CONTENTS AND FEATURES OF “SYLLABI” FOR UNDER GRADUATE PHYSIOTHERAPY EDUCATION IN NORTHERN INDIA: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Introduction: The syllabus is a description and plan for a course and, if well written, may be a tool that improves student learning, facilitates faculty teaching, improves communications between faculty members about their courses, and assists with monitoring program quality. The level of education for physical therapists should reflect the current and future needs of professional practice and society and changes in physical therapy roles and function as well as changes in the legislation that regulates physical therapy practice. Therefore, through our study, we would assess the existing contents and features of syllabi of various universities conducting Under-graduate Physical Therapy education program in Northern India and throw a light whether they are diverse or in consonance to each other. Aim and Objective: To study the contents and features of various syllabi for Under-graduate Physiotherapy education conducted by various Universities and Institutes of Northern India with special focus on Orthopaedics and relevant subjects. Materials and Methods: There are 24 universities conducting Undergraduate Physiotherapy program in Northern India, 20 universities were found suitable out of which data of 19 universities could be collected. The data was collected by personal visit, from official website of universities, via e-mail and by other sources. The data collected includes course scheme – syllabus, transcript, subject credits and examination scheme Results: The results of this study show that features of syllabi in these universities differ on the basis of total number of academic hours, subject allocation in various years, number of theory and practical hours allotted, percentage weight age of hours, maximum marks, and percentage weight age of marks of each subject. Conclusion: This study concludes that syllabus of the Bachelors of Physiotherapy program in Northern India is variable. The variability is not seen in the program structure rather in: Total number of subjects, Curriculum hours allotted to each subject, Subject allocation in various years, Examination system – annual or semester system, Maximum marks allotted to a subject in the university examination scheme, Total academic hours in a year, Hours allotted for clinical training.