Lia Smagin

One of the best things I like in physiotherapy is that wherever you will go, you can always work as a physiotherapist

‘I chose physiotherapy because I have always been interested in human body and health. To me it felt natural to start studying movement and ways to improve or get back to our natural ways of moving. Currently I’m in my second year. Studying requires interest in the topic physiotherapy, because we do have a lot of self-study hours. Teachers, as well as fellow students are always helping and often we study together in groups. This makes the difficult tasks more easy.

Fontys is an interesting school offering students plenty of freedom and space for creativity. We have the opportunity to hear opinions from students from all corners of the world, which
makes conversations very exciting and opens eyes to new ideas. Studying here has been amazing, I had very little knowledge about the city, school, and people in the Netherlands. I came with curious and open mind and have experienced a lot in the past two years. I have been offered support from schools side as well as from older students who help to integrate into the student life here.

In the summer of 2013 I am doing my third internship, I will travel back to Helsinki and work in sports physiotherapy practice. Here I will be experience working with athletes, which is new for me. I did the previous internships with elderly people and enjoyed it a lot. After graduating from the school, I would like to travel and experience working in different cultures. I think we can learn a lot from different approaches that are used in working with people across the world. One of the best things I like in physiotherapy is that where ever you will go, you can always work as a physiotherapist.’

Lia Smagin