Physio or occupational therapy

[Anonymouseky]

Hellllllllp, I’m going round in circles with this. I want to do a pre reg masters to qualify as either a physio or occupational therapist. My undergrad was in Sports Science so physio felt like the obvious option, but the more I read about occupational therapy, the more I think I may be better suited to that. Does anyone have any insight into how much independent/ team working is involved in each role? I also have young children and I am a single parent so shift work is not an option for me. Is it possible to be a PT or OT that isn’t required to do shift work? Do you have to do a 2 year hospital rotation after your degree or can you just apply to work in one ward? Finally, I’m thinking of applying to either Liverpool or Keele Uni. Any insights into those two unis for either of these courses would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Do b5 physios do oncall? I applied for a b5 OT rotation where 7 day working was voluntary and B5s could only do weekends if there was a b6 on as well.

I went straight into a static paeds OT role. Technically I work 8.30-4.30. it's a combined OT/PT team. Lots of physios are part time. No evening or weekend work. We do everything - mainstream and specialist schools, long term conditions, ASD, CP, palliative care, equipment...

If you're looking at liverpool and keele it's worth looking at glyndwr in wrexham too. Students in wales still get bursaries and fees paid if you're prepared to work in wales post qualifying.

It will be 2025 when you qualify and your children will be 4 years older which makes all manner of things easier - including sleepovers etc to cover weekends etc.

Dm me if I can help!

In my old acute Trust the B5s would go on the on call rota when they had achieved their competencies on their respiratory rotation. Likewise you’d be expected to cover weekend orthopaedics once you had experience with that specialty. As 7 day working becomes more the norm there would be a good skill mix of qualified grades available in the hospital that you could escalate issues to.

Rotational Physio working in a hospital here.

I love my job and think it offers a really good work life balance, opportunity for progression, and a chance to work in many different settings with no geographical restrictions.

I typically work 0830-1630 Monday to Friday. I work one weekend a month with days back in the week (and I'm always asked which weekend I can work) and I am on call overnight once a month. I am based at home during an on call and only have to go in if there is a poorly patient.
Some services do work until 2000 (a&e, repiratory) and either do a 12 hour shift or work 12-8 shifts, again typically doing an out of hour shift 2-3 days per month. People in my trust with children have flexible working agreements which mean they don't have to do on call/ out of hours/ only work out of hours on a specific day. There is also plenty of people who work part time 3-4 days a week for childcare reasons.

If you are interested in being a physio make sure you are aware of the full scope of what we do - MSK, Respiratory and Neuro as the core areas. You will gain experience in all 3 as a student, and the majority of people will do rotational jobs post qualifying for a few years. Universities will filter out any applications from people who only appear interested in MSK physio. Rotational posts also exist in the community where you are probably less likely to need to do weekends/ on calls however lots of services are moving to 7 day even the community. If you wanted to specialise in MSK there are band 5 static jobs/ private jobs where you can do this, although it is advisable to get some rotational experience in first - it often means you can step into a band 6 static MSK job from band 5 rotations.

There is lots of overlap in what physios and OTs do, particularly in the hospital setting. OTs have much more to do with cognition/ mental health so if you think this is something that will interest you OT is the way to go.

Have you considered applying for a general therapy assistant post to gain some experience and see if there is one area you prefer?

If you're looking at liverpool and keele it's worth looking at glyndwr in wrexham too. Students in wales still get bursaries and fees paid if you're prepared to work in wales post qualifying.

DD is just about to graduate OT at Cardiff and has already been offered her rotational post in Cardiff

We are not in Wales and she chose not to get the welsh nhs bursary mainly because the maintenance grant is very low compared to what you get normally through student finance. However there is the new uk bursary which dd just missed out on so that may have been in a better position
She would have only had about 3k to live on including bursary,
Also the payback of the maintenance loan is paid at the same rate whether you have a £10k loan or a £40k loan ie 9% of earnings over 25k

and if you drop out or dont complete the 2 years working in Wales, there is no mechanism to pay back through student finance and the university fees of 9k a year has to be paid back straight away, so potentially an instant debt of 27k.

I didn’t realise that about studying in Wales. I’ve been looking at general therapy assistant posts to try and get a bit of an insight into whether I would prefer PT or OT, but a lot of the jobs are asking for an NVQ in care and I don’t have one :( Maybe a trainee post will come up. I’m a science graduate so I would be looking at applying for the 2 year accelerated masters. By the time I’d completed the course, my children would be 7 and 5, so still quite young. If I could get through the training though (which I hope wouldn’t have too many evenings or weekends?!) I could always relocate to closer to the children’s grandparents, which would help with school pick ups and drop offs. I’ve got to find a way to make it work as I’d love to do this. Bluetrousers27, it’s reassuring to hear that in your rotational post you only have to do one weekend and on call a month and people with childcare issues have flexible working arrangements.

You need to get a bit of experience. The roles overlap but they are still quite different. A rehab support worker will potentially give you experience of physio, OT and SLT. You should be able to get a Band 3. Don't worry about the certification. If you don't have it, you can potentially get it on the job.

I always think physios are a bit like plumbers. They identify the problem and work to solve it with exercise. IME physios are generally sporty types who crack on with it.

OT is broader and is probably a bit more holistic touchy feely. They look at the bigger picture of the person's life and what interests them. If you love being a bit nosey and getting to know people then OT is the profession for you.

My dd was told when started her course
Physios get you walking again, but OTs get you dance

These days it is possible to go straight into a private MSK physio job with some employers. I qualified in 2004 and didn't end up doing the full band 5 rotations due to lack of junior physio jobs at that time. Community jobs mean you work alongside OTs and there is a lot of cross over in that setting in my opinion. I find working in private MSK is very flexible around childcare so it works for me. Good luck!

I know this is an old post, but can I ask did you progress with this OP? @Anonymouseky

Apologies for the very late reply to your message. I didn’t end up pursuing this. I went into teaching instead. I felt that it just wasn’t a feasible option for me as a single parent with no one to help with childcare nearby. I really enjoy teaching, but I do not think it will be a sustainable career in my 60s, so I may pursue a psychology/ therapy/ mental health type career at some point in the next decade.

I’m an OT, shame you didn’t persue it but hopefully teaching is working out for you.