Physiotherapy
Specialist in the rehabilitation of people with paralysis, neurological disorders and accident victims, the profession of physiotherapist is one of the most chosen professions in terms of professional retraining. Find out more about it.

What is a Physiotherapist?
With his full name "masseur-physiotherapist", the physiotherapist is a practitioner specializing in motor and functional rehabilitation.

Acting mainly on medical prescription, he manipulates the body of his patients to be able to relieve their pain and re-educate their physical functions. While it treats benign conditions such as low back pain, torticollis or sprains, it also treats trauma due to accidents or the consequences of aging.

The physiotherapist masters different techniques of massage and manual or instrumental medical gymnastics. It can also use water, heat, ionization or ultrasound.

The physiotherapist also intervenes a lot in the sports field to accompany the patient in warm-up and stretching exercises around the activity practiced, or to help him after a trauma suffered.

Finally, physiotherapists also intervene in special cases, such as carrying out a capacity assessment and without any medical prescription, in particular in sports clubs or in spa treatments, or even in beauty treatment centres.

About 50 private or public training institutes in massage and physiotherapy are present in the territory. The cost of studies varies from one IFMK to another and from one region to another, with an average cost of 4,500 euros.

Missions of a physiotherapist
Clinical examination and physiotherapy assessment
Establishment of the treatment and care programme for rehabilitation and rehabilitation to be implemented
Application of physiotherapy techniques
Patient Information and Education
Creation of the patient file
Supervision of students and trainees
Conducting studies and research
Professional monitoring
Where does the Physiotherapist practice?
He can work in private practice (a formula chosen by the vast majority of qualified physiotherapists), alone or with partners in a private practice. He can also work in hospitals, functional rehabilitation centres or thermal establishments where he is associated with an inter-professional team.

Profession Trend
A physiotherapist has no difficulty finding a job.

Training to become a physiotherapist
Initial training
To work as a physiotherapist, you must hold the State Diploma of Physiotherapist. It is a diploma that takes place in 4 years in a massage and physiotherapy training institute (IFMK) and which allows you to acquire the skills required to carry out all acts of rehabilitation, massage and electro-physiotherapy.

From 2021, graduates, after five years of study, will officially obtain the master's degree.

Access to the training is after a university preparatory year, i.e.:

or after a specific health access course (PASS). If you validate your first year of a bachelor's degree, you can apply for physiotherapy.
or after one year of bachelor's degree with a "health access" option (L.AS). You choose a license from another discipline with a "Health Access" option in physiotherapy. If you validate your year but are not admitted to physiotherapy, you can continue your studies in the second year of the chosen bachelor's degree.
or after a first year of a bachelor's degree in STAPS (Science and Techniques of Physical and Sports Activities). The validation of the first year of the

STAPS licence allows you to join an IFMK, subject to ranking in useful rank.
or after a first year of a bachelor's degree in biology or science, technology and health.
The selection to access this training is strict and framed by a numerus clausus. It requires a scientific baccalaureate (S in particular).

There are other ways to integrate a physiotherapy training course but these exemptions or bridges are only addressed to a very small minority of aspirants and possible in 3 specific cases:

be a high-level athlete, you have made a request to your sports federation, and a National Commission has validated your request
be a non-EU national and comply with the conditions set out in the decree of 31 January 1991 on the subject
hold a state diploma in midwifery, nurse, medical electroradiology technician, podiatrist, occupational therapist or psychomotor therapist or have validated the 1st cycle of medical studies and successfully passed an exam for the 2nd year
Formation continue
It is quite possible to retrain as a physiotherapist by preparing for the state diploma of physiotherapist as part of continuing education.

Qualities required to become a physiotherapist
The profession of physiotherapist requires several human qualities. If you combine them, you already have all the assets to become a good physiotherapist.

Listening
A good physiotherapist knows how to listen and understand his patients to establish a real relationship of trust, put them at ease and allow them to relax during the various manipulations. He must also have excellent interpersonal skills. This will be all the more important as the physiotherapist must be able to encourage and motivate his patients in the efforts they make in the difficult work of rehabilitation.

Be in excellent physical condition
To handle patients of any build, a good physiotherapist must be resilient and possess a certain physical strength. He must be able to lift them or perform gestures requiring a certain amount of force, such as massaging them vigorously.

Availability
The majority of physiotherapists work in private practice and do not count their hours to adapt to their patients' schedules. Practices often stay open late into the evening.

Possible physiotherapist developments
After four years' professional experience in a hospital, the physiotherapist can prepare for the one-year diploma of health executive or that of care director in two years and thus occupy a management position in a department or as a trainer for students.

