Degree Programme in Physiotherapy: PFYSIS25A

Descriptions

The Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree studies are based on the legislation concerning universities of applied sciences and professional work, the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the National Qualifications Framework (NQF, www.minedu.fi/OP M) and the degree regulations and strategy of Turku University of Applied Sciences, whose pedagogic approach is innovation pedagogy. In addition, the studies have been designed using descriptions of core competences in physiotherapy prepared in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Physiotherapists, taking into account both national- and international-level research and descriptions of physiotherapists’ work.

After graduating as a physiotherapist, you will be able to work as an expert in healthcare, social welfare, sports and rehabilitation systems. You can work as a physiotherapist in a health and welfare centre, hospital or rehabilitation department, for example, or establish your own physiotherapy business. During your studies, you will learn to conceptualize your professional task areas, along with their scope and associated interfaces. Additionally, you will gain the skills needed to evaluate and develop your own learning and competence.
The goal of your work is to support the customer in maintaining and promoting their mobility and functional capacity, as well as their health and well-being, taking into account the prevailing environmental conditions and situation of society. As part of the physiotherapy process, you know how to examine your customer in a customer-oriented and reliable manner, and able to make the right decisions based on the results of your examination. You know how to design and implement physiotherapy treatment in cooperation with the customer, their family members and other operators.

During your studies, you will acquire the skills needed to encounter different kinds of people and to guide and train their mobility individually and on a case-by-case basis. Your work is based on your extensive knowledge of physiotherapy, the core of which is made up of physiotherapy science and research. Your work is based on evidence-based practices, in which the best possible available data is connected to practical experience.

As a physiotherapist, you also have the skills needed to develop the field of physiotherapy, which requires the ability to examine and assess physiotherapy critically and apply research data to practical work. You also know how to take into account national and international challenges in your work. Additionally, in your studies you will acquire the skills needed to lead professional groups and projects. During your studies you will learn to take into account the principles of sustainable development in healthcare.

Physiotherapy studies are structured based on the expectations and skills needs of working life. The curriculum has been prepared in cooperation with representatives of working life.
Physiotherapy is made up of seven competence areas Research and assessment skills (1) include methods for examining the movement, mobility and functional capacity of different kinds of people of various ages and abilities, as well as the preconditions for these, such as muscle strength and balance. In therapy skills (2) training, you will learn ways to influence your customer’s functional capacity and its various aspects, including joint mobility, strength and movement control, as well as how to tailor these to suit your customer’s needs. Physiotherapy guidance and counselling skills (3) emphasize an approach to work that treats the customer fairly, takes into account the available resources and supports the customer’s motivation. You will practice individual and group guidance using oral and particularly manual guidance tools. The guidance environment can be a physiotherapy facility or a digital environment.
In technology (4) and accessibility (5) studies, you will become familiar with assistive equipment, ergonomic solutions and the assessment and planning of an accessible environment. In social studies (6), you will learn to conceptualize different structures and operational models of social welfare, healthcare, sports and rehabilitation systems and learn what society expects from your work. Ethical competence (7) creates a foundation for your work.

The competence areas of physiotherapy come together in the physiotherapy process, which you will first practice based on case descriptions, both in theory and in practice, in your study group. As your skills develop, you will get to apply them to increasingly challenging customer situations in your practical working life training.

The total scope of the physiotherapist studies is 210 ECTS credits, the completion of which requires about 3.5 years of full-time studying. The curriculum also allows you to complete your studies faster, depending on your learning capacity and prior skills. Physiotherapy studies are divided into two broader study modules: complementary competence and complementary competence.

You will learn the skills and knowledge that are part of core competence during your first academic years. You will become familiar with the knowledge base of physiotherapy and the best possible research-based physiotherapy practices at the different stages of the physiotherapy process. Core competence studies also include the language studies as required by section 8 of the government decree on polytechnics (352/2003). Core competence studies are made up of basic studies, professional studies and practical training, the contents of which are connected to one another through various pedagogical solutions. These studies come together to benefit you in your learning and your work as a physiotherapist.

In your practical training, you will apply theory to practice by grounding your own work in the theory you have learned. The practical training is first carried out as teacher-guided work in small groups and then, as your knowledge accumulates, in a variety of real customer situations in projects and especially in working life. Practical training is carried out in health centres, in-patient rehabilitation wards, hospitals, private rehabilitation units and companies as well as with third-sector operators.

Core competence studies make up a cumulative study module. During the first year, you will become familiar with human anatomy and its functions, as well as physiotherapists’ methods for examining and influencing people’s health when the risks to functional capacity and health are minimal. In your second year of study, you will deepen your competence to include situations in which your customer has permanent risk factors and limitations concerning their health and functional capacity. You will gain the skills needed to work with elderly people, people of working age, youth and children taking into account their resources, goals and operating environments. Your customer’s goal may be the ability to manage everyday life or to achieve top physical performance, for example.

Complementary competence studies are carried out during the last 1.5 years of your studies. In these studies, you will broaden and deepen the physiotherapy skills you have already acquired through a thesis (15 ECTS), research and development studies (5 ECTS), elective studies (15 ECTS) and elective practical training placements (20 ECTS). In the elective practical training, you can familiarize yourself with physiotherapy competence areas that are of particular interest to you. This way, you can deepen and broaden your physiotherapy skills in psychophysical physiotherapy, pediatric physiotherapy or sports physiotherapy, for example.

