Career Overlap Transition record
RecordMove

Physiotherapist to orthoptist

A physiotherapist already meets 56% of what the orthoptist role asks for. The move turns on 27 required skills not yet in the profile.

Fig. 1 · Skill transfer ESCO v1.2.1 · directional
From physiotherapist
56 % overlap
Partial match
To orthoptist
38 You already bring
27 Still to learn
70 Skills in the target role2
Learning distance Substantial retraining

63.3/ 100

1 How much of what an orthoptist is expected to do is already part of a physiotherapist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the orthoptist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.

Why

Why this move works

An orthoptist role treats 36 of its required skills as things a physiotherapist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.

  • accept own accountability
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • advise on healthcare users' informed consent
  • apply context specific clinical competences
  • apply organisational techniques
  • communicate in healthcare

What stands in the way is 27 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 38 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. An orthoptist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a physiotherapist background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • already held neurology health and welfare
  • already held record healthcare users' progress related to treatment information skills
  • already held paediatrics health and welfare
  • already held provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health management skills
  • already held medical informatics health and welfare
  • already held educate on the prevention of illness communication, collaboration and creativity

All 38 carried skills, including the 36 the orthoptist role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you may need to learn

The 32 missing skills fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.

Skill to pick up Tier
01 health and welfare 10 required
  • still to learn contact lens fitting techniques required
  • still to learn neuro-ophthalmology required
  • still to learn ophthalmological examination methods required
  • still to learn orthoptics required
  • still to learn treatment of strabismus required
  • still to learn types of strabismus required
  • still to learn anaesthetics required
  • still to learn professional documentation in health care required
  • still to learn neurophysiology required
  • still to learn pathology required
02 assisting and caring 6 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn carry out orthoptic treatments required
  • still to learn receive patient referrals with eye conditions required
  • still to learn supervise orthoptic treatments required
  • still to learn perform vision rehabilitation required
  • still to learn provide therapy of the visual system required
  • still to learn test visual acuity required
  • optional, not held prescribe corrective lenses optional
03 information skills 4 required, 1 supplementary
  • still to learn conduct specialised orthoptic tests required
  • still to learn determine eye disease progression required
  • still to learn diagnose problems of the visual system required
  • still to learn undertake healthcare examination required
  • optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
04 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required
  • still to learn advise patients on vision improvement conditions required
  • still to learn promote ocular health required
05 arts and humanities 1 required
  • still to learn health care occupation-specific ethics required
06 business, administration and law 1 required
  • still to learn health care legislation required

