Amputation Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Curricula in Physical Therapist Professional Education Programs

Curricular guidelines do not exist currently for content related to amputation rehabilitation and prosthetics in entry-level physical therapy education programs. Documents exist to provide context, but before guidelines can be written, the current content of entry-level physical therapist professional education programs must be known.

Faculty members teaching amputation rehabilitation and prosthetics at 225 accredited physical therapist education programs in the United States were recruited via e-mail. A link to the survey was emailed to faculty to report on amputation rehabilitation and prosthetics curricula, faculty qualifications, attitudes, and experiences.

Faculty from 74 (32.9%) programs responded to the survey in part or whole. Faculty rated student competence on a scale of 0 (not taught), and 1 (not competent) to 5 (competent). In the areas of lower extremity amputation care, transtibial and transfemoral gait deviations, >63/68 respondents rated students 3 or greater. In contrast, 38/68 faculty rated students as <3 in the area of upper extremity amputation care, with 12 responding "not taught."

Variability was noted between programs in hours of exposure, faculty-rated student competence, and minimum skill requirements. These results serve to describe the current level of training of entry-level graduates, assess and compare existing curricula, and provide guidance for further curricular development.