But he can also choose to specialize in sports, rheumatology, respiratory physiotherapy... or even in equine physiotherapy.

If he prefers to go into osteopathy, he benefits from training exemptions to pass the DO (1900 hours of training out of the 4860 that make up the basic training).

Physiotherapist salary
Depending on whether the physiotherapist practices in the public hospital sector or in private practice and according to the specialties he chooses, his income varies.

Without experience and in the public hospital sector, net salaries are estimated at €1,600 gross per month for a beginner physiotherapist and can reach €3,000 for a health executive at the end of his career.

In private practice, there is no ceiling, but salaries are on average around 3,500 euros net per month.

In addition, with the growing demand for care, the job prospects are quite good. It is important to find out about the areas where to start your business. Continuing education allows the physiotherapy profession to regularly renew its knowledge and learn new techniques.

Do you want to retrain as a physiotherapist?
Advantages of retraining as a physiotherapist
Privileged relationship with each patient.
Great opportunities for professional development.
A rewarding profession: relieving patients' pain is a real satisfaction.
Attractive remuneration, especially in private practice.
Disadvantages of such a conversion
The number of people admitted to IFMK is limited each year by numerus clausus.
Training in IFMK is expensive.
The profession of physiotherapist is accessible after 5 years of study.
Skills to get started
To know
Identification of the signs and degree of pain
Emergency and rescue actions
Lymphatic drainage techniques
Aspiration rhino-pharyngée
Biomechanics
Physiotherapy
Ergonomics
Rheumatology
Traumatologie
Postural rehabilitation
Abdominal rehabilitation techniques (urology, gynecology, proctology, /...)
Cardiovascular rehabilitation techniques
Swallowing rehabilitation techniques
Techniques for rehabilitating balance disorders
Techniques for the rehabilitation of venolymphatic disorders
Neurological rehabilitation techniques
Orthopedic rehabilitation techniques
Respiratory rehabilitation techniques
Medical device manufacturing techniques
Strapping techniques
Know-how
Identify the patient's need and exchange information (current treatments, medical history, X-rays, etc.)
Carry out the physiotherapy diagnosis (assessment of deficiencies, etc.) based on tests of muscle strength, posture, etc. and present it to the patient
Detect contraindications following fractures, bone infections and refer the patient to a doctor, psychologist, etc.
Design the therapeutic project and decide on the modalities of intervention according to the patient's age, pathology and activity
Organize the physiotherapy session and adapt it
Carry out the end-of-operation assessment and advise the patient on lifestyle
Filling in medico-administrative documents
Follow up on customer payments
Practicing physiotherapy sessions
Perform an ergonomic assessment
Teaching water gymnastics
Carry out actions to monitor competitive physical and sports activities
Determine the appropriate restraint and immobilization equipment and proceed with the installation
Check the operation of the devices and inform the maintenance department, the person responsible in case of malfunction
Facilitate a training course (Source: ROME)

Where to start your retraining as a physiotherapist?
Changing jobs in favor of that of physiotherapist is not an opportunity that you can seize at the "right time". It is a project, like any other, that you must anticipate by taking the necessary time. As Arthur Ashe said, "One of the keys to success is self-confidence. One of the keys to self-confidence is preparation"...

Wanting to train, as a prelude to your professional retraining as a physiotherapist, can be a salutary decision, especially if you do not have any of the initial training previously listed or the skills indicated above.

Training can indeed be, to a certain extent, the key to a professional retraining as a physiotherapist, but not necessarily because one thing is certain: retraining does not always rhyme with training.

The best thing to do is to take the time to prepare for your professional retraining by taking stock of your current situation and skills. To do this, calling on an expert in professional development can be an excellent prerequisite. This will expose your strengths and weaknesses in terms of knowledge and skills, and, consequently, your real (personalized) training needs, including the training organization that will meet these needs as precisely as possible.

How to finance your reconversion?
There are different schemes to finance all or part of your retraining.

Employees on permanent contracts, fixed-term contracts or temporary contracts
Personal training account (CPF)
CPF for professional transition
Skills Development Plan
Pro-A work-study promotion

Job seeker
Personal training account (CPF)
Individual Training Assistance (AIF)
Professionalization contract

Interim
Personal training account (CPF)
CPF for professional transition
Professionalization contract
FAFTT (Temporary Work Training Insurance Fund)

Independent
Personal training account (CPF)
FAF (training insurance fund)
Tax credit for the training of business leaders

Official
Personal training account (CPF)
Vocational training leave (VTC)