5 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries an orthoptist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 38 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • already held accept own accountability skill
  • already held adhere to organisational guidelines skill
  • already held advise on healthcare users' informed consent skill
  • already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
  • already held apply organisational techniques skill
  • already held communicate in healthcare skill
  • already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
  • already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
  • already held contribute to continuity of health care skill
  • already held deal with emergency care situations skill
  • already held develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
  • already held educate on the prevention of illness skill
  • already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
  • already held ensure safety of healthcare users skill
  • already held first aid knowledge
  • already held follow clinical guidelines skill
  • already held human anatomy knowledge
  • already held human physiology knowledge
  • already held inform policy makers on health-related challenges skill
  • already held interact with healthcare users skill
  • already held listen actively skill
  • already held manage healthcare users' data skill
  • already held medical informatics knowledge
  • already held medical terminology knowledge
  • already held neurology knowledge
  • already held paediatrics knowledge
  • already held pharmacology knowledge
  • already held promote inclusion skill
  • already held provide health education skill
  • already held provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health skill
  • already held psychology knowledge
  • already held record healthcare users' progress related to treatment skill
  • already held respond to changing situations in health care skill
  • already held use e-health and mobile health technologies skill
  • already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
  • already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
  • already held use foreign languages for health-related research skill
  • already held use foreign languages in patient care skill
The 5 learning areas not shown above
Skill to pick up Tier
07 natural sciences, mathematics and statistics 1 required
  • still to learn optics required
08 services 1 required
  • still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
09 social sciences, journalism and information 1 required
  • still to learn paediatric psychology required
10 handling and moving 2 supplementary
  • optional, not held select intraocular lenses for surgery optional
  • optional, not held participate in medical inventory control optional
11 education 1 supplementary
  • optional, not held pedagogy optional
5 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to pick up Tier
  • optional, not held select intraocular lenses for surgery optional
  • optional, not held prescribe corrective lenses optional
  • optional, not held participate in medical inventory control optional
  • optional, not held pedagogy optional
  • optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
60 held skills the orthoptist role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role adhere to health well-being and safety skill
  • not needed by the target role adjust physiotherapy interventions skill
  • not needed by the target role advocate health skill
  • not needed by the target role analyse personal fitness information skill
  • not needed by the target role apply acupuncture skill
  • not needed by the target role apply massage therapy skill
  • not needed by the target role assess physical conditions of clients skill
  • not needed by the target role biomechanics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role collect healthcare user's general data skill
  • not needed by the target role conduct health related research skill
  • not needed by the target role conduct physiotherapy assessment skill
  • not needed by the target role contribute to quality physiotherapy services skill
  • not needed by the target role contribute to the rehabilitation process skill
  • not needed by the target role correct potentially harmful movements skill
  • not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
  • not needed by the target role develop physiotherapy services skill
  • not needed by the target role develop plans related to client discharge skill
  • not needed by the target role develop plans related to the transfer of care skill
  • not needed by the target role develop strategic plans for physiotherapy services skill
  • not needed by the target role develop therapeutic relationships skill
  • not needed by the target role emergency surgery knowledge
  • not needed by the target role employ cognitive behaviour treatment techniques skill
  • not needed by the target role engage in physiotherapy research skill
  • not needed by the target role formulate a treatment plan skill
  • not needed by the target role general medicine knowledge
  • not needed by the target role geriatrics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role hydrotherapy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role intensive care medicine knowledge
  • not needed by the target role interpret medical results skill
  • not needed by the target role kinetics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain physiotherapy equipment skill
  • not needed by the target role manage a healthcare unit budget skill
  • not needed by the target role manage clinical risk skill
  • not needed by the target role manage healthcare staff knowledge
  • not needed by the target role manage physiotherapy staff skill
  • not needed by the target role measure effectiveness of the service provided skill
  • not needed by the target role obstetrics and gynaecology knowledge
  • not needed by the target role orthopaedic manual physiotherapy knowledge
  • not needed by the target role orthopaedics knowledge
  • not needed by the target role physics knowledge

20 further entries not listed here

16 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to pick up Tier
  • still to learn contact lens fitting techniques required
  • still to learn neuro-ophthalmology required
  • still to learn ophthalmological examination methods required
  • still to learn orthoptics required
  • still to learn treatment of strabismus required
  • still to learn types of strabismus required
  • still to learn anaesthetics required
  • still to learn paediatric psychology required
  • still to learn professional documentation in health care required
  • still to learn health care legislation required
  • still to learn health care occupation-specific ethics required
  • still to learn hygiene in a health care setting required
  • still to learn neurophysiology required
  • still to learn optics required
  • still to learn pathology required
  • optional, not held pedagogy optional
Index

Other moves recorded from physiotherapist

Full index of moves from physiotherapist

FAQ

Common questions about this move

Can a physiotherapist become an orthoptist?

Yes, and it is a substantial move. A physiotherapist already covers 56% of what an orthoptist is expected to do: 38 skills carry over, 36 of which the orthoptist role treats as required.

What skills does a physiotherapist need to become an orthoptist?

27 required skills are missing, plus 5 optional ones. They fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by health and welfare. The single most important is carry out orthoptic treatments.

How hard is the move from physiotherapist to orthoptist?

Its learning distance is 63.3 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.