World Physiotherapy staff recently visited universities and hospitals in China, as guests of the Chinese physiotherapy community.
World Physiotherapy has been involved in the establishment of physiotherapy in China for over ten years. Prior to 2011, rehabilitation services were provided by rehabilitation therapists*, who work at a technician level under the direction of physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians.
Since 2011, the profession has begun to develop and there are now over ten universities offering entry level physiotherapy degrees with many more courses in the planning stages.
This visit was the first time World Physiotherapy staff have had an opportunity to review the development of the profession.
Jonathon Kruger, World Physiotherapy chief executive officer, said: “The pace of development for the physiotherapy profession in China is remarkable. The level of education and practice that we observed demonstrated that the physiotherapy profession in China is well on the way to meeting international benchmarks.
“One of the joys of my role is talking with physiotherapy students around the world. It was clear in our discussions with Chinese students that they wish to be part of a wider international community and assume future leadership roles within the profession in China.”
Jonathon and Heidi Kosakowski, World Physiotherapy head of membership and policy, visited a range of facilities on a tour organised by Alice Jones, who is a member of World Physiotherapy’s accreditation committee and has been supporting education facilities in China to develop physiotherapy programmes for the past decade.
World Physiotherapy wish to thank staff at the following institutions for their kind hospitality:
- Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center
- Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Kunming Medical University
- Physiotherapy Association, Yunnan Association of Rehabilitation Medicine
- Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University
- China Physical Therapy Association
* Rehabilitation therapy is a separate and distinct profession, unique to China, that incorporates aspects of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy.
