A core musculoskeletal anatomy syllabus for undergraduate physical therapy student education

Abstract

Knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy is fundamental to physical therapy education.Although detailed anatomy syllabi have been developed for medical and other health professional students, none are available for training physical therapists. Therefore, the aim of this project was to produce a core musculoskeletal anatomy syllabus specific to physical therapy students, utilizing a modified Delphi approach. An international Delphi panel (n = 53) composed of anatomists and clinicians involved in physical therapy education considered a total of 2193 anatomical items arranged in four categories (musculoskeletal concepts; vertebral column; pectoral girdle and upper limb; pelvic girdle and lower limb). Using specific criteria, items were rated on the basis of whether they were considered essential knowledge for a competent physical therapy student, and were categorized as core, recommended, not recommended or not core. Of the 2193 items, 1700 (77.5%) were rated as core or recommended. For musculoskeletal concepts, 70% (233/332) of items were categorized as core/recommended. Approximately 80% of items in the other three categories were considered core/recommended-vertebral column (355/440), pectoral girdle and upper limb (513/657), and pelvic girdle and lower limb (599/764). This project presents a detailed musculoskeletal anatomy syllabus which may be used within a physical therapy curriculum. A key difference compared to published musculoskeletal anatomy syllabi for medical students is that a greater number of items are considered core/recommended (approximately 80% vs. 50%). These findings will now be considered and deliberated in accordance with the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists modified Delphi approach.

A proposed anatomy syllabus for entry‐level physiotherapists in the United Kingdom: A modified Delphi methodology by physiotherapists who teach anatomy

“…There are some notable differences between the core musculoskeletal anatomy syllabus lists recently created by the IFAA (Woodley et al, 2022) with this study. The IFAA study was meant for a global To explain poliomyelitis, motor neurone disease, Bell's palsy, peripheral neuropathy.…”

“…To explain the impact of the hippocampus of the limbic system in patients with dementia. audience studying undergraduate physiotherapy degree level qualifications and used an international Delphi panel, where 68% of them were based in the USA and Canada (Woodley et al, 2022), where a doctoral degree qualification is the entry-level physiotherapy qualification. The doctoral level of qualification may make it difficult to differentiate the needs of an undergraduate degree programme when directly compared to a doctoral physiotherapy degree, and potentially The Anat-LOs associated with specific body regions vary in their importance according to the learning needs of different health professions.…”

“…The current syllabus has more Anat-LOs than the 163 of the original 2007 anatomy syllabus for medical students containing 19 neuroanatomy Anat-LOs (McHanwell et al, 2007) and the 156 Anat-LOs in a later revised medical syllabus that excluded neuroanatomy (Smith, Finn, Stewart, Atkinson, et al, 2016). The recent IFAA core musculoskeletal syllabus for physiotherapy had a much higher and granular list than all the other studies with 1700 items (Woodley et al, 2022). The high number was in part because they used a much lower core consensual threshold of 60% (Woodley et al, 2022), rather than the common 80% (Connolly et al, 2018;Matthan et al, 2020;McHanwell et al, 2007;Moxham et al, 2014;Smith, Finn, Stewart, Atkinson, et al, 2016).…”

“…The anatomy syllabus void still persists for physiotherapy curricula in the UK (Gangata & Vigurs, 2017), USA (APTA, 2020; Carroll, McKenzie, & Tracy‐Bee, 2022; Carroll, Tracy‐Bee, & McKenzie, 2021; Worthingham, 1968) and South Africa (Shead et al, 2018). The IFAA initiated compilation of musculoskeletal anatomy learning concepts for physiotherapy for a global physiotherapy audience (Carroll, Tracy‐Bee, & McKenzie, 2021; IFAA, 2019; Woodley et al, 2022). These have been presented as a series of lists and phrases, rather than learning objectives, and generally does not include non‐musculoskeletal anatomy (Woodley et al, 2022).…”

“…The IFAA initiated compilation of musculoskeletal anatomy learning concepts for physiotherapy for a global physiotherapy audience (Carroll, Tracy‐Bee, & McKenzie, 2021; IFAA, 2019; Woodley et al, 2022). These have been presented as a series of lists and phrases, rather than learning objectives, and generally does not include non‐musculoskeletal anatomy (Woodley et al, 2022). Additionally, threshold pedagogical concepts for entry‐level physiotherapists were suggested in the USA (Carroll, McKenzie, & Tracy‐Bee, 2022).…”