Entry-level physical therapy educational system in Greece

Abstract

Physical therapy is a well-respected health profession in Greece. The first school providing 2 years' training for Physical Therapy Assistants started in 1958. Over the years, physical therapy studies have been incorporated into the public non-university tertiary education with seven semesters of teaching and clinics plus 6 months of placement in state hospitals or rehabilitation centres. There are four physical therapy departments in Greece belonging to Technological Educational Institutions which are academically equivalent to universities. Their standards are regulated according to the Declaration of Bologna as are other higher education institutes in Europe. There are about 5000 registered Greek physical therapists; their license is valid throughout the country and they work in public institutions or in the private sector either as employees or in their own private clinics. They choose and execute the acts of physiotherapy after a written diagnosis or opinion of a doctor. The official body is the Greek Society of Physiotherapists which promotes professional claims and shares the educational and scientific up-grading of physical therapists with the Greek Scientific Society of Physical Therapy.

Keywords:

• PHYSICAL THERAPY
• GREECE
• TRAINING