David Ikeije

A Day in my Life

My typical day involves attending multidisciplinary team meetings with medical, physical performance, coaching, and technical staff to discuss our plans for the week. I work closely with the physical performance team to implement injury prevention and rehabilitation programs to ensure players stay on the pitch or return from injury safely and on time. I also run an injured players’ clinic, where I apply various rehabilitation techniques, including manual therapy, electrotherapy, exercise therapy, massage therapy, and return-to-play testing.

On match days, whether at home or away, I provide physiotherapy cover for our under-21s, and I also assist with younger age groups if necessary. I’ve also had the opportunity to provide pitch-side medical care during national and international tours and tournaments, which adds another exciting layer to my role.

My Journey to Aston Villa

After graduating, I applied for the Birmingham City Boys Academy Physiotherapist role (under 9s to 16s). I completed a 6-week placement whilst studying where I was able to demonstrate my competencies and skills. This helped me secure the job as I was already known to the staff members. I underwent an Advanced Trauma Medical Management in Football course training shortly after joining Birmingham City. This qualification allowed me to provide pitch side cover across the academy age groups and also women’s first team.

My Birmingham Experience

The learning experience was very tough initially for me and it took me a while to adapt to the demands of the course. However, I utilised a lot of resources provided within the School and the wider university to help guide me through it. That period helped me develop the resilience and ability needed to keep pushing myself and strive for better throughout my career.

The experience also helped me realise that you cannot get everything right the first time. The key thing is trying to do things better as there’s always scope for further learning and improvement regardless of what level of experience you have.

Birmingham's Impact

The University of Birmingham gave me the tools I needed to excel in my career. The practical sessions, the quality of research and teaching, and the great facilities all helped me gain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed as a physiotherapist. They helped me with:

• CV building - knowing the key things to include and how to structure it.
• Exposure and talks from people within multiple
  industries.
• Regular workshops that helped to highlight key skills and qualifications employees may seek during the application process

My Achievements

I’m proud of my achievements so far, particularly finishing with a distinction in my MSc, and I’m excited to continue growing in my career at Aston Villa. 

Advice for Students 

My top tips are: 

• To seek experiences in a broad range of specialities whilst remaining focused on your chosen career path. If you don't know what your career path is, its okay! You have time to explore multiple areas post graduation.
• Don't be afraid to challenge yourself and apply for roles that you may not feel ready for. People always surprise themselves with how much they know and can do.
• Keep the drive and hunger to keep learning and developing as Physiotherapy is an evolving career.