Over the course of my second year, I have undertaken a placement at Pure Gym Plymouth. I have been working with a newly graduated sports therapist and have been shadowing him during his sessions with clients with the aim of gaining an insight into the every-day running of a self-employed Sports Therapist. It was a good experience to have my placement within this organisation as the Pure Gym chain of gyms is among the most popular in the UK, which provided my placement supervisor with a large client base which presented with a variety of injuries. This was beneficial for me as it allowed me to view treatment methods applied to a wide variety of pathologies.
Placement learning is invaluable to degree students as it provides them with an opportunity to learn in a way that you cannot from lectures. It provides hands on experience in an environment which they will be working in once graduated, which is something that only placement learning can provide. Furthermore, it puts the onus on students to organise their own learning, by first of all finding a placement provider which they believe will benefit them, and then organising attending this placement from therefore on in order to reach the guidelines set by their university. Marjon University have found that students who undertake a placement in previous years improved their autonomy in various work-place skills such as resourcefulness, self-management, problem solving, communication and teamwork. A study was conducted by D. Jackson (2015) with similar outcomes; results found that an average score in various work-place skills was increased as a result of work place learning, and indicates a tangible improvement in all employability skills arising from work placement. This is an example of how placement learning can increase graduateness. Graduateness is defined as the effect that having undertaken an undergraduate degree can have on knowledge, skills and attitudes; graudateness has a significant correlation with employability, which is defined as an enhanced capacity to secure employment (Glover et al. 2006). Employers find placement learning very appealing when assessing applicants because not only does it show that the individual has experience in a professional working environment, but also demonstrates an individual’s willingness to further their learning on their own behalf.
Due to my placement being in a gym which belongs to a chain of gyms up and down the UK, it was essential that I obtained the relevant rights to do this placement in a safe and professional manor. The main thing this consisted of was obtaining a disclosure and barring service (DBS). This is a check which employers can run on potential employees to check their recent relevant criminal record, to ensure that they are safe to be working in the environment they have applied for. I already had my initial DBS check, but was still required to update it when starting this placement to ensure it was up to date and I was eligible to undergo my placement with this company. Right away, this gave me a good insight into the further work that goes into running a business and ensuring professional work-place conduct. Following this I also had to discuss whether I would need to obtain any insurance of my own to be working with clients. While we came to the agreement that the insurance provided by Pure Gym themselves would be adequate for the duration of my placement, it led me to research the different types of insurance that are needed to work in this industry and it surprised me to learn of the different types; public liability insurance, personal accident insurance, employers liability insurance etc. When considering becoming self-employed or starting your own business, these are not things you consider and definitely enhanced my knowledge in regards too professional and legal work-place conduct, and the following of procedures. For example, public liability insurance covers the cost of claims made by members of the public for incidents that occur in connection with your business activities (Evans, 2015).
When first arranging my placement, I set out some aims for my placement, with my main placement aim being to gain a better insight into how a self-employed sports therapist goes about their business. Furthermore, my other objectives included gaining hands on experience in the treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal injuries, practicing assessment of musculoskeletal injuries and to learn business skills in relation to the starting, and running of a self-employed business. My success in achieving these objectives have varied. I believe that during my time spent at Pure Gym, I have definitely gained a good insight into how a sports therapist manages their time and clients, and the behind the scenes work that goes into being self-employed. The self-employment rate has trended down over the past two decades, falling from 12.1% to 10.1% (Hipple and Hammond, 2016). While there has been an increase in self-employed businesses starting, very few can remain consistent in their field due to the very competitive nature of self-employment. From my placement I have identified a few distinct traits that can have a large positive impact on being self-employed and running your own business. The first is being extraverted; extraverted individuals tend to be sociable, thus enabling them to develop social networks more easily, which may result in stronger partnerships with clients. Being extraverted includes being assertive, seeking leadership and developing networks; all traits that develop entrepreneurship. Individuals who score highly on extraversion have a higher probability of becoming self-employed and surviving in their industry (Caliendo et al. 2014). My placement supervisor would be considered an introvert as he is quite quiet and was not the most sociable. While he was extremely knowledgeable in his field, I believe that being an introvert hinders him and it is something that I would definitely look to enhance in myself in order to be as successful as possible. Another trait that I recognized as being invaluable when being self-employed was a willingness and ability to adapt. In the field of Sports Therapy, new research and studies are constantly being released, presenting new knowledge and ideas. When running your own business, it is important to keep reading around your topic area to ensure you are offering the most up to date and accurate information and treatment protocols as possible. This was definitely something that my supervisor did very well and it was evident with his knowledge base that he was discussing with clients. Furthermore, on a wider scale, the ability to adapt can also be applied in situations such as the recent Corona Virus Pandemic. When this was first brought up in the news, my supervisor thought ahead and began to devise plans to set at home rehab sessions over the internet, so that he was still able to maximise his workload even during a difficult time. This highlighted to me the importance of being willing and able to adapt to new or different situations.
While I was able to gain a better understanding into the running and management of a self-employed business, I unfortunately did not achieve my goals of gaining hands on experience in the treatment, or the practicing the assessment of musculoskeletal injuries. Due to the nature of the placement, it was largely rehabilitation of injuries rather than acute or sub-acute injury management. Furthermore, due to insurance purposes me and my supervisor came to the agreement that when observing sports massages’ I would purely observe and not get hands on experience. This is something that I would change when doing my next placement, by obtaining the appropriate insurance which would allow me to practice and enhance my practical skills in a professional environment. Furthermore, I would look at undertaking my placement somewhere which deals with acute and sub-acute injuries which would provide me with the ability to practice these skills.
