Sheanil Nemdharry

Please tell us about your current role and employer:

I am a Band Six Physiotherapist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham working in the emergency department with mostly geriatric patients supporting same-day discharges. When I’m not helping with discharge planning, I work on different research projects.

What does a typical day in your current role look like:

I work in a multidisciplinary team comprised of consultants, junior doctors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, clinical nurses and social workers. We are stationed in A&E and a short-term acute medical unit. After the coordinators triage patients, we will examine those over the age of 65 who are frail but have been deemed medically fit for discharge. I’ll conduct examinations by myself unless it’s a particularly complex case when we draw on the expertise across the team. We have also established a new role of triaging which consists of screening for patients for our Frailty Same Day Emergency Care unit where I am mostly involved.

In my free time, I complete research work. Seeing a variety of different patients means that we have a strong database from which to source participants for a variety of projects.

On my days off, I’ll often take shifts in critical care and neurology. As physiotherapists, it is our duty to keeping our clinical skills sharp.

What was the journey to getting a job after graduating from Birmingham?

After graduating, I knew I wanted to remain in Birmingham but, initially found it difficult because there were very few jobs available. However, when I saw a Band Five position advertised at Heartlands Hospital I applied for it immediately. My placements at the University Hospital Trust sites gave me a competitive edge over other candidates.

I started working with geriatric patients before moving to support musculoskeletal injuries. I supported a study exploring how to best avoid readmissions for neck of femur fractures and regularly met with universities and global organisations who approaches us within the University Hospitals Birmingham to ask for support around new studies or designing and developing new modules for students.

I moved to the QE from Heartlands to take up a Band Six role and further develop my research skills.

How do you feel the learning experience on your course helped to prepare you for your career?

I completed my BSc in Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham before enrolling onto the Pre-Registration Physiotherapy master’s degree.

Studying sports science gave me a great foundation for further study. I learnt about nutrition, anatomy and physiology and heard from a wide range of speakers who shared their insights as to careers in different fields.

Birmingham also has excellent resources. The lecturers are world class, and we had great equipment that we could use. I decided for both my undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation to complete lab-based research projects so that I could make the most of the equipment with hopes of publications. During my undergraduate degree, I studied brain stimulation, recruiting participants and running projects myself. During my master’s degree I again focused on brain stimulation and managed to publish our study.

My master’s programme also helped me to gain real-life experience in clinical and non-clinical settings. I completed seven placements during my degree. Some included a nursing placement to get a feel of the NHS, oncology and haematology at the QE, MSK at City Hospital, geriatrics at Good Hope Hospital and elective spinal surgeries at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

I also completed some unusual placements during my studies including one at the Children’s Hospital. A non-clinical but essential leadership placement at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital gave me a good understanding of hospital services where I worked with others to design a student forum for Physiotherapy students similarly to nursing, which still effectively runs today.

Why did you decide to work in a clinical healthcare setting rather than a sports club?

If you choose to work in high performance sports, you should expect patients who want to achieve quick results, push themselves very hard and run the risk of repeated injuries. It’s also a very competitive field and, as an international student, I felt I had more job security in the NHS where I have benefited from working in a variety of fields learning from senior experienced staff members. I’ve also been able to keep up with my research skills which will strengthen my application if I ever apply for my PhD.

What was your biggest achievement during your course (personal, professional or academic)?

I studied as an international student and culturally the UK is very different but thankfully very welcoming. My home country, Mauritius, is a small island and it was initially a shock to be in a large city around multiple cultures, a new climate and a new way of living. At the start of my studies, I found the language barrier difficult as my oral English skills weren’t too good – I spent a lot of time translating my notes from French.

However, I knew I wanted to study in Birmingham as the University has such an excellent reputation for Physiotherapy. Although I didn’t have the right A-Levels to do the BSc course, I knew if I studied Sports and Exercise Sciences, I’d be in a strong position to apply for a master’s degree. My biggest achievement was definitely completing both my undergraduate and postgraduate programme whilst being able to manage a part time university job and playing sports at the University.

How did the University's support service (e.g. Careers Network) help to prepare you for your career?

Students don’t use Careers Network enough and I didn’t either! It’s a fantastic service and the staff will see you up to two years after your graduation.

I did, however, use WorkLink, an on-campus service that helps you find parttime work at the University. During the summer months, I cleaned the student accommodations which was a nice way of making friends and meeting other students from different courses. In 2019, I applied for a Site Assistant role and spent time preparing the student accommodation, doing some maintenance and working with Estates. I worked most weekends from 7am – 3pm. I had my expenses paid, could study when it wasn’t too busy and made a lot of friends with the staff and students.

What are your top tips for students graduating today?

Although university can be challenging, the number of opportunities available for students studying at Birmingham is fantastic. Firstly, you’re in a great city that often has a lot of events for which you can volunteer and further develop your skills.

You also have great tutors who are there to support you. I would recommend meeting with them regularly – staff often have excellent industry connections.

If you’re a Sports Scientist who is thinking about becoming a Physiotherapist, don’t be afraid to make the transition! If you have a background in sports science, you’ll have a solid understanding of anatomy which will serve you well for a future in physiotherapy. I’d recommend reaching out to Move Well, a physiotherapy clinic on campus, which can help you get real life experience.