The role of faculty development in physiotherapy education

In recent years there has been a considerable change in the skills and qualifications necessary for faculty members in physiotherapy schools. The focus has shifted considerably from a primary emphasis on the clinical ability of all staff, toward the more universal scholastic goals of research, grants, publications, consultancies and teaching skills. From an absolute reliance on medical research, physiotherapy has had to learn how to go about its own research and apply it directly to treatment modalities and clinical programmes. These changes have had a profound and direct effect on the faculty of physiotherapy schools, while the profession as a whole struggles to come to terms with the change. As is the case in other long established professions, physiotherapy is learning to prize scholastic advancement and research as much as clinical excellence.