💡 Why it matters: Many more people now survive strokes, accidents and long illnesses, and physiotherapy helps them recover and live well.
🌍 Around the world
- Nigeria: More Nigerians now survive strokes, accidents and long illnesses and need physiotherapy to recover.
- United States: Jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦2M – ₦4.5M
- Mid-career
- ₦4.5M – ₦10M
- Senior
- ₦10M – ₦22M
≈ ₦375k – ₦833k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇺🇸 United States
Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Check how a patient moves and where it hurts
- Plan exercises and treatment
- Use massage, heat and movement to ease pain
- Help stroke and accident patients walk again
- Train athletes to recover from injury
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Empathy
- Anatomy knowledge
- Communication
- Patience
- Physical fitness
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Postgraduate sports physiotherapy training
- Rehabilitation assistant courses
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Physiotherapist degree apprenticeship (level 6) working for an NHS or private employer
- Start as a physiotherapy assistant, then study for the degree
🇺🇸 United States
- Work as a physical therapist assistant first (2-year associate degree)
- Residency or fellowship to specialise
🇨🇦 Canada
- Work as a physiotherapy assistant while you study
- Some provinces call the job 'physiotherapist' and others 'physical therapist'
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Study Biology and Physics in school
- 2Take a physiotherapy degree (usually 3 to 5 years)
- 3Complete supervised clinical practice or an internship
- 4Register with your country's professional body or licensing board
- 5Work in a hospital, sports club or private clinic
⏰ A day in the life
A man who had a stroke comes in and you guide him as he practises walking. Then you treat a footballer's sore knee, show a student exercises for back pain and update each patient's progress notes.