Curing and caring competences in the skills training of physiotherapy students

This article explores the significance of curing and caring competences in physiotherapy education, as well as how curing and caring competences intersect within the professional training of physiotherapy students. The empirical data include participant observations and interviews with students attending skills training in the first year of a bachelor's degree program in Norway. Curing and caring are conceptualized as gender-coded competences. That is, curing and caring are viewed as historical and cultural constructions of masculinities and femininities within the physiotherapy profession, as well as performative actions. The findings illuminate the complexity of curing and caring competences in the skills training of physiotherapy students. Curing and caring are both binary and intertwined competences; however, whereas binary competences are mostly concerned with contextual frames, intertwined competences are mostly concerned with performative aspects. The findings also point to how female and male students attend to curing and caring competences in similar ways; thus, the possibilities of transcending traditional gender norms turn out to be significant in this context. The findings suggest that, although curing somehow remains hegemonic to caring, the future generation of physiotherapists seemingly will be able to use their skills for both caring and curing.