STRENGTHENING PHYSICAL THERAPY CURRICULA IN UKRAINIAN UNIVERSITIES: DEVELOPMENT OF A CURRICULAR REVIEW PROCESS

L. Hoffman^1,2, O. Kovalchuk^1,3, R. Lowe¹

¹Physiopedia, London, United Kingdom, ²Regis University, School of Physical Therapy, Denver, United States, ³ReLAB-HS Education and Workforce Development Consultant, Kyiv, Ukraine

Background: The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has taken steps to improve health and well-being for people with disabilities. To better understand the challenges for rehabilitation, a systematic analysis was carried out by a rehabilitation advisory team. An action recommended in the National Disability, Health, and Rehabilitation Plan for Ukraine included the advancement of curricula for rehabilitation professions, including physical therapy. Train the trainer initiatives have been launched using the Minimum Standards for Education of Occupational Therapists, as well as ISPO Category II Prosthetist-Orthotist. These changes highlight the need for a curricular review process that identifies strengths and opportunities in physical therapy curricula using international standards (such as the Physiotherapist Education Framework), as well as considers the changing roles of Ukrainian physical therapists.

Purpose: The objective of this work is to create a curricular review process to identify opportunities to strengthen physical therapy curricula in accordance with international standards.

Methods: A review of the literature was completed using the keywords: Curricular Review, Programmatic Review, and Self-Study. A quality improvement process, applied to curricular review, utilizing international standards was developed. The quality improvement process (planning, teaching, assessing and adjusting) was integrated with pedagogical strategies and physiotherapy competency domains in the World Physiotherapy Educational framework to create a physical therapy curriculum review form.

Results: A curricular review form was developed, which included the critical appraisal of course objectives (planning), reflection on pedagogical approaches (teaching), evaluation of the process and outcomes of curricula (assessing), and creation of recommendations (adjusting). The form is intended to guide program leaders and instructors through a curricular review process. In the planning phase, course objectives are critically appraised to be consistent with program outcomes, reflect the local healthcare needs, and compared to international competencies. During the reflection on teaching phase, the success of the use of selected pedagogical strategies and theoretical models (such as the International Classification of Functioning) is summarized. In the assessment phase, data on the learner’s experience and performance is gathered and compiled. Finally, in the adjusting phase, a list of thoughtful recommendations (based on the assessment of course objective, pedagogical approaches, and evaluation of data) is created which highlight opportunities for curricular enhancement.

Conclusions: A curricular review process is proposed, which identifies opportunities for curricular enhancement using planning, teaching, assessing, and adjusting. There is potential that this process may identify opportunities to elevate physical therapy education in Ukraine.

Implications: This curricular review form is intended to guide academic leaders through a reflective process that is consistent with international standards. It has potential to facilitate improvements, elevating physical therapy curricula to international standards.

Keywords:
Curricular
Assessment
International Standards

Topics:
Education
Education: methods of teaching & learning

Did this work require ethics approval? No

Reason:

This study utilized available information from public domains on the internet. Human subjects were not utilized and IRB approval was not sought.