My placement experience at Pure Gym Plymouth was one that while it offered me a great experience to work in a professional environment, it did not come without its challenges. One of the main positives was the injuries that were presented to me from the clients were not all familiar to me which allowed me to expand my knowledge base. For example, one client came for rehab following being diagnosed with a patellar tendinopathy. Patellar tendinopathy is a clinical diagnosis of pain and dysfunction in the patellar tendon, affects health and quality of life by limiting sports and activity participation for recreational athletes and can be career-ending for professional athletes (Rudavsky and Cook, 2014). The cause of this was from the client completing an intense 6-week squat programme, and then not allowing himself a de-loading period before beginning a new squat-based training programme. This caused the tendon to deteriorate, limiting functionality and causing pain for the client. The first session I saw the client was towards the start of his rehab, and at this stage the main aim of the sessions were to focus on the eccentric phases of movements, and maximising energy absorption by the tendon with the aim that the client would eventually be able to perform the full movement with no pain. This largely consisted of plyometrics based exercises such as single leg wall sits, single leg squats and box jumps. This was a particularly good rehab programme to shadow as the client was a personal trainer, meaning they already understood the fundamental practice behind all the exercises, which enabled me and my supervisor to prescribe more advanced exercises to optimise recovery time for the client. Over the duration of his rehab, the sessions moved on to focusing on the concentric phase of movement, the whole movement and then strengthening of the lower limb. This was a very good rehab programme to follow as I followed it from the start and was able to see the various stages of treatment and how it progressed.
While clients such as the one previously mentioned was very beneficial to me, unfortunately not all the experience was quite as beneficial. One key downfall that arose from this placement was the supervisor’s small client base. While a small client base allowed me to obtain a more in-depth knowledge in each particular case, it did not provide me with the wide scope of injuries I was expecting. Furthermore, it meant I was seeing the same few clients repeatedly which limited the amount I could learn in each session, as I already understood the issue and how the treatment was planned to go. For example, over the course of my placement I seen the same client numerous times who came in purely to relieve general tightness in the lower limb. Through discussion with the client, it arose he also used to be a sport therapist and this led to an interesting conversation with the client, my supervisor and I regarding the industry and running your own business within it. However, after seeing the same client numerous times for a treatment that was not specific to any injury or pathology, meant that it was very hard for me to learn from the experience. Learning from this, when next obtaining a placement I would do further research into the individual/company before hand and see if the client base they treat would offer me a wide enough variety to expand my knowledge base to the extent that I desire. Another downfall of the experience was my supervisors’ ability to make the sessions interactive for myself. As previously mentioned, my supervisor for the placement was an introvert, meaning he was not particularly talkative. This meant that I often found myself having to ask a lot of questions in order to gather information regarding what was going on. While this was not overly an issue, this combined with the lack of practical application often made it hard for me to take much away from the sessions, as well as keeping focused and remaining interactive with the session. When looking at future placements I would try find somewhere where my supervisor would be able to confidently and consistently relay information over to me.
Reflecting upon my placement as a whole, the experience provided me with great knowledge surrounding the anatomy and rehabilitation of sports injuries, as well as enhancing my knowledge in the practical application of sports massage and taping. Furthermore, through discussions with both my supervisor and various clients, I also gained a good insight into the starting of, and maintenance of a self-employed sports therapy business, in relation to legal measures, work-place conduct, client management etc. From this placement I have finished still with the aim of starting my own sports therapy business in the future, but have a better, and more realistic understanding of how to do so. The importance of networking and getting my name into the industry was evident, so I will ensure to contact numerous businesses within the field regarding potential networking opportunities in the future. Also, in my final year of study I will ensure to stay in regular contact with my tutors and other key staff to maintain a high quality of work, with the aim of graduating with the highest grade of degree I possibly can. Placement learning has definitely had a big impact on my graduateness, not only expanding my knowledge base but more so positively impacting my attitude towards work in general. I have come away from my placement with a determination to achieve the best grade I possibly can which subsequently will give me the best employability following my graduation. Overall, despite challenges, I have benefited massively from undertaking a placement, improving my knowledge, understanding and determination in my degree. I would recommend a placement to anyone looking to push themselves and further their learning.
References:
Caliendo, M., Fossen, F., & Kritikos, A. S. (2014). Personality characteristics and the decisions to become and stay self-employed. Small Business Economics, 42(4), 787-814.
Evans, H., 2015. Public Liability Insurance ABI. [online] Abi.org.uk. Available at: <https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/business-insurance/liability-insurance/public-liability-insurance/>.
Glover, D., Law, S. and Youngman, A., 2002. Graduateness and Employability: student perceptions of the personal outcomes of university education. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 7(3), pp.293-306.
Hipple, S. F., & Hammond, L. A. (2016). BLS spotlight on statistics: Self-employment in the United States.
Jackson, D. (2015). Employability skill development in work-integrated learning: Barriers and best practice. Studies in Higher Education, 40(2), 350-367.
Rudavsky, A., & Cook, J. (2014). Physiotherapy management of patellar tendinopathy (jumper’s knee). Journal of physiotherapy, 60(3), 122-129.