Osteopathy as a career choice?
I have spent the last twenty seven years as a practising osteopath. There truly hasn’t been a day that has gone by where I thought “Oh dear, I have to go into work today”. Osteopathy for me was not a first choice. I worked in industry for ten years before becoming fed up with my choice of career and, at the age of twenty eight, went to study at the European School of Osteopathy, in Maidstone, Kent for four years. It was without doubt a challenging course, with the first three years dominated by physiology, neurology, anatomy, orthopaedics and differential diagnosis (what can be treated osteopathically and what needs referral for further investigation). We also learnt the principles of osteopathy, accompanied increasingly by the learning and application of our craft. In the final two years, the hands on work was increasingly combined with our newly gained understanding of how pain presents itself and when we could treat and when we should refer. This could for example involve referring a patient to a GP or a Consultant to either leave the patient in their care or to request imaging or blood tests to clarify our diagnosis and treatment.
As a profession we have pretty much always worked outside of the NHS which has allowed us certain freedoms. Pressure to meet targets is essentially driven by you and the people you work for directly when working in the private sector. There is a seasonal fluctuation to patient numbers which allows for some downtime. The NHS on the other hand appears to be unrelenting.
Locum and permanent positions for osteopaths are available across the country if you want to move about a bit and it is a career which is recognised in other countries. Osteopathy has grown both in terms of numbers of practitioners and its presence in the healthcare market- we have become more visible, which means there are more patients to treat. This has been truest since the rise of Covid-19 where GP practices and physio departments moved to a hands off approach. As a profession we are now seeing a significant rise in patient numbers and the profession needs more practitioners to cope. I do not believe this situation will change in the near future.
Anyone who has an interest in working as an osteopath would, according to the National Careers Service, need; 5 GCSEs at grades 9 -4 (A*to C) or equivalent, including English, maths and science, 2 or 3 A levels, including a science, for a degree or. A degree in a relevant subject for post graduate study is also acceptable. The qualification is a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. There are a couple of valuable resources you can refer to for further information: www.osteopathy.org.uk And www.iosteopathy.org should both be first ports of call.
Feel free to give us a call. We are a local practise of four osteopaths with a wide range of experience. We will do our best to answer your questions. You can contact us via our website: www.osteopathyworks.co.uk or by phone on 01270 886288.
I hope this helps,
Kendall.
I have spent the last twenty seven years as a practising osteopath. There truly hasn’t been a day that has gone by where I thought “Oh dear, I have to go into work today”. Osteopathy for me was not a first choice. I worked in industry for ten years before becoming fed up with my choice of career and, at the age of twenty eight, went to study at the European School of Osteopathy, in Maidstone, Kent for four years. It was without doubt a challenging course, with the first three years dominated by physiology, neurology, anatomy, orthopaedics and differential diagnosis (what can be treated osteopathically and what needs referral for further investigation). We also learnt the principles of osteopathy, accompanied increasingly by the learning and application of our craft. In the final two years, the hands on work was increasingly combined with our newly gained understanding of how pain presents itself and when we could treat and when we should refer. This could for example involve referring a patient to a GP or a Consultant to either leave the patient in their care or to request imaging or blood tests to clarify our diagnosis and treatment.
As a profession we have pretty much always worked outside of the NHS which has allowed us certain freedoms. Pressure to meet targets is essentially driven by you and the people you work for directly when working in the private sector. There is a seasonal fluctuation to patient numbers which allows for some downtime. The NHS on the other hand appears to be unrelenting.
Locum and permanent positions for osteopaths are available across the country if you want to move about a bit and it is a career which is recognised in other countries. Osteopathy has grown both in terms of numbers of practitioners and its presence in the healthcare market- we have become more visible, which means there are more patients to treat. This has been truest since the rise of Covid-19 where GP practices and physio departments moved to a hands off approach. As a profession we are now seeing a significant rise in patient numbers and the profession needs more practitioners to cope. I do not believe this situation will change in the near future.
Anyone who has an interest in working as an osteopath would, according to the National Careers Service, need; 5 GCSEs at grades 9 -4 (A*to C) or equivalent, including English, maths and science, 2 or 3 A levels, including a science, for a degree or. A degree in a relevant subject for post graduate study is also acceptable. The qualification is a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. There are a couple of valuable resources you can refer to for further information: www.osteopathy.org.uk And www.iosteopathy.org should both be first ports of call.
Feel free to give us a call. We are a local practise of four osteopaths with a wide range of experience. We will do our best to answer your questions. You can contact us via our website: www.osteopathyworks.co.uk or by phone on 01270 886288.
I hope this helps,
Kendall.
