Empowering the Physiotherapy Profession in Ethiopia through Leadership Development within the Doctoring Process

Abstract

Ethiopia recently introduced the Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT) degree at Addis Ababa University as a mechanism to increase the work force capacity of primary care providers in the health sector. The DPT program was supported by an international academic partnership and was designed to empower physiotherapists as leaders to move the profession forward. The curriculum was framed by core pedagogical principles and strategies and was phased into two programs. First, the 4-year Advanced Standing DPT program focused on developing registered Ethiopian physiotherapists with Bachelor of Science degrees as academic faculty. Second, these new faculty would then sustain a 6-year Generic DPT program that would matriculate students upon graduation from high school. The curriculum represented depth and breadth of foundation and clinical sciences, evidence-based practice, clinical reasoning skills, and interprofessional education opportunities. A leadership thread provided opportunities to develop skills necessary to effectively navigate and manage the challenges faced by the profession. The main outcomes included (1) an 8-year international partnership, (2) the academic performance of students, and (3) and leadership capabilities as demonstrated through activities and assignments. While the program has been criticized as an unnecessary extravagance for Ethiopia, the advantages of the DPT degree were revealed in a direct comparison to other academic physiotherapy programs in Ethiopia. In the end, because the DPT is new to the country, it will take time to fully understand the true impact within the Ethiopian health system.

Factors Influencing Student’s Satisfaction in the Physiotherapy Education Program

“…[13][14][15] However, University of Gondar as a pioneer of physiotherapy education in Ethiopia lacks in the evaluation of physiotherapy program. 16 Universities' daily task is to increase the quality of their academic (teaching and learning process), research, and community services. At the same time, welfare services including suitable dormitories, libraries having adequate books, food services are the factors to create favorable conditions for students in order to make every effort to achieve their goals.…”

“…7,17,18 Physiotherapy education emerged a decade ago in Ethiopia. 16 To the best of the author's knowledge, there is a scarcity of empirical investigation and published reports about the teaching and learning process and influencing factors for students' satisfaction among physiotherapy students in Ethiopia. The findings of this study will have potential information to inform higher learning physiotherapy institutions about the factors that need to be addressed to improve the teaching and learning process.…”

Patients Satisfaction and Associated Factors Towards Physiotherapy Services in North West Ethiopia

“…This is evidenced by poor progression of the type of management and use of updated and modernized medical instruments in many physiotherapy centers. 20 The other reason might be due to the study participants having almost similar socio-demographic characteristics.…”

Perception of clinical educational environment by student of physiotherapy based on the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measurement Questionnaire in Chile

“…But, there are significant differences in the number of internships, showing an increase in the score as they advance, therefore, improve the perception of the clinical educational environment. This, could reflect the perception of preparation and accommodation on the part of the students to face the changes of scenarios [9], something that is also consistent with the progression of the stages declared in the course’s own program of the race where this study was implemented (stage 1, introduction to the service; stage 2, introduction to the professional role; stage 3, empowerment of the professional role; and stage 4, autonomy of the professional role), which speak of a progression in the time the practice is developed and where the student is expected to acquire challenges and graduated activities, being evaluated as expected in each of the cycles. The variation of the score on this subscale could also be supported by the empirical evidence that indicates that students initiate a training program with a higher expectation of their educational learning environment are likely to have more general perceptions of an environment throughout the course of the course of the program [10].…”