What To Consider When Selecting Workshops After BPT 

When exploring options after BPT, many students contemplate pursuing different workshops. Let’s face it, there are literally thousands of webinars, workshops, and courses out there. Not all of these are reliable or worth pursuing. One of the common confusions new grads face is not knowing which workshops or courses to go after. Hence, today let’s address the common confusion around workshops after BPT. Here are some things you might want to consider. 

Your Interest

When taking up any workshop or a course make sure your interests are aligned with it. It is common not to know where your interests lie, especially when you are just starting out. In that case, it is best to wait instead of joining the bandwagon. If you are unsure, I recommend doing a PT observership or taking a gap year, or working for some time before making a decision to invest. 

Your Objective 

It is important to keep in mind your long-term vision and career goals when deciding to pursue a certification course after BPT. For the sake of this discussion, I would like to categorize workshops/ courses under 2 main headings

• Internationally recognized certifications
• Others

Internationally recognized certifications 

These certifications are recognized internationally meaning your certification will hold value when you go abroad. These courses are usually conducted by international organizations. Oftentimes these certifications are expensive and may take a few months to years to complete. You may need to pass the credentialing exam before becoming certified. We will explore more about these certification courses in the coming blog posts. 

Opting for these certifications makes sense when you are planning to specialize in a particular field. It also makes sense to pursue these certifications when you are planning to go abroad in the long term. Since these workshops are expensive it is crucial to make sure that the topic interests you. It is a good idea to work for a certified PT to get experience before investing your time and money in the course. 

Other workshops, courses

Certificates of attendance for these types of workshops might not hold value internationally. However, these workshops are a great way to add tools to your clinical toolbox. (Eg Dry needling or Kinesio taping workshops). If you learn from a credible instructor these workshops enable you to treat your patients effectively. Many times these workshops are offered by experienced Indian PTs at affordable costs.

You can choose to do these workshops if you are on a budget but the topic greatly interests you. Additionally, if you are looking to learn different treatment techniques to better serve your patients, these workshops will help you immensely. 

Cost 

As I mentioned earlier, internationally recognized certifications are priced higher. Please be mindful of your budget when you are planning to pursue any of the certifications. Also instead of just looking at the price tag, consider the value the course is going to offer. Think about what you are going to learn in the course and how your life would be different from now once you start applying what you learned. 

Instructor

No matter what your course is, make sure you research your instructor. Do you trust your instructor? The course brochure always provides the name and credentials of the instructor. Google your instructor to know more about them. Connect with them on LinkedIn. Ask your seniors/ peers who attended the course and what their experience was. 

Now that we are clear about what we need to consider, In the next article we will look in detail at some of the internationally recognized certifications after BPT. Here are some of the certifications you may want to go after: 

• Certified MDT ( Mechanical diagnosis and therapy).
• Certified NDT (Neurodevelopmental technique). 
• CSCS ( Certified strength and conditioning specialist). 
• Herman & Wallace PRPC ( Pelvic rehabilitation practitioner certification).

These courses are expensive, but if you are looking for an internationally recognized certification in your specialty, these might be worth it. 

If you are not ready to break the bank and don’t want to travel for in-person workshops, here is a simple way to continue your professional growth. 

Medbridge

MedBridge offers a huge online library of physiotherapy webinars (Including live ones) from international instructors covering multiple specialties and settings.

• 50+ new courses are added monthly to keep you up to date on current techniques and strategies.
• Case-based quizzes with clinical reasoning behind every answer to ensure knowledge retention.
• Patient demos and case studies in every course reinforce the practical application of evidence-based skills.

You can learn from experienced international industry leaders from the comfort of your home. Online courses can be completed at your own pace while with live webinars you get to interact and ask questions to your instructors. 

You can save $150 on their 1-year subscription with my MedBridge discount code. Make sure to apply my code ‘PTCAREERPATHS‘ at checkout to get the full discount on your MedBridge subscription.