Physiotherapy Theory and Practice 1

Students will have the opportunity to learn the foundational knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to becoming a physiotherapist. The focus of the subject will be on preparing students to work with patients in a variety of contexts including as first contact practitioners and as practitioners working within health care teams. The subject will emphasize topics such as professional identity formation, ethical decision making, clinical reasoning, collaborative practice and effective communication.The development of professional knowledge and skills that underpin assessment, diagnosis and education in physiotherapy practice will be included. Students will focus on developing skills of physical assessment such as observation, palpation and analysis of movement and function. Particular attention will be given to the analysis of normal movement and function as a basis for identifying variations from normal. Students will build on their understanding of the World Health Organization, (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, (ICF) model and will explicitly link this model of classification to physiotherapy assessment using patient profiles. Students will be introduced to a variety of outcome measures commonly used in physiotherapy practice.