After completing this MSc in Sports and Exercise Psychology I will have 2 degrees that I want to combine for a future career pathway. I have a Bachelor in Physiotherapy which I completed in 2019 and have now been working as a physiotherapist for approximately 4 years. I have had various experiences in the profession which led me to wanting to gain more knowledge within psychology. I believe that combining physiotherapy and psychology could make a difference in people’s lives as you could give care related to the whole person, not just the physical issues.

Additionally, I have been an athlete for many years and have experienced the connection between body and mind, and how it can impact both your daily life and athletic career. Having this knowledge have led me to wanting to work with athletes and be able to help them in the best way I can with the knowledge I have. After reflecting on career pathway, I have decided that I want to use my knowledge gained from the MSc course in addition to my profession as a physiotherapist. Some of the lectures from this course has not given me much as it has most been related to working as a sports psychologist. But most of the lectures have been applicable, and I have learnt a lot from different tasks such as the case studies and the roleplay of counselling sessions. The case studies and the module “Approaches to psychological support” have taught me various psychological approaches which is useful for physiotherapy settings as well. The roleplay of counselling sessions has helped me gain knowledge in relation to how to approach, how to and what questions to ask, reflecting and putting things together. Approaching a patient coming to physiotherapy, saying it might be psychological factors impacting the body is sometimes difficult as the patients come to you with physiological issues and do not understand the body-mind connection. This knowledge will add positively on my physio work if potential psychological issues are present as I can help the patients in a broader perspective.

Planning my career

My desired job is working within a sport team as a physio and help the athletes both physically and mentally to fulfil their dreams of their sport. The ‘next steps’ of the pathway to my desired career will be to investigate various job options and pathways to take to achieve what I want within my career. As I already have a degree in physiotherapy, job opportunities relating to that will be what I am looking for. I am moving back to Norway and have started looking at opportunities on various websites and Facebook groups to see if there are any appealing jobs I can apply for. In Norway, it is difficult to get a job where you are employed as a physio, but to fulfil my dream of my desired job I have thought of the option of being self-employed. Earlier, I have worked as a self-employed and think this can be a good option to be able to do what I want. A potential plan could be working with a sport team in addition to a private clinic as most of the sport teams do not offer a full-time position.

Action Plan

The clue within the action plan will be to look for sport teams and clinics within the same area so it is easier to combine the two. As I have already worked as a self-employed, I have a website and email I can edit with more appropriate information for this career pathway. The action plan for my chosen career will start by preparing and updating my CV, investigate job opportunities on various websites, and prepare for potential job interviews. The knowledge gained from this year will add to my strengths list of searching for jobs as I have a postgraduate degree in addition to my physiotherapy degree which is positive to have on my CV when applying for jobs.

 

Potential Job Opportunity:

LANDSLAGET I BREAKING SØKER FYSIOTERAPEUT!