Fulfilling my dream to become an Allied Health Professional
This AHPs Day (14th October) we’re shining a light on becoming an Allied Health Professional (AHP) and what’s it’s like being an Allied Health Apprentice at our Trust.
Hear from our ambitious apprentice, Michele, who is completing a level 6 degree apprenticeship to become a qualified Physiotherapist.
There are many different AHP roles, ranging from physiotherapists and occupational therapists to podiatry and speech therapy. The main route to becoming an AHP is by taking a degree but nowadays for some AHP roles you can train through a funded degree apprenticeship which involves a combination of academic study, placements and paid employment.
Apprenticeships are crucial to career development and a great steppingstone to get you on the ladder to your dream career as Physiotherapy Technician, Michele, shares. She’d dreamt of becoming a Physiotherapist for 20 years but didn’t think that would be possible due to financial reasons and not having A-Levels. That’s until she was offered an apprenticeship with us.
After completing her care certificate and an NVQ level 3, Michele began her current level 6 online course with Coventry University in 2020 which she hopes to complete in May 2024 to become a fully qualified Physiotherapist.
Talking about the support she has received, she says: “I have a very supportive team who have given me opportunities to shadow my colleagues to help with on-off job training and understand not to increase my workload around busy Uni times…My managers over the years have all been very supportive to help me complete this course. I have also been given a whole day out of my normal tasks to increase my knowledge within my team and support me to complete my own independent assessments when I have been ready to do so.
“Berkshire Healthcare have supported me financially with travel, back filling my job with someone and paying for my travel – I do feel very lucky to be part of this trust while completing the apprenticeship.”
If you’re thinking of applying for an apprenticeship with us, Michelle recommends it: “As long as you are passionate about the course you are doing – no matter how hard you find it, you will find a way to complete it. If the opportunity is available to you and you want to do it – you will succeed it. I keep a saying in my head on those harder days – there is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone.”
Find out more about our apprenticeships.
Find out more about becoming an allied health professional