Sports Physiotherapy Studies MSc

Course overview

This course develops your knowledge, skills and research capacity to become a physiotherapist who works with athletes and sports teams. You will be challenged to develop strategies to optimise athletes’ health and wellbeing, minimising time lost to injury and maximising performance in training and competition.

You develop your critical thinking and enquiry skills, enabling you to make innovative injury management plans in the context of a sporting environment.

The curriculum has been developed using the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy competencies and with engagement from clinicians working within professional sporting environments. You will be taught by academic staff with clinical experience of working with athletic populations and external clinicians with experience of working with professional athletes from multi sports will form a key element of the teaching team. The course has been designed to be based upon evidence based principles which will be used within a robust clinical reasoning framework to allow graduates to develop their skills to apply appropriate injury management and performance enhancement to the sporting individual. The course is modular in delivery and will run over two years full time. Within the first year you will be typically expected to attend university for two day per week. In the second year you will be offered an internship of up to 12 weeks in the within a sports physiotherapy host site and will complete a dissertation.

How you learn

Learning will be a collaboration between UK and international students which will enhance the experience for both cohorts. Taught lectures will be delivered by experienced senior lecturers from both Physiotherapy and Sports Science disciplines with considerable input from clinicians working with athletes in elite sport from a variety of sporting contexts.

You will be required to perform a large proportion of independent study which will be guided by your module tutors. Seminar sessions will challenge you to solve real case scenarios faced in practice often with appropriate group collaboration. Practical workshops within the well-equipped laboratories will enable you to develop the practical skills necessary for practice in elite sports medicine environments.

How you are assessed

You will be assessed with a range of methods which reflect both module material and the relevance to practice in a sporting environment. Assessment methods will include written assignments, poster presentations, oral assessments and lab reports. Modules will not be typically assessed with more than one component to reduce the burden of assessment for students.

Formative feedback will be offered throughout your modules to help prepare you for the final assessment which may be in the form of tutor feedback, peer feedback and self-reflection on performance. Assessment marks with feedback will be returned within 20 working days as per the academic regulations.

The internship will be assessed with the submission of a portfolio reflecting your experience and learning from practice in addition to a Viva when you will have to present a critical appraisal of your development.

Career opportunities

As a graduate you will have the knowledge and skills to be able to further your career in a professional sports environment. For those working in non-professional sporting environments it is anticipated that you would become a subject matter expert in the management of sports injuries and could transfer this knowledge to practice in either public funded healthcare settings or to private practice.

Applicants would normally require a 2:1 degree or above in physiotherapy.