Awareness and Knowledge of Physiotherapy as a career option among junior college students – A survey study

Background with need: Physiotherapy is a dynamic profession that employs a variety of treatment modalities to restore movement and function in the body. The provision of physiotherapy services is included in situations where aging, injury, or disease make movement and function dangerous. The focus of physiotherapy is on an individual's social, emotional, physical, and mental health. In addition to treating a variety of bone and joint conditions, the goal of treatment is to maximize mobility and functional abilities However; many junior college students are still unaware of its career potential. Limited guidance, a lack of exposure, and misconceptions often cause students to overlook field. It’s important to understand their level of awareness and knowledge. This understanding can help promote physiotherapy as career choice and encourage informed decision-making among young learners interested in this profession. Objective: To find the awareness and knowledge of physiotherapy as a career option among junior college students by using Physiotherapy Awareness Questionnaire. To aware the students considering physiotherapy as a career option with help of Physiotherapy Awareness Questionnaire. Methodology: Convenience sampling was used to choose 380 junior college students based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The self-administered questionnaire was used as an outcome measure and data is analyzed and briefly explained with the help of charts and graphs. Result: The result study revealed that 85% of students are aware of physiotherapy and 41% students say physiotherapy as good profession. The Percentage of Students who considered Physiotherapy as a Career Option in the Medical field was 40.53%. However, 57.89% agreed that Physiotherapy is effective in reducing Pain. Conclusion: The study concluded that there is moderate level of knowledge and awareness in 17years old students (11thstandard) whereas, there is high level of knowledge and awareness in 18years old students(12thstudents) &16years old students has low level of knowledge and awareness of physiotherapy as  career option. This study conclude that there is higher level of awareness in (17years old) students about physiotherapy where There is lack of awareness about in the students of (16 years old) students and also concluded that there is lack of knowledge about physiotherapy, they main source of knowing physiotherapy is Internet and by friends /family. There is positive response for the students, who are interested in pursuing the physiotherapy as a career option.