PHYSICAL THERAPY CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: AN ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION FOR PROVIDERS IN THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA

¹NGO "Be Active, Be Healthy", Kobuleti, Georgia

Background: To establish and strength physical rehabilitation in the Republic of Georgia was conducted a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Needs Assessment in 2021. Prior to this survey, up to 20 CPD training classes for physical therapists had been offered over the prior 3 years. The main purpose of this survey was to understand the current CPD needs of physical therapists (PTs) in Georgia. This information will allow strategies to be development to increase opportunities and utilizations of CPD throughout the country. This report presents the major findings from the survey on Georgian physical therapists.

Purpose: The main goal of this research was to gain more insight about CPD among Physical Therapists in Georgia and its influence on the physical therapy services. The main question of research is to find out physical rehabilitation service problems and challenges.

Methods: An electronic link to this survey was sent via email to be completed in Google Forms. A total of 176 individual PTs and 33 Rehabilitation Centers countrywide were sent the survey. Participants had from January 24 – February 26, 2021 to complete the survey. A total of 40 responses collected, 39 responses were analyzed as one was eliminated due to a lack of responses (3/39 questions answered).
Participants were compared based on work experience in order to demonstrate the specific needs between experienced PTs and new grads. The following demonstrate the total participants in each group. 10+ years: n = 17; 5 – 10 years: n = 5; 2 – 5 years: n = 14; <2 years: n= 3.

Results: Physical therapists in Georgia work in a variety of practice areas and have a varying amount of experience. Presented research has more influence on treatment decisions than seeking published research. Newly graduated PTs seemed to be less actively engaged. There is a high interest in participating in CPD when available.

Conclusions: Due to the wide variety of areas of practice and work experience of PTs in Georgia, a wide variety of topics of CPD is needed. There was a trend among all work experience groups, but especially among more experienced PTs, to rely on presented information such as seminars, conferences, and post-diploma certifications. On the other hand, when having to seek information to approach a new or unique treatment case, less experienced therapists (<10 years) appeared to be more willing to seek out published research than their more experienced counterparts (10+ years).

Implications: In order to help develop the areas of PT in the Republic of Georgia, less popular areas of practice must receive attention through CPD. In order to make CPDs and general information more applicable for PTs in Georgia it is recommended to focus on presentation styles of learning. In order to achieve long-term utilization of CPD it is recommended that a focus be placed on increasing engagement with newly graduated PTs. Based on the high attendance of past trainings, it is recommended that CPD be offered on a recurring basis. This allows for a variety of topics to be covered, and multiple location and time options.

Funding acknowledgements: No funding.

Keywords:
CPD
Georgia
Education

Topics:
Education: continuing professional development
Education: methods of teaching & learning
Education: clinical

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Georgian National Center for Disease Control And Public Health

Committee: Institutional Review Board

Ethics number: 2022-067