Alternatives To Physiotherapy

Have considered Osteotherapy? ������.
I'm so sorry to hear about your refusals.

I have considered Osteopathic Medicine, Occupational Therapy and Radiography / Radiotherapy. I'm not sure which one is most fitting for me, and nor do I fully understand how they work, etc.


P.S. It's good to see you around.

Hello, everyone.

I'm 20 years old and I'm currently studying a combination of Mathematics, Physics, Biology and Psychology in a year and would like some advice.

I applied through UCAS for BSc Physiotherapy and received four rejections (3 straight away and 1 post-interview) - Hertfordshire, KCL, Southampton and Brighton. I asked for feedback and majority of the universities said I was "very good, but not excellent" and that this year they were "oversubscribed". I am now in UCAS Extra and waiting to hear back from Bristol.

Prior to applying, I did my research on what grades the universities wanted, job prospects, graduate prospects, volunteered for an organisation for the last four years and had six different work experience placements within different settings (four private practices and two NHS hospitals), etc. I felt that physiotherapy is definitely a rewarding career and is suited to me.

I'm a little apprehensive that I won't be offered a place for physiotherapy and I understand that places in clearing are limited for this subject, due to popularity.

My question is, what other degrees are similar to physiotherapy, in terms of skills? I've looked at Occupational Therapy, but I'm not sure what it's about. Any other courses? I know I've limited myself, as I've decided I want to stay in London or just outside London, i.e. Essex.


Thanks in advance.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ty .Have you also considered nutrition and dietics,nursing and a biomedical degree,which you can enter medicine via postgraduate and then focus on sports injuries.

I'm a final year Physio student. I was in an identical situation to you and my final uni came through... What is it about the profession that appeals to you? Have you considered trying to do some sort of access course?

Nutrition and Dietetics looks alright, aye. I would not consider Nursing, whatsoever. Thanks, aye!



Brilliant. So what happened? I'm extremely interested in the practical aspects of Physiotherapy, as well as the practical side of implementing the science directly to those who require it to improve daily life.

I wouldn't consider doing an Access Course, if I'm already studying A-levels in a year.

Hello, everyone.

I'm 20 years old and I'm currently studying a combination of Mathematics, Physics, Biology and Psychology in a year and would like some advice.

I applied through UCAS for BSc Physiotherapy and received four rejections (3 straight away and 1 post-interview) - Hertfordshire, KCL, Southampton and Brighton. I asked for feedback and majority of the universities said I was "very good, but not excellent" and that this year they were "oversubscribed". I am now in UCAS Extra and waiting to hear back from Bristol.

Prior to applying, I did my research on what grades the universities wanted, job prospects, graduate prospects, volunteered for an organisation for the last four years and had six different work experience placements within different settings (four private practices and two NHS hospitals), etc. I felt that physiotherapy is definitely a rewarding career and is suited to me.

I'm a little apprehensive that I won't be offered a place for physiotherapy and I understand that places in clearing are limited for this subject, due to popularity.

My question is, what other degrees are similar to physiotherapy, in terms of skills? I've looked at Occupational Therapy, but I'm not sure what it's about. Any other courses? I know I've limited myself, as I've decided I want to stay in London or just outside London, i.e. Essex.


Thanks in advance.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ah right sorry, didn't do my schooling in the UK so don't really understand the system!

Hopefully Bristol come through for you!

The way I see it you have two alternatives.

The first is to look at the other allied health professions ie. OT, Speech and Language, Dietetics, Radiography etc. They are, to varying degrees, similar to Physiotherapy in applying science to solve patients problems (or at least that's the idea) but the nature of the work can be very different. There's probably some cross over between OT and Physio at times. They work closely with Physio's in the same environments. You'd most likely be in a hospital or other public healthcare setting. I don't know if that appeals to you or not- a lot of people hate hospitals.

The second option is Sports Science/Sports Rehabilitation. Sports rehab is basically the sports injury end of Physio. It is narrower in terms of career ops but I know some good Sport Rehabbers who have picked up pretty good jobs. Some of the degrees are excellent. Sports Science is very good in terms of applying science to maximise performance and function of people and athletes at all levels. The job opportunities are (again) probably a bit limited but (again!) I know some very smart sports scientists who have built pretty exciting careers working as coaches, psychologists and analysts in elite sport. There's probably some good research opportunities on increasing activity in the general population as well but I can't swear by that. I know a few sports scientists that went back and did Physiotherapy afterwards.

