A Day In The Life: Indian PT in Ireland

Welcome to my “A Day In The Life” series! I know for a fact some of you are planning to move abroad. I am doing this series so that you can catch a glimpse. Today we will sneak a peek into a day in the life of an Indian PT in Ireland.

This is the experience of just one Indian PT in Ireland. This may or may not reflect the picture true for all.

I invited Oshin Amberkar to talk about her day. Oshin completed her Masters in Mumbai, India in 2019. In India, Oshin worked as a sports physiotherapist treating athletes from different sports. She moved to Ireland after getting married. She has been working there for almost a year now. Here is what she has to share:

What are your timings, Do you work on weekends?  

My work timings are pretty flexible, I work on weekdays only, Monday to Friday, usually starting at 11 am and finishing by 6 pm with one hour break for lunch around 2 pm. 

On days when the appointments are light, I get to leave early or start late, depending on the appointments. 

My clinic has a tie-up with on-field sports, especially catering to jockeys (horse riding). Very rarely there might be weekend work for that. But in that case, I get compensatory off for a couple of days of the week. Additionally, the compensatory pay would also be generous in case of weekends. 

How are appointments scheduled?

Appointments are scheduled every hour. The session usually lasts for around 45- 50 mins. The remaining time would be utilized for finishing clinical notes and getting the room ready for the next patient. 

What is the average no of patients you see in a Day?

Since we see one patient at a time, on average we see up to 6 patients per day. 

Tell us in detail about patient management in Ireland

Evaluation – I would spend around 15-20 min max for evaluating a new patient (including history and assessment), a follow-up patient would generally be around 10 mins.

Treatment – Management would vary from patient to patient, there would be some for injury management, while some would be for a general sports session (injury prevention exercise routine).

The patient population we get is mostly Musculoskeletal and Sports. 

For injury management, I have my own treatment room. I hardly use modalities, sometimes dry needling. I mostly go for exercises and if needed mobilization. 

For injury prevention/performance enhancement we have a separate gym area with resistance bands, barbells, and weights.  

Progress notes – One of the tedious parts of working outside India is the extensive paperwork.  The notes have to be very particular and as detailed as possible, with evaluation and management done for the same. 

Discharge– Here in Ireland the patient is not called as often, once in a week or two weeks as needed. Once the patient gets better they are moved to an active program,  where if they want they can follow up once in 3 months to progress their exercise plans if they have any long-term goals (Marathon training, golf, rugby, or even just staying fit at the gym). 

Similarities and differences between working in India  VS Ireland 

The MSK cases here are quite similar to what we have back in India, It is mainly low back, neck, shoulder, sometimes knee, ankle, etc.

The population here is quite active. I noticed that health literacy among them is moderately higher than back home. People are aware of the health benefits of staying active, most of them either run/cycle on a regular basis, while others go to the gym. The younger population below the 30s are into sports recreationally.

The sports here are very different than in India. Here you will see sports such as Hurling, Gaelic football, Camogie (female version of hurling), Rugby, and Soccer. Golf and horse racing are quite common here. At my clinic, we have a tie-up with the Irish Horse Racing Association, treating Jockeys there.

We also use weights up to 50kgs for treating athletes/patients with back pain in their late stage of rehab, which is not a popular choice with Indian Physios and patients yet. Though slowly this is changing in India. Having a strength and conditioning/pilates/ yoga experience would be an add-on and could put you in preference while applying for jobs here.

There is a huge emphasis on patient privacy here due to GDPR (EU General Data Protection Regulations), which isn’t as strict back in India and is one of the reasons for the extensive paperwork here.

What are the challenges you faced while settling into your role as PT in Ireland?

So far it’s been quite manageable, it’s been around 10 months since I am working here. Initially, accent used to be a problem, but I am slowly catching up on that, it goes both ways.  

I had to take an interest and learn more about sports and leisure activities here in order to understand their lifestyle here.

One of the things I realized is that here people like to talk a lot during their sessions, much more than in India. You need to be able to hold on to conversations besides keeping them on track throughout the session. 

What do you like about your work as PT in Ireland?

The best part is I get the liberty to choose my plan of treatment. The head of the clinic is cool with us taking decisions for our patients. There is no micromanagement. Of course, if needed they are there to help/guide. 

Another thing I like is no working outside of hours and, very flexible work times. if there are no patients booked in you are free to leave, you don’t need to sit through the day even if you finish early. And if there are any on-field sports days, you are compensated fairly for the extra hours you put in. 

Anything else you would like to add 

It does get monotonous at times, so make sure you involve yourself in some sports or art or clubs around and make friends. People here are very welcoming. Make use of the free weekends you get, and learn a new sport/art every summer.

Explore what the country has to give and make use of the extracurricular activities. There are many budget activities in which you can participate during weekends.