Kristy Botting may have attended school on the Sunshine Coast but travelling with her father to inland Indigenous communities has helped shape her career aspirations.

Now in her first year of tertiary study at CQUniversity Rockhampton, Kristy has enrolled in Physiotherapy and initially planned to make this a stepping stone to a medical degree.

Kristy Botting in Physiotherapy class

"I'm enjoying Physiotherapy so much that I might continue in this career path now," she says.

Kristy gained a glimpse into the lives of Aboriginal people as her father worked in various Indigenous communities in western Queensland.

"I've seen first-hand the gap in health services out west so I am keen to help in these communities once I start my professional career," she says.

When not studying, Kristy enjoys volleyball and is on the events committee for the Rockhampton Campus student residences.

The new Bachelor of Physiotherapy program is being delivered via campuses in Rockhampton and Bundaberg.

Physiotheraphy students have the benefit of connections with other Allied Health students through some shared foundation courses with the disciplines of Occupational Therapy, Podiatry and Speech Pathology, alongside physiotherapy-specific courses from day one of the program.

Discipline Lead for Physiotherapy Associate Professor Kenneth Chance-Larsen says Physiotherapy is a popular choice of study, because of the combination of hands-on practical skills, communication and evaluative skills.

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"Our program includes a minimum of 25 weeks on clinical placement, where the students will 'learn on the job' whilst supervised by qualified physiotherapists, and this will take place in a variety of settings and locations," Assoc Prof Chance-Larsen says.

"There is a real and well documented need for physiotherapists in regional, rural and remote Queensland. Local hospitals and private physiotherapy practices can't get enough physiotherapists, and the national workforce data show clearly that people away from the metropolitan areas have vastly inferior access to healthcare, including physiotherapy. Our new program is one little step towards closing the gap!"

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