Physiotherapists are professional health workers who have completed 4-year undergraduate education, who plan and implement physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs for patients diagnosed by a doctor, prevent diseases and injuries by increasing physical compliance with exercise and rehabilitation programs in healthy individuals.
Since physiotherapy is a science that can be applied to many fields of medicine, physiotherapists; can treat patients in neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, general surgery, pediatrics, cardiology, cardiovascular surgery, rheumatology, gynecology and obstetrics and sports sciences. If they want, they can specialize in that area by working at certain area, and they can also work with only that patient group. Working together with different professional groups and different branches of medicine offers physiotherapists the opportunity to focus on the field they want and to diversify their fields of work.
Areas of Employment
• Inpatient Treatment Centers (University, Public and Private Hospitals)
• Special Education and Rehabilitation Centers
• Sports Clubs
• Elderly Care and Rehabilitation Centers
• Universities, Research Institutes
• Spa Centers
• Pain Centers
• Municipalities
•Private Clinics, Medical Centers
History of the Physiotherapy
The foundations of the physiotherapist profession are quite old. In 460s B.C., first Hippocrates, then Galen, made history as the first to apply massage, manual therapy techniques and hydrotherapy for the treatment of patients. After the development of orthopedic science in the 18th century, medical massage and some gymnastic movements began to be used in order to increase health in countries such as Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany in Europe to be used in systematic exercises of the joints.
The most important progress started in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, as a result of the Poliomyelitis (polio) epidemic that started in the United States, American orthopedists began to treat children with poliomyelitis who had physical disabilities, paving the way for the development of the physiotherapist profession. The development of the profession accelerated with the rehabilitation processes of the wounded soldiers returning from the World War II.
In the 1980s, the WCPT (World Confederation of Physiotherapy) recommended that physiotherapy undergraduate education programs should be given at universities for at least 4 years and be independently approved and accredited in all countries, including Africa.
The foundation of the physiotherapist profession in Turkey was laid for the first time by the honorary rector Prof. Dr. İhsan Doğramacı with the establishment of Hacettepe University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in 1961.
Features Required to Be a Physiotherapist;
Like every profession, it is necessary to have some personal characteristics in order to fulfill the responsibilities of the physiotherapist profession and to be a successful physiotherapist.
People who want to be physiotherapists should have characteristics such as;
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Interested in science, especially biology and physics, and being successful in these fields,
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To be able to use eyes and hands harmoniously,
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Developed hand and finger skills
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Able to understand others and enjoy helping them
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Being patient, caring, careful and responsible.
Some of these can be developed with experience in the profession, but before choosing this profession, loving helping people and communicating with people patiently and well are the most important features to have.
