Mapping the landscape of work rehabilitation education in physiotherapy programs: insights from a curriculum survey
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Purpose Physiotherapists play a central role in the rehabilitation of individuals with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Yet, it is currently unclear how entry-level training prepares them to manage work disability. This study aimed to (1) identify a set of work rehabilitation competencies, (2) examine how these competencies are integrated into entry-level physiotherapy training programs in Quebec, Canada, and (3) assess educators’ perceptions of the adequacy of work rehabilitation education. Methods A five-step consensus-building process with key stakeholders and a literature review served to identify the competencies. Subsequently, educators from all Quebec physiotherapy programs completed a cross-sectional survey containing closed- and open-ended questions. The survey documented the integration of general and competency-specific work rehabilitation content and educators’ ratings of students’ preparedness for entry-to-practice for each competency. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, and open-text responses were analyzed using qualitative metasummary. Results Seven stakeholder-endorsed work rehabilitation competencies were identified and used to structure the survey. The median time dedicated to work rehabilitation education was 5.5 hours (range 1–21.5). Programs partially integrated the competencies, using mostly didactic learning strategies. Coverage of key topics for each competency and relevance to work rehabilitation varied considerably across programs. Educators reported low student preparedness for competencies requiring work-focused knowledge and skills and varying comfort with teaching this content. Conclusions This study highlights critical gaps in physiotherapy education related to work rehabilitation and provides a benchmark for how key competencies are addressed in Quebec programs. These findings offer a foundation for improving work rehabilitation training for physiotherapists.
