Pediatric Rehabilitation Therapy and Physiotherapy Education in China

To explore the pediatric rehabilitation curriculum, clinical placement, faculty characteristics, facilitators and barriers to curriculum implementation, and satisfaction of graduates of entry-level programs of rehabilitation therapy and physiotherapy in China.

Two online cross-sectional surveys were conducted. With stratified random sampling, faculty were contacted to provide information on pediatric rehabilitation education in Survey A. In Survey B, the satisfaction of 2019 graduates was collected. Fifty-three faculty members (response rate 96.4%) completed Survey A and 154 graduates (response rate 85.6%) completed Survey B.

There were variations in pediatric rehabilitation curriculum setting, clinical placement, and faculty characteristics. The key facilitator to implementation was a stand-alone pediatric course. The insufficient number of teachers was identified as the major barrier. The median satisfaction level of all 2019 graduates for curricular setting, faculty and placement was 4 (satisfied). The satisfaction level of 2019 graduates of programs accredited by the World Physiotherapy was statistically higher than that of graduates of non-accredited programs in curricular setting and faculty.

The results support the need for faculty development and guidelines on minimum standards for entry-level pediatric rehabilitation education in China.