Establishing a Need for Adding Physical Activity and Exercise Therapy Course to the Student Curriculum of the BSc Physical Therapy Program at King Abdulaziz University (KAU)

Anfal Astek

doi:10.3897/rio.5.e36119

Abstract

Implementation of exercises and physical activity as a preventative management strategy in public health, which is in turn connected to undergraduate teaching in order to place physiotherapists as exercise experts in clinical practice, has become one of the essential areas for building comprehensive knowledge in a physiotherapy education program. As physiotherapists are experts in biomechanics, with a knowledge of pathology and its effects on body systems, they are the ideal professionals to meet the challenge of ensuring exercise expertise. An exercise therapy course could develop the content of the entry-level curriculum (BSc degree) in physiotherapy professional education programs to meet the current national and international needs of healthcare professionals who promote, guide and manage effective exercise strategies. In addition, the implementation of this course would improve the services provided by physiotherapy graduates in healthcare, thus emphasising the significant role of exercise as a physiotherapy intervention in prevention and management. Key to this process is analysing and reviewing existing physical activity and exercise therapy course and reporting the topics that will need to be implemented in the undergraduate physiotherapy program in KAU. Implementation of this course in the undergraduate curriculum requires the engagement of academic staff, clinical tutors in the physical therapy department, Faculty of Applied Medical Science (FAMS), KAU and community health centre staff, in order to establish and deliver the course content to students via lectures, lab sessions and clinical visits.

Highlights

The utilisation of exercise as an intervention for prevention and management of injuries and chronic diseases in individuals across their lifespan has grown recently in clinical practice within the field of physiotherapy Sallis 2009
The profession of physical therapy should enhance the knowledge, skills and delivery of care across multiple domains, including health development, physical activity among different age groups and exercise expertise (American Physical Therapy Association Education Strategic Plan 2006; World Confederation of Physical Therapy 2009).As a result, it is recommended to address the demands put in place by these requirements on the educational plans of undergraduate physiotherapists in order to cope with the global shift in healthcare from treating injuries and disease to health promotion and illness prevention (Health Services Executive 2007)
Substantial work has been done on analysing physiotherapy undergraduate curriculums worldwide, after which the implementation of exercise prescription content has been recommended due to the increasing demand for exercise expertise in clinical practice (Dean 2009; O’Donoghue et al 2011; O’Donoghue et al 2012)

Summary

Background

The utilisation of exercise as an intervention for prevention and management of injuries and chronic diseases in individuals across their lifespan has grown recently in clinical practice within the field of physiotherapy Sallis 2009. The purpose of the project is to establish the knowledge and skills of undergraduate physiotherapy students as exercise experts This means that physical activity and exercise prescription and promotion will become a domain of the curriculum design and delivery in the physical therapy department, in line with. In order to achieve the specific objectives of the project, the delivery of clinical skills, permission and signed approval, should be provided by the head of the external agencies, namely the community health centres in Jeddah including Alrehab Public Centre and King Faisal Residential City Clinic. Alrehab Public Centre and King Faisal Residential City Clinic are primary healthcare centres providing public health services for chronic conditions In this way, students will have the opportunity to deal with different cases in public health services; arrangement of transportation dates and times should be taken into consideration. Advance meetings with staff should be held to avoid clashes with the students’ curriculum

Option 2

Evaluation