Bachelor of Exercise Science / Master of Physiotherapy and Exercise Physiology

This five-year program provides unmatched hands-on learning opportunities with scope to learn, explore and develop as a healthcare professional. Your hands-on training starts in year one, giving you time to build confidence in your ability to practice by applying what you learn to real-world scenarios. When you graduate, you’ll be highly skilled, adaptable and well-prepared for a wide spectrum of healthcare settings.

This structure allows for a broad range of clinical placements including musculoskeletal (e.g., sports injuries), hospital-based (e.g., cardiorespiratory and intensive care), rehabilitation (e.g., neurological and orthopaedic) and more specialised categories (e.g., paediatrics, women’s health, men’s health). This breadth of practical training across a range of clinical environments will ensure you become a well-rounded, competent practitioner. This broad experience also gives you the opportunity to try out different areas to discover what you're interested in and what career path you'd like to pursue. 

• We offer 1400 hours of physiotherapy placements across the five years. 
• We offer 140 hours of exercise science placements and 360 hours of exercise physiology placements throughout your degree.
• Regional, rural and international placements may be undertaken in your fifth year. 

Best practice healthcare requires a high degree of collaboration among professionals from different disciplines. This degree has an embedded professional practice stream, where you’ll learn alongside students from our dietetics and food innovation, clinical exercise physiology and pharmacy programs. Our professional practice stream includes seven courses, which will teach you critical interprofessional skills in:

• professionalism and communication
• teamwork and collaboration
• evidence-based and value-based healthcare
• ethics and law
• leadership and business management skills
• innovation and entrepreneurship
• advocacy
• investigation and creative problem-solving

We have connections with some of Australia’s best hospitals, private practices and health organisations. You'll have contact with industry professionals throughout your degree, giving you the opportunity to grow your professional network while you study and gain a head start in your career.

Our staff have extensive industry experience with many still actively working in the sector. This means our teaching is informed by the latest industry trends and developments. You’ll also benefit from UNSW’s numerous sporting partnerships with high profile clubs including the Sydney Swans, NSW Waratahs and Sydney FC.

As one of the world's top medical schools*, we're creating the health leaders of tomorrow. Our diverse community of students, educators, clinicians and researchers are working together to tackle the world's most pressing health challenges. 

Our internationally recognised research centres and institutes are translating ground-breaking research into cures, treatment strategies and therapies. This degree offers research opportunities to develop your investigative skills and provide a pathway if you want to pursue a career in research. You’ll gain a strong understanding of research methods and the application of research to practice. You’ll learn how to apply the principles of evidence-based practice and value-based care to inform your clinical decisions.

^{*Ranked 54th globally according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024}

The combination of three complementary disciplines enhances and diversifies your career prospects. You'll be able to care for healthy as well as chronic disease populations across three areas of practice.

For the client, this leads to improved continuity of care. As the practitioner, you'll benefit from being able to provide multiple services, generate an extended income stream and have more time to build rapport with your clients. For example, a client may present to a physiotherapist with an injury that requires diagnosis and treatment. Following this initial treatment, the client may then work with an exercise physiologist to continue their ongoing rehabilitation. Exercise physiologists develop exercise prescriptions that may then be delivered by an exercise scientist. This example demonstrates how your breadth of skills will enable you to care for clients across all phases of the injury cycle, rather than referring to another practitioner.

This unique degree provides you with the breadth of knowledge, skills and experience that employers are looking for.

Significant industry consultation was undertaken to ensure our programs align with industry needs, both in contemporary and future practice. This degree has a strong focus on evidence-based and reflective practice, interprofessional education and healthcare ethics. It also supports the development of high-level clinical reasoning and professional communication skills. 

The professional practice stream supports the development of management and entrepreneurial skills, which provides a pathway to leadership positions in health. These skills build resilience and provide you with career security as you'll be able to draw upon your interdisciplinary skills to adapt to changes in the industry. 

We're building a community of effective and empathetic healthcare practitioners. Our professional practice stream provides training in mental health, cultural safety and advocacy to ensure you can provide all people with the care they need.

UNSW Medicine & Health offers a diverse range of facilities across our Kensington campus, rural and metropolitan teaching hospitals and our world-class research centres and institutes. You’ll be learning in our exercise physiology laboratories and purpose-built research spaces. Once complete, our transformed Village Green will provide a brand-new world-class sport and leisure environment.

The UNSW Health Translation Hub (UNSW HTH), which will soon form part of the wider Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct, reflects our commitment to transforming healthcare. The UNSW HTH will integrate health education, training and research with healthcare services to drive improvements in patient care and health outcomes. Through the UNSW HTH, you’ll have opportunities to work in interprofessional clinics and pursue research interests.

Our UNSW Lifestyle Clinic brings together some of Australia’s most innovative teams of healthcare professionals and researchers. The Clinic provides a practical learning environment where you can gain hands-on training, complete clinical placements and engage with the community.