Profile of Physiotherapist Educators in Anglophone West African Countries: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: In the last two decades, physiotherapy profession in many countries has transitioned their entry-level education to a Master’s or doctoral degree levels. Given these changes, there is a new need to discern the profile of physiotherapist educators in different countries. Objectives: This cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the profile of the physiotherapist lecturers from Anglophone West African countries and to compare the data with their USA counterparts. Methods: The Head of Department of all the physiotherapy programs in West African universities (N = 14) completed a questionnaire that sought information on the University’s debut date and ownership, faculty gender, educational qualification and academic rank. Results: The vast majority (93%) of the physiotherapy programs surveyed are located in public universities. There were 126 lecturers employed in the programs surveyed (average of 9 lecturers per program). In Nigeria, 72% of the lecturers were men, but in Ghana there was an equal (50:50) split between men and women. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of the lecturers in Nigeria had a Ph.D. and 32% were with MS degree. Thirty-four percent (34%) were a Senior lecturer, 19% Lecturer I, 10% Associate Professor/Reader and 10% Professor. More Nigerian lecturers attained higher (p