollo Hospitals, Amity University, Sports Authority of India, Talwalkars Better Value Fitness Limited, etc.
