Pediatric Rehabilitation Therapy and Physiotherapy Education in China

Abstract

Aims

To explore the pediatric rehabilitation curriculum, clinical placement, faculty characteristics, facilitators and barriers to curriculum implementation, and satisfaction of graduates of entry-level programs of rehabilitation therapy and physiotherapy in China.

Methods

Two online cross-sectional surveys were conducted. With stratified random sampling, faculty were contacted to provide information on pediatric rehabilitation education in Survey A. In Survey B, the satisfaction of 2019 graduates was collected. Fifty-three faculty members (response rate 96.4%) completed Survey A and 154 graduates (response rate 85.6%) completed Survey B.

Results

There were variations in pediatric rehabilitation curriculum setting, clinical placement, and faculty characteristics. The key facilitator to implementation was a stand-alone pediatric course. The insufficient number of teachers was identified as the major barrier. The median satisfaction level of all 2019 graduates for curricular setting, faculty and placement was 4 (satisfied). The satisfaction level of 2019 graduates of programs accredited by the World Physiotherapy was statistically higher than that of graduates of non-accredited programs in curricular setting and faculty.

Conclusions

The results support the need for faculty development and guidelines on minimum standards for entry-level pediatric rehabilitation education in China.

Keywords:

• Curriculum
• education
• China
• pediatric
• entry-level
• physiotherapy
• rehabilitation

Author Contributions

L.M. was responsible for the conception and project administration, taking part in writing – original draft, review and editing. Q.W. was involved in the methodology, data curation, formal analysis and software. L.M. and Q.W. contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors. R.C.C.T. participated in the methodology, validation, and writing – review and editing. P.P. and X.P. conducted the surveys. L.Y. was responsible for the conception, supervision and writing – review and editing. All authors approved the submitted version and agreed both be personally accountable for their own contributions and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lijiao Meng

Lijiao Meng is a lecturer in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University. She is also a pediatric physiotherapist at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Her research interests address topics in pediatric physical therapy education and postural control for children with cerebral palsy.

Qingchuan Wei

Qingchuan Wei is a physiotherapist at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. He specializes in physical therapy for children and adolescents with neurologic disorders.

Raymond C. C. Tsang

Raymond C.C. Tsang is the Department Manager of Physiotherapy Department, MacLehose Medical Rehabilitation Centre. He is also the Professor of Practice of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests include service evaluation, outcome measurement, evidence-based practice and physiotherapy education.

Panxing Peng

Panxing Peng is a physiotherapist at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. He specializes in physical therapy for children and adolescents with orthopedicdisorders.

Xiaofan Pang

Xiaofan Pang is a physiotherapist at West China Hospital, Sichuan University. He specializes in physical therapy for children and adolescents with orthopedicdisorders.

Lin Yang

Lin Yang is a professor and director of the Physical Therapy Education Program in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, West China School of Medicine, Sichuan University. His research focuses on the curricularconstruction and development of entry-level physical therapy program.