Specialization in physiotherapy: musings on current concepts and possibilities for harmonization across the European Union

Abstract

This review is based upon two papers delivered at the third post-basic education conference of the Standing Liaison Committee of Physiotherapists in the European Union held in Estoril, Portugal in April 1998. It considers trends and the desirability of specialization in physiotherapy practice, opportunities for individual practitioners to gain recognition as specialists, and the Scope for achieving greater harmonization of specialist practice and recognition across the EU. The special interest groups, the profession's developing understanding of what constitutes specialist practice, and an increasing commitment to lifelong learning, are key to achieving these ends.

While acknowledging that a range of factors potentially work against a common approach to specialization and specialist recognition in the EU, the paper suggests that an outcomes-based framework could offer a promising route to articulating and recognizing specialist practice in a way that promotes harmonization while respecting national difference.

Keywords:

• SPECIALIZATION
• SPECIALIST
• CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• POST-BASIC EDUCATION
• SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
• OUTCOMES
• EUROPEAN UNION