Prerequisites for admission.

Admission to the degree programme in Physiotherapy is subject to the possession of a secondary school diploma or equivalent suitable qualification obtained abroad.
Admission to the programme is subject to the passing of an entrance exam set in line with the laws in force concerning health professions and the nationally programmed access (Law 264/99) and the relative call for admissions issued by UNIMORE.
Knowledge required for admission is deemed to be appropriate for all candidates obtaining a minimum of 20 points in the entrance exam, as laid down in Ministerial Decree no. 85 of 5 February 2014.
Candidates not achieving this score shall be assigned additional learning requirements (OFA) to be completed by attending the remedial courses indicated by the degree programme.

Skills associated with the function

Physiotherapist as described in D.M. of the Ministry of Health 741/94 and amendments, Italian Law no. 251 of 10 August , according to the A.I.F.I. guidelines.
The areas of competence associated to the functions of physiotherapist are:
a) Prevention and therapeutic education: physiotherapists support prevention in both healthy persons and those with problems and disabilities as well as specific groups with physical and/or mental conditions, promoting actions to maintain health. Using an educational methodological approach, physiotherapists facilitate the development of self-management and adaptation skills among patients suited to their residual abilities.
b) Care and rehabilitation: this field of competence refers to the application of the physiotherapy process, a series of correlated steps leading the physiotherapist, using clinical reasoning,
to implement care and rehabilitation interventions in motor skills, cortical and visceral functions following pathological events caused by various congenital or acquired conditions. The phases of the physiotherapy process follow a circular path, involving the collection and interpretation of data concerning the patients' needs, the formulation of the physiotherapy diagnosis according to the ICF classification, planning, implementation and checking the effectiveness of the evidence-based physiotherapy care and rehabilitation.
c) Teaching and self-training: physiotherapists train health staff, assessing individual knowledge and competences, referring to recognised and appropriate cultural, ethical and professional standards; physiotherapists also self-train, assessing their own level of professional competence to understand their own learning needs, planning and following self-training paths to suit the needs of the patients/organisation they work in.
d) Practice based on effectiveness tests, studies and research: physiotherapy graduates are able to use research to support their own clinical practice, according to a method described in literature as the five steps of evidence-based practice. Physiotherapists organically gather data on their own professional practice to be used also for research and clinical audits.
e) Organisation and management: physiotherapists plan, organise and perform their interventions on patients/groups managing the available information, instruments and resources in different contexts. This function requires managerial, interpersonal and interprofessional networking cooperation skills, as well as ethical, legislative, economic and social knowledge.

Function in a work context

Physiotherapist as described in D.M. of the Ministry of Health 741/94 and amendments, Italian Law no. 251 of 10 August , according to the A.I.F.I. guidelines.
Physiotherapists are health workers managing prevention, care and rehabilitation autonomously or in cooperation with other health figures, in the areas of motor skills, higher cortical and visceral functions due to pathological events, of various congenital or acquired causes.
Referring to the diagnosis and prescriptions of the physician, within the field of their own competences, physiotherapists:
a) Also in multidisciplinary teams, production of the rehabilitation programme aiming to identify and overcome the health needs of the disabled;
b) autonomously perform therapeutic activities for the functional re-education of motor, psycho-motor and cognitive disabilities using physical, manual massotherapy and occupational therapies;
c) proposes the use of prostheses and aids, training patients in their use and assessing their effectiveness;
d) check the correspondence of the implemented rehabilitation method to the functional recovery objectives.
Moreover physiotherapists perform studies, teach and provide professional consulting services to healthcare boards and other bodies where such professional skills are required;
Based on the core competences and the core curriculum drafted by the A.I.F.I. the functions of the physiotherapist are the following:
- Prevention and therapeutic education;
- Care and rehabilitation;
- Teaching and self-training;
- Practice based on effectiveness tests, studies and research;
- Organisation and management.
Bibliography:
1) D.M. of the Ministry of Health no. 741/94;
2) Italian law no. 251 of 10 August May 2000
3) A.I.F.I. Guidelines for Physiotherapist Training, Core competences. Ed. Masson, Milan (2003);
4) A.I.F.I. "Core" training of the physiotherapist. Last consultation 2 February 2015. http://aifi.net/professione/il-core-del-fisioterapista/

