What They Do
A Physiotherapy Officer enjoys a career both as a primary health care provider and as a Commissioned Officer of the Canadian Forces Medical Service. As a Physiotherapy Officer, you will be responsible for assessing and treating military personnel, and for establishing treatment plans for a variety of orthopaedic, neuro-musculoskeletal and sports physiotherapy conditions. Some members will be treated as inpatients post-surgically, however most of your clientele will be treated on an outpatient basis. After measuring impairments and disability level, your primary treatment objective, based on specific discharge criteria, will be to return CF members as quickly as possible to the functional levels their jobs require. You will also have an important role to play in the education of the CF members in order to avoid aggravation or reoccurrence of injury.
As well as manual therapy and soft-tissue techniques, you will use physical agents such as cold, heat, hydrotherapy, acupuncture and electrotherapy modalities. Your equipment will include conventional tools such as weights, pulleys, exercise apparatus, traction tables, dynamometers, assistive devices, orthopaedic supplies, orthoses and splinting, and sophisticated devices such as isokinetic-isotonic systems, treadmills and other computerized aerobic-fitness equipment.
Many of your patients will present with acute and sub-acute neuro-musculoskeletal conditions arising from injuries sustained in sports or training; however, you will also treat CF members with chronic problems such as neck and low-back pain. You will be involved in worksite assessments and industrial ergonomics to evaluate the potential of tasks and equipment to produce musculoskeletal injuries. You will also be actively involved in injury prevention and health promotion, which will include giving advice, helping people with their exercise programs, and motivating them. This will include back care and sports injury education, pre-deployment education and training when required, and reconditioning programs. You will also be responsible for promoting physiotherapy with other members of the military health care team and contributing to the in-service education program of your Health Care Centre.
Qualification Requirements
Personal Characteristics
The Canadian Forces requires a special kind of professional who is interested in a challenging career: a physically fit individual who is socially adaptable and ready for the unusual and the unexpected. At the same time, he or she must be professionally versatile and capable of leadership in a variety of environments, both in Canada and overseas.
Formal Qualifications
Those wishing to enter this occupation must be a licensed Physiotherapist in Canada or must be enrolled in one of the recognized Physiotherapy Programs at a Canadian University. You must meet Canadian Forces medical standards, and successfully complete a selection process that includes interviews and a wide range of examinations.
To apply for Direct Entry, you must be:
- a graduate of a recognized school of physiotherapy
- licensed in good standing to practice Physiotherapy in a province or territory of Canada
- eligible for membership in the Canadian Physiotherapy Association
Career Development
The Canadian Forces is committed to professional development and as such, Physiotherapists will be periodically sponsored to attend short, specialization courses to broaden their professional knowledge and expertise, and update their clinical skills.
The Canadian Forces Medical Service takes an evidence-based approach to physiotherapy in which best practices and indicators are continuously researched and disseminated through the network provided by the physiotherapy profession. Patients receive high-quality care with early intervention by physiotherapists highly trained in the use of best practices, outcome measures and indicators adapted to a military population. Funding for research projects may be available, and participation in these initiatives is strongly encouraged.
Working Environment
You will work in a physiotherapy clinic located on a base, wing or garrison in the Health Care Centre or the Fitness Centre. Other members of the military health care team, as well as physiotherapy support personnel, such as receptionists and physiotherapy assistants, will closely support your practice with a collaborative approach. You may also have opportunities to interact and collaborate with base fitness staff in order to set up exercise and swimming pool programs. In general, your working conditions will be similar to or better than what you would be likely to encounter in civilian practice.
Appropriate training, environmental clothing and equipment are provided, and Physiotherapy Officers’ health, safety and morale are always closely monitored.
Phase I: Initial Assessment and Basic Officer Training Course
As a Direct Entry candidate, you will go to the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, for the Initial Assessment and the Basic Officer Training Course (BOTC). The Initial Assessment Period will introduce you to life in the CF. The 13 week Basic Officer Training Course (BOTC) will teach the principles of leadership, regulations and customs of the service, basic weapons handling, description of the Geneva Conventions, first aid and other important military skills. BOTC includes a rigorous programme of fitness training and sports, and is followed by second-language training for those who are not bilingual to the required Canadian Forces standard.
Phase II: Occupation Qualifications
Upon successful completion of Phase I, you will be commissioned in the rank Lieutenant (Army and Air Force) or Sub-Lieutenant (Navy), and posted to your first base of employment. During the next 12-18 months you will be given time to consolidate your skills and you will be required to attend formal Physiotherapy Preceptorship Training at one of the larger Physiotherapy sections. This training will provide you with all of the basic administration knowledge and unique professional information that you will require to be fully functional at your first posting.
Also during the early part of your career you will be sent to the Basic Field Health Services School (CFMSS), at CFB Borden, Ontario, for the six-week Basic Medical Services Field Course in preparation for future operational deployments.
