Physiotherapists need good communication skills and empathy in order to diagnose patients effectively and motivate them to follow their prescribed exercise regimes. Since the job requires both strength and delicacy (and requires a lot of time on your feet), some physical fitness is also a good thing.
Physical therapists can work in a variety of settings: nursing homes, sports facilities, hospitals, patients' homes, or in private practice. They earn an average of $95,500 per year.
The great majority of people believe, without having to think about it too much, that their bodies should "just work". We expect our joints to bend smoothly and more or less without pain, balancing to be automatic, and so on. Unfortunately for some, this isn't always the case, and regular doctors can't always help.
This is where physical therapists (also called physiotherapists) come in. Instead of prescribing drugs or performing surgery, they use techniques such as stretching, exercise, and massage to relieve pain, improve blood circulation, and secure other valuable medical outcomes. In many cases, physical therapy techniques are far safer and more effective than other kinds of medical interventions.
All U.S. states and all but one E.U. country require physiotherapists to be licensed. Knowing a little about chiropractic, massage, or yoga isn't nearly enough to qualify: in America, the required degree is called a doctorate of physical therapy and takes about three years to complete. This is on top of a relevant bachelor's degree, bringing the total study time to seven years on average (or six for some combined bachelor/DPT programs).
Physical therapists study most of the same subjects as medical doctors, though in less detail. These are supplemented by training in their specific profession, including half a year of supervised clinical practice. Residencies are optional, while it is possible to pursue a specialization like working with cancer patients, children, or the elderly.
European curricula and licensing requirements are similar, with the exception that only a bachelor's degree and fluency in the local language are required in most countries. (There is no E.U-wide physiotherapy license, though something like that is in the works.)
The shorter term of study means that physiotherapy qualifications earned in Europe are generally not automatically accepted if you want to practice in the U.S. If you studied this subject in Europe, you will most likely have to complete some additional coursework in the U.S. before you're allowed to take the National Physical Therapy Exam.
The college admissions process in the US has become a race to the bottom as students compete with their peers for a single spot in a liberal arts college, convinced by parents and guidance counselors that their survival rests on playing a musical instrument or varsity sport. Many smart kids don’t do well on standardized tests. This doesn’t limit them as much when looking outside of the US, as many colleges in Europe do not require standardized tests. Many countries see entry into universities as a right, rather than a privilege, so admission standards are not as stringent.
When you also factor in the many problems with US higher education, it is imprudent not to consider other possibilities. It is true there are many excellent schools in the United States—I don’t think anyone would argue that. There are some that have managed to look at applicants as people, and not just a checklist of achievements. Some even have reasonable tuition rates, and/or professors that actively teach and have highly engaged students. Despite this, I have yet to find a school in the United States that addresses all of these issues: allows students to opt out of the rat race the admissions process has become, have reasonable tuition, AND have positive results around the educational experience and post-graduation outcomes. Not every school in Europe provides all this either, but the schools listed in our database do.
Finding these programs is burdensome, difficult, and confusing, especially with institutional websites in foreign languages... We know that making the decision to study abroad can be difficult, so we want to make it easy for you. We scoured the continent for vetted programs and made them available to thousands of families looking to leave the US and find a better life in Europe. We found over 11,200 degrees, 870 universities, 550 cities, and 32 European countries to choose from. Europe offers an impressive range of educational opportunities!
We have gathered all of the information you need to know about studying in Europe – from the different types of schools available to how to get housing and everything in between. Our database helps you find these programs quickly and easily, helping you contextualize the many benefits and options around higher education in Europe.
You will be able to find programs and courses that suit your interests and needs, taught in English by experienced professors in state-of-the-art facilities. Search our database of English-taught European bachelor's and master's programs and get started on your journey to Europe today.
Travel opportunities abound when attending college in Europe. For example, Lille, a city in northern France with multiple universities, is close to major cities such as Brussels, London, and Paris via high-speed rail. Air travel, especially with the rise of affordable airlines like Ryanair, EasyJet, and Transavia, can be comparable in price to rail travel, so many more destinations open up for short-term travel.
