What are the different areas of expertise of a physiotherapist?
Masseur-kinésithérapeutes (physiotherapists) are health professionals, graduated at a State level by the Ministry of Health. They exercise their profession and provide care on medical prescription, but also exercise through acts of prevention and health education. The purpose of their practices may be to prevent the alteration of functional abilities, to restore them, to maintain them, but also to supplement them. They practice in many fields such as pediatrics, traumatology, rheumatology, neurology but also in the field of sports, well-being…
As a result, physiotherapists are specialists in movement disorders. Their aim is essentially centered on "gesturality" (the semiotics of movement). They act on the structure, the function, the system, and facilitate the psycho-social integration of the individual. They intervene through a specific therapeutic arsenal including massage, joint mobilizations, muscle strengthening, sensorimotor rehabilitation, re-adaptation and rehabilitation to effort…
The profession of physiotherapist calls for great intellectual, technical and relational qualities. The physiotherapist is in this sense, a real engineer capable of issuing a specific diagnosis. From then on, they direct their decision-making for a specific and personalized physiotherapeutic intervention taking into account the global dimension of the patient.
Their skills evolve according to the progress of science and technology and their activity is constantly developing. They are authorized to prescribe certain medical devices within the scope of their skillset.
At present, more than 98,000 physiotherapists practice in France, 86% of whom are self-employed. Professional demography shows a very slight female dominance (49% men and 51% women) with an average age of about 42 years. The demographic distribution is very variable, the professional density varying from 1 to 2.5 depending on the territory (Ordre des Masseurs-Kinésithérapeutes, 2021).
