A profile of physiotherapy clinical education

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine clinical education placement data to generate a profile of providers and examine the students' exposure to health care and educational factors during clinical education. A retrospective audit of clinical placement rosters was undertaken for 3 calendar years (2001)(2002)(2003) 1 Clinical education is an integral part of physiotherapy programs and is reliant on strong relationships with clinical providers in a variety of health care settings.The challenge of securing sufficient high-quality clinical education placements to meet the What is known about the topic? Clinical education is an integral part of physiotherapy programs and is reliant on major contributions and strong relationships with clinical providers in health care settings. Health care and educational environments have been changing over the last decade, and securing sufficient high-quality clinical education placements to meet the needs of physiotherapy students is increasingly difficult. What does this paper add?This study establishes a profile of clinical education providers for one of the largest educational institutions training physiotherapists. From 2001-2003 the demand increased by 210 placements (16.5%). The major providers were large public hospitals who provided 85.8% of placements. It was found that aside from experience in the private sector the students had a wide range of exposure to a variety of clinical sites, locations and health care sectors. What are the implications for practitioners?The study highlights that graduates not only meet entry-level standards but also have exposure to a range of health care and educational factors. However, the contribution of the private sector in physiotherapy clinical education needs to increase.

A qualitative exploration of the factors influencing the job satisfaction and career development of physiotherapists in private practice

“…Practice owners recommended that education comprise aspects of business management including rebooking patients, how to build and maintain a caseload, marketing, working on commission and the costs involved in running a private practice. Whilst practice owners were keen for more curriculum focus on private practice, private practice clinical placements are limited in Australia with few practices offering opportunities to universities, comparative to public sector placements (17). This mismatch of clinical placements to workforce numbers needs to be addressed by the profession if graduates are to be better prepared for employment in this sector.…”

The changing landscape of physiotherapy student clinical placements: An exploration of geographical distribution and student performance across settings

“…7 Despite the importance of placements in rural areas, it seems that most students complete the majority of their clinical placements in metropolitan areas. 5,8 This may be partly due to barriers to clinical placements outside metropolitan areas, including accommodation requirements, financial burden, social dislocation and reduced educational resources. 9,10 As the number of physiotherapy programs, and therefore students, has increased over recent years there may be an increasing reliance on rural and remote physiotherapists to provide clinical education experiences.…”

Exploring the Challenges of Physiotherapy Clinical Education: A Qualitative Study

“…Learning of clinical skills is an essential component in educating physiotherapy students. It is necessary for clinical planners to know what specific factors are important to increase learning these skills [1,2]. Clinical educators are generally responsible for facilitating the acquisition of profession-specific skills by student during the practical sessions and on-field training.…”

“…These field experiences shared by educators and students can provide valuable information for education planners. [1,2].…”