Developing physiotherapy education in the UK

This is a question for any physiotherapists with recent experience of training and/or working in the UK.

What do you think should be the key areas for developing physiotherapy education from 2013 onwards (in the context of UK health and social care and the university sector). For example, what do you see as the main challenges and opportunities over the next few years.

Also, what do you wish had been included in your training that wasn't? For example, perhaps the role of the physiotherapist has changed in the health care sector since you did your training and you weren't fully equipped to deal with all realities of working life. Do you have strong views on collaborative working with other healthcare professionals? Or on levels of funding or changes in policy in the UK.

I am not a physiotherapist and would very much appreciate hearing your thoughts on this area if you could take the time to get in touch. Many thanks!

Hi,
thanks for posting.

Could you please tell us who you are, why you want this information, how the information will be handled and what are you going to do with it?

Thanks,
kind regards,
Fyzzio

Yes of course. I am doing a very brief presentation to the Chartered Society for Physiotherapists next week as part of a job interview. This is the topic they have given me to present on and I thought it would make sense to get some views on it from as many physiotherapists as possible. No-one would be directly quoted, it would just be used to guide my presentation, and the information wouldn't be used for anything else.
Many thanks.

Hi,
thanks for the info.

My training lies back a couple of hundered years ago ... :) ... and I am not 100% sure how it is structured theses days, but what I was greatly underprepared for was:
1) Community; my days it was an optional placement, which I did not take as I favoured Paediatrics, but I think this should be compulsory these days. The requirement, e.g. for mobility (i.e. a 10 meter walk test or a walk around the hospital ward doesn't cut it), is far greater than I had ever expected and I don't even want to think about the number of patients that I have signed off from hospital "ready for discharge" without knowing what exactly I discharge them to.

2) Communication. I believe that of all the skills that are addressed in Physio training, the skills of communication and education are far undervalued.

3) Team: While this is not greatly addressed in training (at least not in my days), you learn about it on your placements - you have to. And I think that it is part of the clinical education process to learn about roles and specifics of other professions. To include a little in training might be nice, but it doesn't mean anything unless you have real scenarios to apply it to. Interdisciplinary work is taking more and more over, esp. in rehab, and that is how it should be. Some unis offer shared lectures (e.g. OT/ PT) - I think that is a great idea. SLT, Nursing, Medical, Psychology, SW, could also all be somehow linked.

I don't want to talk about funding. Too much, too hard, too difficult to ever get right. :o

Hope this helps a little,
good luck,
Fyzzio

I have just completed a degree and I agree with Fyzzio, that it would be very helpful to have a professional from all other areas to come and give a talk for half a day to the university, as learning about the mdt roles on placement takes up a lot of time from developing management skills and real hands on experience.

Having said this, hands on skills are lacking, and everyone on my course I spoke to agrees that more hands on learning is needed. I have just done a sports massage course, and it is this which has given me confidence to correct people's posture, not anything I learned on the physio course. The physio course is great for learning most anatomy, physiology, pathologies, and communication and presenting skills is emphasised.

I also think that exercise therapy is behind on the nhs funded course I did. There are functional exercise courses out there which personal trainers are going on, which are based on the chains of soft tissue which connect the muscles and linked the movements together. These personal trainers are getting stroke patients running again. This should be the physio's job! Massage therapists are also getting range of movement back in stroke patients arms with their soft tissue work. I am surprised that the anatomy trains or meridian lines are not taught at least, as they are basic knowledge for exercises prescription, along with muscle energy techniques, which are also not taught. The evidence is there in dissections and research in hands on massage therapies which use the principles of these connections, including yoga for example. Other people are doing our job for us it seems in the Msk arena at least.