How about taking a gap year and reapplying? Don't be put off by rejections, like they said its very competitive. You could use the gap year to get more work experience, save some money etc.

If you have your heart set on physio, then I wouldn't go getting yourself into three years of debt studying something that you aren't really interested in. I qualified as a physio 3 years ago, and there are vast differences in how the different health professions work in practice.

SLT - dietary and fluid assessments, swallowing alongside obviously the speech and language stuff.

OT - Discharge planning pretty much unless you specialise into something like hand therapy or stroke, but you are unlikely to do that until you are senior. The juniors I work with are largely doing home visits, measuring up for equipment, sorting out social services etc. It's a world away from what you would do as a physio and I would urge you to think about this before jumping down the OT route.

Sports science - I just wouldn't. Take nothing away from the hard work etc of doing this degree, but everyone I know who has done this ends up as a personal trainer in a gym, or doing something completely different like a graduate management scheme in the city or something. I'm sure one or two do find their way into elite sports, but I would say this is the exception not the rule. Do a 3 month personal trainer course and some extra courses ontop of that and save yourself three years if you want to coach people. If you are certain you want to get into high end coaching then might be worth thinking about, but reading what you have put, doesn't sound like you want to be training Usain Bolt.

Sports Therapy - Again, nobody I know of has made a go of this. There is no route into the NHS in reality. Yes, you have any willing provider now which means that sports therapists etc could work in the NHS, but the reality is that it is physios who are employed. Where I work, we have two sports therapy graduates employed as band 3 rehab assistants, so two levels below what a qualified physio goes in at.

Osteopathy - Great, but it's a 5 year slog, no NHS bursary or funding, and again, you will be going private solo from the off. Not a bad thing necessarily, but you are unlikely to find employment in the regular sense from this.

Radiographers - go around zapping people and taking x-rays with big bits of equipment. There is probably more to their job, but I never see them for long enough to enquire what.

Dieticians - To do with diet obviously, and you would have the option to diversify into sports or elderly or whatever. If that sort of thing floats your boat then great, but again, very very far removed from physio.


If employment options are what you are after, then physio is a good shout. At the age of 20 you have time on your side, even if it feels like you don't. I was 31 when I started my physio degree and came out at 34. I was far from the oldest on the course. I would strongly advise against doing a course simply because you can't get into physio or medicine or whatever. It is three years of your life and a not too insignificant financial obligation. Of course, if you have parents or a trust fund or something to pay for it all then who cares, but if you are going to be coming out the other end with 30 grand of debt and a degree you don't want, it is worth thinking about.

It sounds to me like you have all the right things on your application - work experience, a knowledge of the profession, so it must have been something at interview that you didn't do. Who knows why the others rejected you without interview. I have sat on interview panels for the uni I studied at, and I know that the feedback we give can be a little sparse.

Hope all that helps. I'm very keen on helping the next generation into the profession, and this site gave me a fair bit back when I was studying/applying, so post back any further concerns.

I have considered Osteopathic Medicine, Occupational Therapy and Radiography / Radiotherapy. I'm not sure which one is most fitting for me, and nor do I fully understand how they work, etc.


P.S. It's good to see you around.

Oh dear god not osteopathy. All the others are sound alternatives, but osteopathy is under my "complimentary and alternative medicine" umbrella.

Nothing wrong with alternative medicine. Actually I trust more alternative medicine than modern medicine which is all about money
( I have nothing against physiotherapy)


Posted from TSR Mobile

Nothing wrong with alternative medicine. Actually I trust more alternative medicine than modern medicine which is all about money
( I have nothing against physiotherapy)


Posted from TSR Mobile

Wait, what? modern medicine (scientifically proven to work) through the NHS (free at the point of access) is all about money?

Compare this to alternative medicine (unproven, sometimes dangerous) that preys on gullible people who are at their most vulnerable, and often costs them a lot of money.