Equine sports therapy or animal physiotherapy?

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Emmahi

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Apologies if this has been covered before,
my daughter is wanting to study either an Animal physiotherapy course or Equine Sports therapy. There seems to be a big difference in qualifications needed- AAB for physio course but just one A level for Sports therapy.

Main question being what is the actual difference in the career path at the end of the course? Is it really better to be a full blown equine physio rather than an Equine Sports therapist?
Thinking of the stress levels for me over the next year if she needs AAB in her A levels!!!

Many thanks in advance for your knowledge x
 
My equine physio was a human physio who then went on to train for animals this is the only type of help I would use now .
Miles superior in every way.
 
Agree with GS. I would only use an ACPAT Cat A physio, and they must be a human physio who has completed a higher level course in Veterinary Physiotherapy. There are far too many people around who have done a distance learning course in the 'laying on of hands' for me to be comfortable using someone who doesn't work on veterinary referral and have a professional qualification that is recognised by the veterinary industry
 
The animal physiotherapy course at Harper Adams is the only course in the country that is accredited to ACPAT that is purely animal physio rather than being a human physio that then converts- hence needing such good grades at A level. Sounds like I am going to have a stressful year then!
 
Emmahi said:
The animal physiotherapy course at Harper Adams is the only course in the country that is accredited to ACPAT that is purely animal physio rather than being a human physio that then converts- hence needing such good grades at A level. Sounds like I am going to have a stressful year then!
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The harper course is accredited to NAVP, not ACPAT.
 
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Emmahi said:
Does that matter? Don't want her to waste her time on a course that isnt recommended by vets.
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ACPAT is the only way to go if she is planning to do it properly and work on vet referral. She will need to qualify as a human physio first, then do the vet Physio course to get ACPAT Category A status, which will allow her to operate unsupervised. Info is all here http://www.acpat.org/careers-and-development
 
Auslander said:
ACPAT is the only way to go if she is planning to do it properly and work on vet referral. She will need to qualify as a human physio first, then do the vet Physio course to get ACPAT Category A status, which will allow her to operate unsupervised. Info is all here http://www.acpat.org/careers-and-development
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Well, not quite.
I am a member of another organisation (Animal Science degree, physio training post-grad), and I do resent the implication that we are all sub-standard due to not being ACPAT (not specifically referring to you here, Auslander, but I do see it repeatedly). I will only work with veterinary referral, and not being ACPAT has never caused me any issues as far as the vets are concerned. Of course, it is your prerogative to use whomever you choose, but I always urge people to judge their therapist on their individual merits, rather than strictly which route they have taken to get there (obviously provided that they are still qualified, insured and registered with a governing organisation). I have certainly come across a couple of ACPAT physios who I would not allow to treat any horse of mine.
 
Calcyle said:
Well, not quite.
I am a member of another organisation (Animal Science degree, physio training post-grad), and I do resent the implication that we are all sub-standard due to not being ACPAT (not specifically referring to you here, Auslander, but I do see it repeatedly). I will only work with veterinary referral, and not being ACPAT has never caused me any issues as far as the vets are concerned. Of course, it is your prerogative to use whomever you choose, but I always urge people to judge their therapist on their individual merits, rather than strictly which route they have taken to get there (obviously provided that they are still qualified, insured and registered with a governing organisation). I have certainly come across a couple of ACPAT physios who I would not allow to treat any horse of mine.
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I agree that you must judge each person who you use however a physio who can assess and treat both the horse and the horses riders is going to be very very difficult to better.
 
Calcyle said:
Well, not quite.
I am a member of another organisation (Animal Science degree, physio training post-grad), and I do resent the implication that we are all sub-standard due to not being ACPAT (not specifically referring to you here, Auslander, but I do see it repeatedly). I will only work with veterinary referral, and not being ACPAT has never caused me any issues as far as the vets are concerned. Of course, it is your prerogative to use whomever you choose, but I always urge people to judge their therapist on their individual merits, rather than strictly which route they have taken to get there (obviously provided that they are still qualified, insured and registered with a governing organisation). I have certainly come across a couple of ACPAT physios who I would not allow to treat any horse of mine.
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Apologies! I'm just expressing my personal opinion, going on what my vet has said - she only recommends ACPAT physios. You're right though - many roads lead to Rome, and as long as the therapist is qualified, insured and works on vet referral, then that's good enough for me!
 
Auslander said:
Apologies! I'm just expressing my personal opinion, going on what my vet has said - she only recommends ACPAT physios. You're right though - many roads lead to Rome, and as long as the therapist is qualified, insured and works on vet referral, then that's good enough for me!
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No worries, an open mind is all I ask for! :)
 
I use an ACPAT physio, who I deem to be very good. I've had 'equine sports therapists' and 'mctimoney practitioners' who have charged me a fortune and not known the head from the tail. IMO (and my opinion, so no one shoot me down) I would only ever use an ACPAT trained physio. So many choose other routes, and unprofessionally, and illegally call themselves a physiotherapist. Those who aren't knowledgable in the area get taken in by their rubbish, and it amazes me that a certain local therapist does training, yet when asked for specific muscle names she had to refer to a text book. There aren't that many muscles, when you treat them daily, you should know their attachments and insertions, aka their location, and their name and structure. As an ACPAT, you learn this right back in first year of human physiotherapy before moving on to assessing and treating.
 
If your daughter is able to achieve the necessary grades for a Physio degree /ACPAT, she may feel frustrated in her future working life being considered less effective or employable because she took the easier option.

I chose Physiotherapy as a career intending to go on to train in equine therapy, which was then in its infancy. I have remained in the NHS and I still really enjoy my clinical work after 25 years!
Unfortunately you don't switch off from analysing movement- I See lame horses and asymmetrical riders everywhere!
The job market for newly qualified physios has been dire in recent years. I don't know how saturated the market for Equine Physio has become.
 
Thank you for all your replies. I know my daughter is more interested in her future career than going for the easy option and everything that has been said here backs up her opinion that a physio degree is the one to go for. Human physiotherapy is,I know the traditional route and maybe she might be better off looking into that- she's not overly keen on human feet though!!!
 
Luckily being barefoot hasn't become a trend in human healthcare!
It's amazing what you become desensitised to...( wont put her off with examples).
Physio is interesting, rewarding and diverse and despite the lack of jobs I would still recommend it.
The Uni's I have had students from have sometimes shown leniency in grades
when they have had the personal skills that would make them good Physios.
It's such a stressful time. Good Luck!
 
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