Share your views on future of the physio pre-registration curriculum

Physios, assistants, students, support workers, service users and other stakeholders are being invited to share their views on the physio pre-registration curriculum as part of the KNOWBEST research project. 

The project has been funded by the CSP and it examines how pre-registration training for the profession can best prepare the physiotherapy workforce of the future. It will look at how the Curriculum Framework for Physiotherapy Pre-registration Qualifying Programmes can be updated to ensure course providers enable graduates to develop these skills.

More specifically, the research will produce recommendations for the CSP’s accreditation guidance for qualifying programmes in physiotherapy, which include practice-based learning requirements.

It is being undertaken for the CSP by a team led by Dr Catherine Minns Lowe and Professor Karen Beeton at the University of Hertfordshire. 

How to get involved 

The project is now actively collecting data. Views can be shared until the end of January 2022 through the project’s data collection form.

During November, the research team is also collecting current job descriptions and person specifications for newly qualified physiotherapists to include in its data analysis. 

In particular, the team is keen to receive job descriptions and person specifications from recently qualified physiotherapists, as well as managers or employers of newly qualified physiotherapists. They are also particularly interested in how these might have changed in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside recent changes in healthcare delivery. 

Job descriptions can be uploaded to the data collection form.

An opportunity to help shape the future physio workforce 

Talking about the project, Reena Patel, CSP education adviser who is leading the CSP’s broader review of pre-registration qualifying programmes, said:

We’re encouraging everyone with an interest to get involved, contribute and share with colleagues – every perspective is valuable and will have a real impact as we develop new standards for course-provider requirements in the future.

Two webinars are taking place on topics relevant for pre-registration physiotherapy training: 

• 23 November 7-8 pm ‘Practice based learning’ 
• 1 December 7-8 pm ‘Digital skills and learning’ 

Further webinars will be arranged based on demand and/or when data collected during the project identifies the need for further exploration and discussion. Details of the webinars, how to register and the latest updates on the project can be found here.