The interaction between clinical educators and students is regarded as the strongest element in developing expertise and in forming students' professional identity in clinical education. Although clinical education has been studied in physiotherapy, the natural interaction between clinical educators and students has remained unanalyzed. The aim of this study was to examine how supervised learning sessions during patient treatment were constructed. The focus was on the forms of interaction between clinical educators and students in natural contexts. By videotaping 12 natural patient treatment sessions, which simultaneously comprised part of the clinical education of physiotherapy students, and by using qualitative discourse analysis, three supervision discourses emerged from the data: "directing the interaction," "making limited room for the student," and "encouraging the student's participation." This study revealed that clinical educators have a dominant role in constructing supervised learning sessions during patient treatment. Depending on how the interaction is constructed, it is possible to support or prevent student participation in decision making as well as to promote or reject the rehearsal of critical thinking or self-directed learning among students. This study highlighted the importance of interactional skills in supervision practices. More research into constructing learning sessions in clinical education is needed.

Clinical education is asserted to be an important period in professional education, being an environment where deep conceptual understanding can develop. The aim of this study was to analyse the interaction between clinical educators and students during supervision discussion sessions in physiotherapy student's clinical education. The focus was on examining the meanings related to physiotherapy practice and the construction of these meanings by means of discussion. By analysing 10 videotaped supervision discussion sessions and by using qualitative discourse analysis, three interpretative repertoires related to physiotherapy practice were identified: Treatment-skill, theory-based and experience repertoires. The results indicated that even if the comprehension of physiotherapy practice could be constructed in joint understanding between the clinical educator and student, clinical educators seemed to play an important role in revising students' comprehension by conducting the discussions. Although the physiotherapy practice seemed to be discussed quite uncritically and unreflectively, this study highlighted the discussion sessions in clinical education as an arena for critical analysis of physiotherapy practice and thereby assisting in bridging the gap between theory and practice in the physiotherapy profession. Considering the small number of analysed sessions and the methodological limitations no generalizations could be made and more observational research from this area is evidently needed.

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, A. (2017). Clinical reasoning and critical reflection in physiotherapists' examinations of patients with low back pain in its early phase : a qualitative study from physiotherapists' point of view.

AimsThis study focused on direct access-practice in physiotherapy by surveying the experiences of physiotherapists who work in direct access with clients having musculoskeletal pain or dysfunction. MethodsThis was a descriptive, mixed method study where data were collected from questionnaires given to 34 physiotherapists, 18 of them being in direct access for 6 years and 16 for 6 months. There were 15 structured questions and 3 open-ended ones. The answers were analysed with quantitative and qualitative methods. ResultsThe data analysis of the open-ended questions showed that physiotherapists had positive experiences of direct access. This practice brought meaningfulness and self-respect to physiotherapists' work. Meaningfulness was interpreted as being constructed from a client perspective, a work perspective and a working community perspective. ConclusionsThis study provided valuable insight from the physiotherapists' experiences of direct access practice. The main result was the experience of the meaningfulness of the work. This was connected to clients' satisfaction with being in the right place at the right time, to the experience of their own competence, and to good cooperation with other health professionals. From the physiotherapists' point of view, direct access seems to function well but needs commitment by the whole work community to the new practice. Keywords direct access, physiotherapy, musculo-skeletal disorders, meaningfulness of work, content analysis Physiotherapists' experiences of direct access for clients with musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction: a descriptive, mixed-method study