Degree Programme in Physiotherapy: L12FYSIO-1115

Description

Degree Programme in Physiotherapy
WELLBEING TECHNOLOGY/Tampere, Kuntokatu 4

Director of education Riitta Hanhijärvi
Physiotherapy, education coordinator Marja-Leena Lähteenmäki

The title of the graduating students of Degree Programme in Physiotherapy is Bachelor of Health Care. The degree is comparable with equivalent degrees in other EU countries. Bachelors of Health Care are authorised by National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health as health care professionals (physiotherapists). The extent of the Degree Programme in Physiotherapy is 210 credits and the education lasts for 3.5 years.

Competences developed
Physiotherapists are experts in the area of medical rehabilitation. Medical rehabilitation includes all activities that aim at improving and maintaining individuals´ physical, social and mental functional ability. Rehabilitation aims at supporting the individuals´ resources, their coping abilities and equal participation.

Physiotherapy is part of the health, social and rehabilitation service system and its focus is on the movement and functional ability of individuals. Graduating students have the abilities needed for expert tasks in promoting health, functional ability and wellbeing of individuals and groups. By using physiotherapeutic assessment they can define individuals´ diverged movements, locomotion and function.
With therapeutic exercises, manual and physical therapy as well as with guidance they can support individuals in their environments to reach the best possible movement and functional ability within the limits of the available resources.

Professional status
Physiotherapists work with different aged people in hospitals, health centres, research and nursing institutions, rehabilitation centres, spas, physiotherapy clinics as well as in occupational health care, public health care, sports organisations and organisations for disabled people. In social welfare, physiotherapists work in old peoples’ homes, nurseries, schools, municipal sports departments and as private practitioners or entrepreneurs as well as in diverse projects. They are independently in charge of planning, implementing, assessing and developing their work and taking the requirements of effectiveness and economic efficiency as well as ethical and legal aspects into consideration.

Values of education
After graduation physiotherapists are able to act as experts in promotion of human health, movement and functional ability. They have the abilities for independent, client oriented and cost effective professional work that is based on the clinical reasoning process, evidence and ethical principles of the profession.

Structure of degree programme and key contents
The degree programme consists of core studies, professional studies, bachelor´s thesis and elective studies. Physiotherapy is based on physiotherapy science but it also takes advantage of the research information of many other disciplines. The knowledge on the different subjects is combined in courses to develop individual students´ professional skills. The professional studies include 82 credits of clinical training and 51 credits of it are completed in diverse clinical training places.

Teaching methods
The professional growth process of each student is essential in physiotherapy education. It is based on the know-how the student has already before the education. The process varies individually depending on the learning environment and social and cultural situation.

The physiotherapy education is implemented according to the problem based learning (PBL) approach. Learning is understood as the student’s active information processing and knowledge creation process. The contents of working life are used as starting point in the problem based learning approach which prepares the students for independent learning and development of their own professional competence and the professional field to respond to the changing needs.

Learning outcomes and aims of programme / academic year
During the first academic year, the student has an overview of the profession. At the end of the year he/she can assess healthy persons´ movements and locomotion as part of their functional ability and use for instance massage and different guidance and instruction methods in promoting the movement and functional ability of individuals and groups.

After the second academic year, the student has the abilities to promote and support the moving and functional ability of children and adolescents under supervision. The student can use evidence based information in planning and implementing physiotherapy for adults who have either breathing, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal or neurological problems in accordance with his/her personal study plan.

The third year gives the student abilities in physiotherapy for elderly people. He/she gains abilities in occupational physiotherapy and psychophysical physiotherapy and learns implementation of physiotherapy in a special field of physiotherapy in accordance with the personal study plan. At the end of the third year, the student can based on the clinical reasoning process plan and implement physiotherapy more independently than before together with clients and their reference groups.

At the end of the physiotherapy education, the student has deepened his / her knowledge and skills in the special fields of physiotherapy through the bachelor´s thesis and elective clinical training.

Structure of Degree Programme in Physiotherapy
Common core studies 10 cr
Professional studies 190 cr including
-clinical training, 82 cr
-bachelor’s thesis, 15 cr
Elective studies 10 cr
In total 210 cr