Longtin Christian, Hong Quan Nha, Amari Fatima, Singer Lesley, Cooper Lynn, Bussières André, Carrière Junie S, Bertrand-Charette Michaël, Perreault Kadija, Hudon Anne, Wideman Timothy H
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal (CRIR), Montréal, QC, Canada.
School of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
J Occup Rehabil. 2025 Sep 6. doi: 10.1007/s10926-025-10325-z.
Physiotherapists play a central role in the rehabilitation of individuals with work-related musculoskeletal disorders. Yet, it is currently unclear how entry-level training prepares them to manage work disability. This study aimed to (1) identify a set of work rehabilitation competencies, (2) examine how these competencies are integrated into entry-level physiotherapy training programs in Quebec, Canada, and (3) assess educators' perceptions of the adequacy of work rehabilitation education.
A five-step consensus-building process with engaged partners and a literature review served to identify the competencies. Subsequently, educators from all Quebec physiotherapy programs completed a cross-sectional survey containing closed- and open-ended questions. The survey documented the integration of general and competency-specific work rehabilitation content and educators' ratings of students' preparedness for entry-to-practice for each competency. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, and open-text responses were analyzed using qualitative metasummary.
Seven work rehabilitation competencies were identified and used to structure the survey. The median time dedicated to work rehabilitation education was 5.5 h (range 1-21.5). Programs partially integrated the competencies, using mostly didactic learning strategies. Coverage of key topics for each competency and relevance to work rehabilitation varied considerably across programs. Educators reported low student preparedness for competencies requiring work-focused knowledge and skills and varying comfort with teaching this content.
This study highlights critical gaps in physiotherapy education related to work rehabilitation and provides a benchmark for how key competencies are addressed in Quebec programs. These findings offer a foundation for improving work rehabilitation training for physiotherapists.
物理治疗师在与工作相关的肌肉骨骼疾病患者的康复中发挥着核心作用。然而，目前尚不清楚入门级培训如何使他们做好管理工作残疾的准备。本研究旨在：（1）确定一套工作康复能力；（2）研究这些能力如何融入加拿大魁北克省的入门级物理治疗培训项目；（3）评估教育工作者对工作康复教育充分性的看法。
与相关合作伙伴进行了一个五步共识建立过程，并进行了文献综述，以确定这些能力。随后，魁北克所有物理治疗项目的教育工作者完成了一项横断面调查，其中包含封闭式和开放式问题。该调查记录了一般和特定能力的工作康复内容的整合情况，以及教育工作者对学生在每项能力方面进入实践准备情况的评分。对定量数据进行描述性分析，对开放式文本回复使用定性元总结进行分析。
确定了七种工作康复能力，并用于构建调查。用于工作康复教育的中位数时间为5.5小时（范围为1 - 21.5小时）。各项目部分整合了这些能力，主要采用讲授式学习策略。各项目在每项能力的关键主题覆盖范围以及与工作康复的相关性方面差异很大。教育工作者报告称，学生在需要以工作为重点的知识和技能的能力方面准备不足，并且在教授这些内容时的舒适度也各不相同。
本研究突出了物理治疗教育中与工作康复相关的关键差距，并为魁北克项目中关键能力的处理方式提供了一个基准。这些发现为改善物理治疗师的工作康复培训奠定了基础。