Core competence and complementary competence studies are further grouped into modules of varying scopes. The modules are made up of study units with an average scope of 5 ECTS. You can learn about the content and structure of the curriculum in more detail in the PEPPI system.

Objective

The Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree studies are based on the legislation concerning universities of applied sciences and professional work, the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the National Qualifications Framework (NQF, www.minedu.fi/OP M) and the degree regulations and strategy of Turku University of Applied Sciences, whose pedagogic approach is innovation pedagogy. In addition, the studies have been designed using descriptions of core competences in physiotherapy prepared in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Physiotherapists, taking into account both national- and international-level research and descriptions of physiotherapists’ work.

After graduating as a physiotherapist, you will be able to work as an expert in the healthcare, social welfare, sports and rehabilitation systems. You can work as a physiotherapist in a health centre, hospital or rehabilitation department, for example, or establish your own physiotherapy business. During your studies, you will learn to conceptualize your professional task areas, along with their scope and associated interfaces. Additionally, you will gain the skills needed to evaluate and develop your own learning and competence.
The goal of your work is to support the customer in maintaining and promoting their mobility and functional capacity, as well as their health and well-being, taking into account the prevailing environmental conditions and situation of society. As part of the physiotherapy process, you know how to examine your customer in a customer-oriented and reliable manner, and are able to make the right decisions based on the results of your examination. You know how to design and implement physiotherapy treatment in cooperation with the customer, their family members and other operators.

During your studies, you will acquire the skills needed to encounter different kinds of people and to guide and train their mobility individually and on a case-by-case basis. Your work is based on your extensive knowledge of physiotherapy, the core of which is made up of physiotherapy science and research. Your work is based on evidence-based practices, in which the best possible available data is connected to practical experience.

As a physiotherapist, you also have the skills needed to develop the field of physiotherapy, which requires the ability to examine and assess physiotherapy critically and apply research data to practical work. You also know how to take into account national and international challenges in your work. Additionally, in your studies you will acquire the skills needed to lead professional groups and projects. Sustainability is an important learning goal. You will be able to take into account sustainable development in its forms in your work.

Development

Our pedagogical approach is based on work-life orientation. Learning is based on social constructivist thinking, where the learner builds new knowledge by utilizing their previous skills and teamwork. The goal of pedagogy is to support the student in developing their own way of learning and thinking, so that they adopt practices that develop and renew the working life. The focus of learning includes work-life orientation, interdisciplinarity, combining studies with research and development activities, entrepreneurship, and internationality.

Pedagogical solutions are realized in many ways: case study work, client work, panel discussions, using various games, mentoring model (students further along in their studies support the independent study of new students), video work, etc.

You will first familiarize yourself with client work through simulation situations with various client descriptions, and as your skills develop, you will work with different clients in projects and various work communities. Real client situations are essential for your growth into expertise. Projects can be part of interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral research and development activities. Studying interdisciplinarily helps you to understand your skills and the role of a physiotherapist. Working in a project also prepares you for entrepreneurship. You will learn to take responsibility for your own actions, develop them purposefully and systematically. You will learn to plan and market service products and processes, and also assess the related risk factors.

Studying in physiotherapy education requires self-direction. In face-to-face teaching, the emphasis is on applying theoretical knowledge to practice. This requires you to familiarize yourself with and prepare for the learning materials in advance. Various written assignments teach you to structure the entirety of physiotherapy and to practice documenting physiotherapy. Independent study is not only focused on theoretical study but also on the skills needed in the work of a physiotherapist. In small groups, you will practice, for example, guiding the client's movement manually or measuring muscle strength. In team-based small group work, you will learn not only the core contents of the profession but also the skills needed in working life, such as teamwork skills and creative thinking.

During your studies, teachers will guide your learning and take into account your previous skills in the guidance. The study counselor works as a partner to the tutor teacher and provides advice on, for example, study time and questions related to study social benefits.
In physiotherapy education, learning takes place in various learning environments utilizing diverse pedagogical solutions, which promotes your ability to think critically and creatively and your ability to work in teams in the role of a physiotherapist.

Further information

In physiotherapy studies, the most important goal of assessments is to guide and support your learning and to promote your professional growth. The evaluations guide you in acquiring work habits and learning methods that you can use when working in expert tasks as a physiotherapist. The national-level description of core competences in physiotherapy is the basis for the assessment. The description determines what skills are required of physiotherapists who have completed their studies.

In the assessment, you will receive feedback on your skills and progress in relation to the competence goals. The tasks assessed include oral and written tests, multimedia presentations of assignments, reports, learning journals and practical simulation tests, among others. The assessment is pass or fail, usually in scale 1, lowest accepted grade to 5, highest grade. You will receive either verbal or written feedback on your performance. In addition to assessments from teachers or supervisor of your practical training in work communities, the student’s self-assessment and classmate’s peer assessment are important parts of the assessment.

Study unit assessment criteria have been recorded in the study unit description and the general assessment instructions of Turku University of Applied Sciences have been utilized in their preparation. The assessment criteria separately depict professional knowledge and information seeking, professional skills and self-evaluation, as well as taking responsibility for learning. Additionally, the level descriptions of the assessment criteria take into account the student’s learning stages (core competence and complementary competence).

In physiotherapy studies, activities are developed by gathering student feedback on the implementation of study units and at an academic year -level. Turku University of Applied Sciences implements an annual student satisfaction survey (student barometer). At the end of your studies, you will respond to the Ministry of Education and Culture’s AVOP feedback questionnaire.