A stepping-stone to a physiotherapy career

A pathway to postgraduate physio

For UTS Sport and Exercise Science graduate Adam Trama, the journey to a physiotherapy career started long before he enrolled in a university degree.

“I started my career in the military where I was a strength and conditioning coach,” he says.

“I spent a lot of time around physiotherapists while I was there, so I knew a good stepping-stone to physio was to study sport and exercise science first.”

At the end of his military service, Adam enrolled in the UTS Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science with a major in Exercise Science. This major provides an indirect pathway into the Master of Physiotherapy by allowing students to complete both core and elective pre-requisite subjects.

“The pathway is quite simple. In your first and second year, you just do the core subjects; in your third year, you have your electives, so there are a couple of different subjects in there you’ll have to select to stay on the physio pathway,” Adam says.  

As well as providing a pathway to postgraduate study, the undergraduate degree equips students with knowledge and skills that are fundamental to a physio career.

Some of the subjects we did, like neuroscience, sports medicine, exercise physiology had a direct carry-over to physio in terms of basic knowledge like physiology.

"We also learnt how to program correctly, how to rehabilitate someone correctly – it allowed us to have a very good baseline knowledge, which has been quite handy,” Adam says.

“The course also really emphasised communication skills, which is very important in physiotherapy in regard to patients and clients.”

Hands on sport and exercise experience

The Sport and Exercise Science course is based at Sydney’s Moore Park, where UTS has facilities in the world-class Rugby Australia building, part of a partnership with Rugby Australia and the Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust.

Here, theoretical learning is supplemented by extensive hands-on practice – at the Moore Park precinct, students have access to high-performance sporting facilities, including 3D analysis rooms, environmental room, resistance training facilities, a rooftop running track, a gym and various labs for sport and exercise skills acquisition and research.

They also study in close proximity to a number of elite-level athletes, which can lead to some truly unique opportunities to translate classroom learning into real-world practice. UTS is frequently approached to assist professional sports teams with research and data collection activities – and when they are, they often call in the students to help.

UTS is approached by many sports organisations. Cricket Australia, Rugby Australia and the Sydney Swans were the three I was involved with during my undergraduate degree.  

“I was primarily involved with gathering data for three-dimensional movement in the biomechanics lab. I assisted in setting up equipment, prepping the athletes and taking the athletes through particular movements, such as bowling for the cricket bowlers, and assessing this movement.

“Overall, the experience was great. It exposed us to real life expectations of an exercise scientist.”

Eyes on the prize

Today, Adam is applying his undergraduate experiences to the UTS Master of Physiotherapy where he’s currently in his last session of study. And, while he was always clear that physio was where he was headed, the undergraduate degree presented him with a range of other career paths, including exercise physiology, high performance sport roles and research.

In fact, he says, the experience of completing a research project with the Sydney Swans as part of his third-year internship subject was so satisfying that he’s now considering enrolling in a PhD within the next few years.

For now, though, he’s set on completing his master’s degree and starting to build a physiotherapy career. And, with two world-class degrees under his belt, he’s ready for the challenges – and opportunities – ahead of him.  

“As a physiotherapist, you have a direct ability to change both physical and psychological outcomes for clients which will influence their health and happiness in the short and long-term,” he says.

“To me, that is extremely rewarding.”

Find out more about studying sport and exercise at UTS