Underresearched areas of Physiotherapy.

[gcoe]

Yes I agree Christopher.pl.

Entry level education is just that - an entry point to the profession. A starting point. There are always huge compromises to be made about what to include in an educational programme and what has to be ditched because there just isn't enough hours to pack everything in the limited time available. I know our faculty has frequent robust debates about what needs to be in and what has to be left out. We all have our pet favourites about what should be included to make a better course. I would like to see a better grounding in exercise science and its application to special populations, and biomechanics along with a better ability to work with the research evidence. I know one of my colleagues would like to see a much better coverage of manual therapy as that seems to have suffered in recent years, while someone else thinks we should be including more cultural competence and being more responsive to community needs.. But in the end no one gets exactly what they believe is optimal.

Recent years has seen students being better prepared theoretically but the clinical experiences are limited, particularly as opportunities in clinical practice has expanded. Things like how to manage a practice, manage a team, negotiate change in the workplace just doesn't get a look in

There is also the disconcerting fact of life these days: the half-life of the profession. That means the time it takes for half of what you learnt at university to become obsolete. The half life in medicine is about 3 years and for physio we don’t have any estimates but it probably isn't much longer. So we have to do a good job preparing graduates for world that changes.

Personally I think I learnt one heck of a lot in those first two years out in the real world. I used to blame the educational institution I trained in for not preparing me well enough. However while there is always room for improvement in physiotherapy education, I think we have to be realistic about what can be achieved in that very short time it takes to go from knowing nothing about physiotherapy to being able to competently stand your ground as a therapist.

[Fyzzio]

Well said, gcoe, I agree wholeheartedly.
However well you try to set up a programme, there will be gaps, as 4 years cannot possibly cover everything which we will encounter in the medical world.
And that also reflects the fact that we will always learn, wherever we go.
Physiotherapy is so versatile and our working environment varies so much from job to job and country to country. I am more than 20 years postgrad and have still not yet met 2 patients that presented exactly the same.

I think that it is vital to touch on certain aspects like professional development and management in undergraduate education, however I do not believe it is responsibility of a BSc Physiotherapy programme to bring up business managers, teachers, or similar. We will have to except that these areas are professional specialities in themselves and will require expert training.

As to the research topic: I agree, there is lots of areas which have not been loooked at (nice idea about skin/ touch), however since you are a year 2 student, and it is likely to be your first project, I would keep it simple and look at some of the questions you might have already asked yourself during patient encounters.

Have fun,
Fyzzio