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Hu J1, Jones AYM2, Zhou X1, Zhai H1, Ngai S3, Siu K-C4, Dalton M5
1Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center, Yangzhi Affiliated Rehabilitation Hospital, Tongji University, School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, 2The University of Sydney, Physiotherapy Discipline, Sydney, Australia, 3Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Rehabilitation Science, Hong Kong, China, 4Nebraska Medical Center, Department of Physical Therapy, Omaha, United States, 5Australian Catholic University, School of Physiotherapy, Sydney, Australia
Background: The physiotherapy profession in China is developing satisfactorily under the guidance of the WCPT. To date, five undergraduate physiotherapy programs have been successfully accredited by the WCPT and another six programs are preparing for the accreditation process. However, clinical education programs in physiotherapy in China are still immature. There is no standardised, reliable and valid assessment tool which appropriately reflects the standard of physiotherapy practice in China. We translated the “Assessment of Physiotherapy Practice” (APP), a validated assessment instrument adopted by all universities in Australia and NewZealand (ANZ), into Chinese and used it to evaluate the clinical performance of students in China.
Purpose:
a) To adapt the APP for assessment of physiotherapy students during their clinical placement, and
b) to solicit clinical educator and student feedback on the APP-Chinese.
Methods: A clinical education team at Tongji University in China collaborated with the original designer of APP, together with educators from Australia, Hong Kong and USA to undertake the process of forward and backward translation of the APP. After comparison and discussion within the expert group, an APP-Chinese was produced. It was then introduced to the clinical educators (CE) and 4th year physiotherapy students at Tongji University. Upon completion of clinical placements, feedback on the APP-Chinese was solicited from all students and CEs via two translated questionnaires affiliated with the APP-ANZ.
Results: All CEs agreed that the scoring rules of the APP-Chinese were helpful. CEs agreed that they were confident using the item rating scale (86%) and global rating scale (93%) to assess the student performance, and considered the APP-Chinese was practical in the clinical environment (93%). All students agreed that the rating scale on the APP-Chinese was used correctly by their educator, the performance indicators were useful in guiding their performance behaviour and that the scoring rules were appropriate. Over 80% agreed that the items were easy to understand. Sixty-six percent of students agreed that the competency level expected of a new-graduate (beginner) physiotherapist was clear to them and 71% CEs agreed that the definition of competency expected of a beginner physiotherapist was helpful.
Conclusion(s): The APP-Chinese is the first standardised assessment tool of physiotherapy student clinical performance in China. It was well accepted by the students and CEs involved in this pilot study. Further investigation of the understanding of performance level expected of a beginner physiotherapist is warranted.
Implications: Introduction of the APP-Chinese to all physiotherapy programs in China will assist with the establishment of a consistent standard of performance to ensure safe and effective physiotherapy practice in China. The use of the APP-Chinese will allow future performance comparisons, not only across all programs in China, but also with international student cohorts.
Keywords: physiotherapy clinical education, competency-oriented assessment tool
Funding acknowledgements: 2017-2018 Teaching Reform Research and Construction Project of Tongji University School of Medicine (1500104166)
Purpose:
a) To adapt the APP for assessment of physiotherapy students during their clinical placement, and
b) to solicit clinical educator and student feedback on the APP-Chinese.
Methods: A clinical education team at Tongji University in China collaborated with the original designer of APP, together with educators from Australia, Hong Kong and USA to undertake the process of forward and backward translation of the APP. After comparison and discussion within the expert group, an APP-Chinese was produced. It was then introduced to the clinical educators (CE) and 4th year physiotherapy students at Tongji University. Upon completion of clinical placements, feedback on the APP-Chinese was solicited from all students and CEs via two translated questionnaires affiliated with the APP-ANZ.
Results: All CEs agreed that the scoring rules of the APP-Chinese were helpful. CEs agreed that they were confident using the item rating scale (86%) and global rating scale (93%) to assess the student performance, and considered the APP-Chinese was practical in the clinical environment (93%). All students agreed that the rating scale on the APP-Chinese was used correctly by their educator, the performance indicators were useful in guiding their performance behaviour and that the scoring rules were appropriate. Over 80% agreed that the items were easy to understand. Sixty-six percent of students agreed that the competency level expected of a new-graduate (beginner) physiotherapist was clear to them and 71% CEs agreed that the definition of competency expected of a beginner physiotherapist was helpful.
Conclusion(s): The APP-Chinese is the first standardised assessment tool of physiotherapy student clinical performance in China. It was well accepted by the students and CEs involved in this pilot study. Further investigation of the understanding of performance level expected of a beginner physiotherapist is warranted.
Implications: Introduction of the APP-Chinese to all physiotherapy programs in China will assist with the establishment of a consistent standard of performance to ensure safe and effective physiotherapy practice in China. The use of the APP-Chinese will allow future performance comparisons, not only across all programs in China, but also with international student cohorts.
Keywords: physiotherapy clinical education, competency-oriented assessment tool
Funding acknowledgements: 2017-2018 Teaching Reform Research and Construction Project of Tongji University School of Medicine (1500104166)
Topic: Education: clinical
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital（Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center）
Ethics committee: Hospital Ethics Committees
Ethics number: YZ2017-013
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
