Physiotherapy BSc Offer Holder Q&A

Isabella is a second-year Physiotherapy BSc student at St George's and will be answering your questions between 4-6pm today.

Hi!
I will be online until 6pm so feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Isabella
2nd Year Physiotherapy
Official Uni Rep St George's

Hi Isabella I hope you are keeping well! I have quite a few questions and completely understand if you can’t answer them all but thank you for your help in advance! I was just wondering for the placements, are they in hospitals nearby St George’s or would we have to live away from halls due to the commute being too long? Do the placements count in the final grade and how does that work? In the first year accommodation, do you share with people from your course or a mixture of courses and so is the social side and student life quite good? What made you choose SGUL initially and now what would you say is something you really enjoy about it or the course itself and something that you are not so keen on? Do the students find the course well structured? And finally, after uni, where do most people work, in hospitals in London or elsewhere? Thank you for your time!

Hi Isabella,Thanks for being available to answer questions. Can I ask what made you select SGUL above your other options, and are you happy with your choice?Thanks,Andy

Hi, I have firmed St. George’s and look forward to starting in September. Hopefully I will get my A level grades !
I just a couple of questions:
What is a typical day or week like studying physiotherapy?
Do you share a flat with people doing all different courses in the first year if in halls ?

Thank you

Hi pm9831, I hope you are well!

No worries at all, I will do my best to answer them for you!

1. You don't start placement until your 2nd year at St George's, but you are allocated your placement based on your address at the time whether that be a halls/ uni house/ home address. Placements can be anywhere around London and the maximum journey time will be two hours each way due to the shortage of placement for all London universities, however, travel expenses are reimbursed and if the journey is too far then accommodation can be sort and also reimbursed. Placements will be in a variety of settings including hospitals, outpatient settings, private clinics etc. They try to make each placement for you so you gain a range of experiences.

2. Throughout the course you do 6 lots of 5 week placements they range in level of difficulty and you are assessed by a practise educator who is like your supervisor on placement. At the end your placements you get a final grade these all count towards your final mark yes, however I believe its not a massive chunk of your final degree grade.

3. I lived in halls for the first year, generally all the flats are mixed between courses which I found great because you get to meet lots more people and hear about their experiences also. The social side of halls I found great, the uni organise a great freshers weeks so you can meet and get to know lots of others. But also I found it had a great balance considering all the degrees at St George's are full on, so I'd say the opportunities for social events and fun are there if that's something you are interested in.

4. I chose St George's because I loved the fact that it was in a hospital, which is something you will not experience elsewhere. Additionally, I loved the structure of the course and the fact that you didn't go on placement till the second year as I didn't want to be thrown in the deep end on limited knowledge.

5. The part of the course that I least enjoy is the practical exams the only reason for this is I find them very stressful. But luckily the course is set up so all the exams and assignments vary so that everyone's strengths are accounted for! For example, essays, practical exams, presentations and posters.

6. I find the course well structured as we are given time for self directed learning once a week, also our theory and practical sessions are also linked.

7. I am not certain regarding what people go on to do straight after uni has people come from all different places. However, I know that it is common for physio graduates to do rotations which is a band 5 job in the NHS where you work in different areas of physio for around 6 months at a time so you can gain more experience or if you cant decide what area you would most like to go into.

I hope that helps!

Isabella
2nd Year Physiotherapy
Official Uni Rep St. George's

Hi Isabella, hope you are well during this quarantine period. I have quite a few questions actually.

1. How is travelling between SGUL and Kingston university for lectures?
2. How long are contact hours and lectures?
3. What different hospitals do placements take place at and are they all within London or outside of London?
4. Are dissertations incorporated within the course and can you pick your own topics?
5. How would you recommend using this time to prepare for the course as an A level student?
6. Do you recommend any good online resources for physiotherapy?
7. Are physio students joined with students from other courses during lectures?
8. How is balancing being a physio student and having a job?
9. Are half terms different for physio students compared to other courses?

Thank you for your time!

Hi Isabella,Thanks for being available to answer questions. Can I ask what made you select SGUL above your other options, and are you happy with your choice?Thanks,Andy

Hi,
I hope you are well!

1. The physiotherapy course is based at St George's so you don't need to travel between the two. However, we do have access to their campus such as library facilities if needed, although there is a great one at St George's anyway.

2. The contact hours differ depending on what module you would be studying at the time. However, an estimate per week would be around 25-27 hours but as I said this varies and does not include the self directed learning time that is expected.

3. Placements can be up to two hours away from your address at the time whether that be home/ uni halls/ uni house, so they are generally in London or just outside of it. However, travel cost is reimbursed and if the location is too far away then accommodation can be sort and reimbursed. They will be in a variety of settings such as hospitals, outpatient settings, community and private clinics. For example my first placements was in a community rehabilitation team in Wandsworth and my second one was in MSK outpatients in Mile end. Each placement varies so you get a range of experience and you do 6 lots of 5 weeks, starting in year 2.

4. Yes Dissertations are completed in the third year of the course. You complete the research in groups for your question but you write the actual dissertation independently. It varies from year to year but for my year we are able to pick our groups but each group is allocated a research question.

5/6. In regarding for preparing the course, I wouldn't stress too much about this as you are doing the degree to learn and not to know everything on the first day. Additionally, everyone comes from a range of backgrounds and therefore there will be a range on knowledge and experiences in the cohort. However, I would suggest going over basic anatomy before you start. A great resource for this is teachmeanatomy.com which breaks down different areas of the body using diagrams and descriptions. YouTube videos are also great, for when you start the course Physiotutors is amazing on youtube!

7. In the first term at St George's there is some Multi disciplinary learning i.e. everyone from different course has some lectures together including medical students, radiographers, physios, occupational therapists etc. This is so that students can begin to appreciate the multidisciplinary structure of working which occurs in practise. For the remainder of the course physio share some modules with the occupational therapy students and so some teaching will be joined with them.

8. Personally I don't have part time job whilst studying. However, people on the course do manage this, for example, I know some people work on Wednesday afternoon, Fridays and the weekend so it is manageable. But I think it Is good to let your place of work know that you are studying and try and gain some flexibility with them. This is because on placement it would be very difficult to work because you are following your practise educators full time schedule. For example on my last placement I worked form 8;15 am- 6:30pm each day and I know others that had to do shifts at the weekend. Alternatively, if you're unable to find a part time job that could cater to your degree then I would suggest signing up to be a University ambassador, which is very flexible and well paid work such as doing tours on open days.

9. You don't necessarily have 'half term' breaks like you do at school, the semesters are 12 weeks long and then there is a 3/4 week break before starting the next one. Its different every year but some courses may finish slightly later or earlier than others for the break, this is usually due to when exams or placements fall. But generally everyone gets a similar amount of time off.

I hope that helps!

Best wishes,
Isabella
2nd Year Physiotherapy
Official Uni Rep St George's

Hi, just wanted to ask what are the timings of the lectures? Thank you