Physiotherapy postgraduate studies in South Africa: Facilitators and barriers

Abstract

AimTo investigate the facilitators and barriers to attaining a postgraduate physiotherapy degree in South Africa.MethodsA quantitative, cross-sectional design using an internet-based survey was employed. The population of the study included all qualified physiotherapists who had completed community service and who were on the South African Society of Physiotherapy e-mailing list at the time of the study.ResultsIn all, 425 valid responses were received. The study participants were predominantly white women with a mean age of 36.9 and the majority were working in private practice. A total of 20.5% of respondents had completed a master’s or doctoral degree in physiotherapy, while a further 13% of respondents were registered for a postgraduate degree in physiotherapy at the time of the study. Study participants who had obtained a postgraduate degree identified the same main barriers (namely cost/lack of financial support, family commitments and lack of time) and the same main facilitators (namely gaining of expertise, fulfilment of a personal goal and improvement of patient care) as participants who had not obtained a postgraduate degree. Participants who had not obtained a postgraduate degree were significantly more likely (p < 0.05) to report concerns regarding their own ability and a lack of motivation as barriers to further study.ConclusionSouth African physiotherapists with and without a postgraduate degree reported common facilitators and barriers to pursuing postgraduate studies. In order to ensure that a greater number and diversity of physiotherapists see postgraduate studies as a worthwhile career option, stakeholders in health and education in both the South African public and private sectors need to be engaged to limit the barriers to postgraduate study and seek novel methods of making postgraduate study a more attractive option from a personal development and career perspective.

The perceived barriers and facilitators in completing a Master’s degree in Physiotherapy

“…The research environment (which refers to the site where the students collected data, not the academic institution where they were registered as students) needs to be supportive of postgraduate studies, allowing time for data collection, studies and write-up of the dissertation or research report. Recommendations have been made for academic institutions and the Department of Health to implement study leave, allowing for a workplace that is more conducive to research (Cobbing et al 2017 ). Furthermore, developing a methodology that allows for uncomplicated and efficient data collection (both participant recruitment and follow-up) is seen as a facilitator of the postgraduate process.…”

“…As the pressure to produce more postgraduate students has increased, the number of postgraduate students has risen but the number of research supervisors has remained the same. This pressure has been described around the world (McCallin & Nayar 2012 ) and is certainly echoed in South Africa (Cobbing et al 2017 ).…”

“…This drive to become research intensive has impacted South African universities as well. As a result, questions of student throughput and completion rates have become increasingly relevant in all areas of postgraduate study including physiotherapy (Cobbing et al 2017 ). Within the field of physiotherapy, there is a growing interest in specialisation and life-long learning.…”

“…There is a growing body of research on the experiences of postgraduate supervision (Bitzer & Albertyn 2011 ; Drennan & Clarke 2009 ; Sidhu et al 2013 , 2014 ) and the barriers and facilitators to undertaking a postgraduate degree in physiotherapy (Cobbing et al 2017 ; Sran & Murphy 2009 ). However, there is a striking paucity of research on the barriers and facilitators experienced by students during a master’s degree in physiotherapy.…”

The role of Allied Health Professions and Nursing Research Internships in developing a research culture: a mixed-methods exploration of stakeholder perspectives

“…Opportunities for NMAHPs to engage in clinical academic roles in the United Kingdom are limited [14]; fewer than 0.1% of the NMAHP workforce is engaged in active research [15], compared to 5% of the medical workforce. While postgraduate studies are recognised globally as a tool for legitimately strengthening clinical credibility and confidence [16], the United Kingdom NMAHP workforce lags behind countries such as Poland and South Africa in the percentage with a postgraduate qualification [17][18][19].…”