Clients and conditions encountered by final year physiotherapy students in private practice. A retrospective analysis

ABSTRACT

Currently little is known about the clients and conditions final-year physiotherapy students are exposed to in private practice settings. The aim of this study is to describe the clients and conditions encountered by final-year physiotherapy students during a six-week full-time private practice clinical placement. Client data of conditions were collected over 11 years (2008–2018) from final year physiotherapy students’ client reports in a university clinic, Christchurch, New Zealand. Data for anatomical site and pathology were categorized using the Orchards Sports Injury Classification System 10 and descriptive analyses completed. Students saw a mean of 22 (SD 5) unique clients. The anatomical sites most encountered were the shoulder (97.4% of students), lumbar spine (96.3%), knee (95.8%) and ankle (91.2%). The pathologies most encountered were joint sprain (100%), muscle injury (90%), and tendon injury (88.4%). While final year physiotherapy students are exposed to a substantial number of clients encompassing major regions and condition types, this exposure is limited in scope. The findings offer a basis for discussion about what clinical exposure to clients and conditions might best support the transition from physiotherapy student to new graduate in private practice settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Primary care
• undergraduate
• professional education
• clinical placement

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the support of Ms. Min Shi for her help preparing the data for this research, and the support of other clinical staff at the University of Otago School of Physiotherapy Clinic Christchurch. Thanks also to the many students who by completing their paperwork have contributed to the data in this project.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflict of interest.