Challenges you may face studying physio as a female Muslim and solutions
Hi everyone my name is Masud.
Hope you are well.
In todays video I will attempt to answer what challenges you might face studying physio as someone who is from Islamic culture particularly a lady.
Just off the back of my recent community post, we didn’t get many responses (none actually) I thought it would be good to make a video instead.
I’d like to bring more attention to minority communities within the physio world and hopefully this will empower more students from similar backgrounds to go into the profession.
When I studied we didn’t have any female Muslim students however there were one or two in the years below as I went through the course. I’m not sure if this has improved nowadays within the physio programmes.
I think that when you think of physio it’s quite a taboo profession as it involves a lot of touching and within Islam this is prohibited depending on how strict you practice however i believe if your intention is to help I think that is the most important thing.
Some reasons why you may choose AGAINST studying physio as a Muslim female.
Undressing in front of classmates/colleagues
Working with members of the opposite sex
Handling of limbs during uni and whilst on placement.
Solutions FOR studying physio as a Muslim student:
Screens and towels to protect dignity
Working with female partners during practicals
Wearing gloves during practice // you can’t really escape handling limbs as this is what we do in physio as atleast whilst you’re training to qualify you may have to be slightly hands on.
Working with your personal tutor and educators to tailor placements like doing a women’s health speciality for one of them.
As a Muslim physio who wears a hijab there are specialist roles you can work in when you qualify like:
Women’s health where you may work with pregnant women pre or post pregnancy.
Paediatric care.
Elderly care.
Ultimately, I think that you shouldn’t put off studying physio if you are a female Muslim as it can be very rewarding and more fun than something like medicine (which also involves a lot of touching ironically but doesn’t carry the same stigma).
Links to an article on a female physio based in Canada: https://www.primephysioplus.com/what-...
Forum link to female Muslim physio student posing the question: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/show...
Hope this video helped you :)
Thanks for watching!
