Assessment of core competencies of physical therapists among students and professionals in Italy a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: Defining professional competence and identifying the best way to evaluate these skills has become a topic of study for physiotherapists. The aims of this study were: (1) to reveal and compare the level of competence declared by physiotherapy students with that of professional physiotherapists in the investigated competencies, and (2) to show any associations between the level of competences of physiotherapists and their age or education level. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional survey. METHODS: A sample of 273 physiotherapists and 84 physiotherapy students executed self-assessment of their competences using a Likert scale. RESULTS: Students declared a lower level of self-assessed competence (mean 2.76) than physiotherapists (mean 3.20), but some items regarding the ICF model and evidence-based practice (EBP) had higher scores for students than professionals. In the field of EBP, both groups showed insufficient scores for all items. For the investigated skills, we observed an association between the level of declared competence and age and education level (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Survey results could be used by academies, professional associations, and employers to identify specific learning goals of students and physiotherapists.