1. Considering a career in Osteopathy?
Date
Your name and post nominals
Professional title
Your practice name
Introduce yourself, including:
- Your name
That you are a practicing osteopath / how long you have been in practice
The name of your practice and where it is located / a bit about other therapists working at the practice or specialist interests / your current working patterns / what you love about being an osteopath (keep it short – 1 min max)
“I have been asked to talk to you today about studying to become an osteopath.”

2. What is osteopathic practice?
Osteopathic practice is a safe and effective therapy that promotes the health of the people we care for through:
Manual therapy
Health advice and promotion
Rehabilitation exercises
There is a focus on the individual needs of the patient.
“Osteopathic healthcare focuses on promoting health in those we care for, not just the treatment of disease. Osteopaths take into account the individual needs and goals of those they care for and tailor any interventions to those needs.”
‘Manual therapy’ - including joint manipulation, joint articulation and soft tissue techniques such as massage.
‘Health promotion’ – such as the importance of physical activity, weight management and breathing/relaxation techniques.

3. Osteopaths are: Highly trained primary health care professionals
Recognised as Allied Health Professionals by NHS England
Able to diagnosis and treat a wide range of health
issues
Work with patients of all ages
Work with and refer onto other healthcare
professionals as required
Experts in the musculoskeletal system and its
relationship to other systems throughout the body
- ‘Primary healthcare practitioners’ means that osteopaths are often the first clinician that a patient sees, even before the GP in many cases.
‘AHP status’ was awarded to osteopathy by NHS England in 2017 meaning that osteopaths are no longer ‘complementary and alternative’ therapists, but now have the same degree of credibility and status as other AHPs, such as paramedics, podiatrists and physiotherapists.
‘Expert in the MSK system’ – throughout the whole body, not just backs!

4. Osteopaths can help with these and much more ...
“Osteopathic care is suitable for people of all ages from babies to the elderly. People from a wide range of backgrounds seek osteopathic treatment, whether elite or recreational sports people, pregnant women, manual workers or office professionals. Patients seek treatment for a variety of conditions, including (but not exclusively) back pain, changes to posture in pregnancy, postural problems caused by driving or work strain, the pain of arthritis and certain kinds of sports injuries.”

5. Osteopathic practice in the UK
“Osteopath” is a protected title
Regulated by law (Osteopaths Act 1993)
5,300+ registered osteopaths and growing
7 million treatments carried out every year
GOsC is the osteopathic Regulator (Similar to GMC for doctors)
ALL osteopaths must be GOsC registered to practise in the UK
GOsC sets, maintains and develops standards of osteopathic practice, conduct and continuing professional development and assures osteopathic education standards remain high
- For the first bullet point say “As ‘osteopath’ is a title protected by law, you cannot call yourself an osteopath without degree level training and without being registered with the GOsC.”
- “Since 1993, when osteopathic practice underwent statutory regulation, the demand for and popularity of osteopathy has been steadily increasing. Today an estimated 30,000 people consult an osteopath every working day.”

6. What can be expected from an osteopathic career*?
Osteopathy is the second career for over half of the profession
Most of these come from general business or other qualified healthcare profession, and manual therapist.
Average working week
30 hours per week
Clinical practice 4 days per week
Where you work
60% work in 1 practice
40% in 2 or more
Types of clinic
56% osteopathic
42% multidisciplinary
2% NHS
Role
32% sole practitioner
35% principals
27% associates
“One of the great things about being an osteopath is that it is a very flexible career. Most osteopaths are self-employed. As such you can work as many or as few hours as you want in a variety of settings (though this will obviously effect how many patients you can see per week).”
*Figures supplied from 2017 iO census

7. What can be expected from an osteopathic career*?
Salary
More than 9 in 10 work on a self-employed basis
Average annual income of £46,500
£34,700 for associates/£71,000 for principals
10% are earning £100k+
Fees (average)
Initial consultation fee is circa £50
£43 for subsequent sessions.
- Ask audience “So how much would you think you would earn as an osteopath?” before revealing the answer.
- Explain how the associate / principal arrangement works
*Figures supplied from 2014 and 2017 iO census

8. What can be expected from an osteopathic career*?
Career Progression
Flexible portfolio career
Proactive approach to career development
Less restrictive approach to career development
Motivated more by self-fulfilment and work/life balance
Explain “a ‘portfolio career’ is one where you build a portfolio of different positions rather than work for any one employer. For example, you might work one day per week for yourself, three days as an associate for another practice and teach in one of the colleges for half a day.” This gives flexibility and variety.
“It does mean that if you want to progress your career, you will need to proactively seek opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to you.”
“The flexibility means that osteopathic practice works very well for people that want to fit in a career around other priorities such as bringing up children or hobbies.”
“The type of person who studies to become an osteopath is motivated more by self-fulfilment and work/life balance rather than financial reward (but the salary is very competitive too!)”

9. New Graduate
Business development
Advancing Clinical Practise
Education and Academia
Research
Regulation (GOsC)
Professional body (iO)
NHS
Work outside of osteopathy/ other non-clinical
Career pathways
“This diagram demonstrates some of the career development pathways that would be open to you should you decide to pursue them.”
Post graduation options are not limited to single pathways - there is a variety of both clinical and non-clinical options available to pursue

10. Degree entry requirements
5 GCSEs grade A-C including English, Maths & a science
Applications to full-time courses are via UCAS
Typical entry requirements are BBC/BBB although some providers accept less.
One or two science subjects are required, depending on the provider.
Some specify Biology grade B at A2
Mature students with life/work experience may be exempted these qualification requirements.

11. Key skills required Interest in people and how the body works
Ability to work by themselves and think independently
Also able to work with others, and follow rules
A scientific, enquiring mind
Curiosity and creativity
Maturity
Independence and individuality
Integrity, and the ability to take responsibility
At the point of graduation, osteopaths will be autonomous practitioners committed to lifelong learning.

12. Degree types
Bachelor degrees and undergraduate integrated Masters degrees available to school leavers
Full and part-time degrees are available
MOst degrees are 4 years full-time and or 6 years part-time.
BOst degrees are 3½ or 4 years full-time and years part-time.
In addition to class based teaching, all students undertake a minimum of 1000 hours clinical training at the provider’s outpatient clinic.

13. Where to study University College of Osteopathy College of Osteopaths
London
College of Osteopaths
Stoke and London
European School of Osteopathy
Kent
Surrey
London School of Osteopathy
London College of Osteopathic Medicine
Marjon University
Plymouth
Swansea University
Courses are accredited by the GOsC (regulator), QAA assessed and validated by a University Tuition fees are commensurate with other undergraduate degrees. Applicable for Student Finance to help with fees and living costs for eligible candidates
“There are 9 colleges that you can train at to become an osteopath, each with a slightly different focuses. In alphabetical order these are…”
- The ‘British College of Osteopathic Medicine’ is the new name for the ‘British School of Osteopathy’.

14. Useful contacts The Institute of Osteopathy
The professional association Tel: +44 (0)
The General Osteopathic Council
The register and regulator
Tel: +44 (0)
Follow us:
Follow us:
@instosteopathy
@instituteofosteopathy
@gosc_uk
@goscnews