Investigation of Perspectives and Participation Status of Physiotherapists on Postgraduate Courses

Abstract

Nowadays, many post-graduate courses have been held for lots of professions and most of the graduates have been shown great interest in these courses. Aim of this study is to investigate the perspectives of physiotherapists to postgraduate courses and to discuss the necessity of participation in these courses. The questionnaire was conducted based on opinions of 279 physiotherapists using the general questionnaire model via internet. Fifty-four percent of physiotherapists were newly graduated, 30.1% between 1-5 years, 7.5% between 5-10 years, and 8.3% had clinical experience over 10 years. Sixty-percent of physiotherapists reported that they worked in general physiotherapy and rehabilitation and 12.5% in pediatric rehabilitation. 80.6% of physiotherapists reported that post-graduate education is necessary. 29.4% of participants stated that they have not participated in any courses so far. 39.4% of the physiotherapists participating at least one course were reported that inadequate in number of courses, and 54.8% reported that contents were insufficient. No statistically significant difference was found between perspective of courses and duration of clinical experience (p>0.05). Physiotherapists declared that post-graduation courses were necessary but course content was insufficient to support their development. This conclusion suggests that contents of the course should be reviewed to make it more comprehensive.