Educational goals

Physiotherapy graduates are, pursuant to art. 2, para 1 of Italian law no. 251 of 10 August 2000, Physiotherapy graduates are health professionals who autonomously provide technical care activities autonomously to individuals and the community, providing activities focusing on prevention, care, rehabilitation and functional assessments to perform the technical skills related to their specific professional profiles.
The specific learning outcomes of the degree programme focus on the technical and professional training of graduates, qualified to exercise the profession of Physiotherapist, and are achieved through theoretical and practical learning focusing on the specific nature of their profession. Physiotherapy graduates must have:
- appropriate training in basic subjects allowing them to better understand the most important elements underlying the physiological and pathological processes of children, adults and the elderly in order to focus prevention, care and rehabilitation activities there;
- knowledge of the main of the health problems affecting a community and the responses of the health and social services to key rehabilitation needs;
- knowledge of the psycho-pedagogic foundations of the teaching and learning of effective communities constituted, lifelong learning and therapeutic education of patients, care-givers and the community;
- knowledge of the main rules governing the physiotherapy profession and the relative medical and legal implications;
- ability to establish effective and ethically correct relations with patients, caregivers and other professional figures working in the healthcare and rehabilitation team and in the social and health facilities in which they provide their services.
At the end of the study programme, Physiotherapists will acquire knowledge, competencies and relational skills in the following fields:
PREVENTION and THERAPEUTIC EDUCATION
Physiotherapists must be able to:
- recognise and help to overcome potentially hazardous situations for both individuals and the community, through the identification of health and disability prevention needs, promoting the actions needed to maintain health and overcome disability, or prevent the worsening of disabilities;
- conduct prevention activities targeting individuals and the community, both healthy and with physical and/or mental problems and disabilities;
- promote the actions required to maintain health, with particular attention to ergonomic principles, advice on life styles, motivation to responsibility and active cooperation to promoting physical and social well-being;
- develop awareness, responsibility and skills among individuals, care-givers and groups concerning the concept of disease and the treatment, adaptation and management of disease
CARE, REHABILITATION AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
This field of competence refers to the application of the physiotherapy process, in which students must achieve the following objectives:
a) Gather, analyse and critically interpret data concerning the needs of patients, including:
- collecting data (clinical history concerning structure and function, activities, participation and personal and environmental factors) using instruments including (semi-structured case histories and/or interviews to patients and other reference figures to identify the physical, psychological and social needs concerning these questions as well as personal possibilities, problems and needs
- functional assessment, through the observation, physical examination and application of evaluation instruments and procedures recognised by the scientific community
- analyse the data/information gathered to determine the abilities, functional capacities and potential results in full respect of the choices of patients and/or relatives/caregivers.
b) Formulate functional physiotherapy diagnoses and hypothesise prognoses considering not only the extent of the damage but also the recovery indexes. Physiotherapy diagnosis refers not to the disease or clinical diagnosis but to the modifications/alterations and residual abilities/potential of the bodily functions and structures (e.g.: extent of movement, strength, deambulation…), activities (everyday activities) and participation, according to the ICF classification. These two phases also require the ability to record and document the patients' clinical history using specific paper and/or computerised instruments.
c) Plan and implement the care and rehabilitation programme to achieve specific functional outcomes. In this area, the person-focused approach is fundamental, as it is vital to select and identify the priorities, precautions and contra-indications as well as the specific objectives which can be achieved in the short and long term, the times and methods of intervention (duration, intensity, frequency), the persons involved, family/care-givers or other professionals. Moreover the physiotherapy programme must be planned, defining the appropriate therapeutic methods based on scientific evidence to achieve the objectives and the possible education, information and training to be delivered to patients and/or relatives. The physiotherapy intervention must be implemented with the clear cooperation of the patients and/or care-givers, identifying the involvement and active participation strategies for the patient.
d) Perform the intervention safely and effectively, implementing any modifications to the treatment plan in itinere. This area of competence requires the ability to tackle critical and unforeseeable situations which may potentially place the patient and the operator at risk.
e) Evaluate the results of the implemented treatment plan, checking its overall effectiveness on the basis of the review and feedback on the specific intervention. It is appropriate to measure and record the outcome of the intervention using specific validated tools. It includes interventions aiming to assess, adapt and if required produce supports/prostheses, and adapt the environment in line with the needs of the patient. It is fundamental to check their level of acceptance
f) Provide specific technical advice to patients, other professionals and other subjects (e.g. organisations) involved in the environmental adaptations, handling techniques and so on.
Moreover physiotherapists are required to take on the professional responsibility for their actions, with a constant commitment to personal well-being, respect for individuals and the community, respect for cultural sensitivity and personal autonomy using a person-focused approach, committed to maintaining professional conduct in compliance with the code of ethics and the laws in force, protecting the profession and its image and ensuring transparency of interpersonal relations and the field of intervention, in line with the statutory provisions and the code of ethics (D.L.42/99 – D.L. 251/00 – D.L. 43/06).
TEACHING AND SELF-TRAINING
In this field of competence physiotherapy students must develop the following skills:
Identify valid learning needs according to the needs of the patients/community and the needs of the organisation they work in
Plan and implement appropriate self-training programmes,
Reflect on their professional practice in order to learn and identify skills that are not yet consolidated, in order to plan additional training.
EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE/RESEARCH
EBP-based therapy offers professional graduates the possibility to seek the best evidence available in literature in a fully efficient manner, and critically interpret its internal and external validity. The EBP approach is recommended by the international and national scientific community to offer the most effective, acceptable and economically viable solutions for the patient's needs.
For this reason graduates are required to:
- identify the “information needs”, to satisfy the knowledge gaps emerging from the meeting with the patients;
- convert these needs into clearly defined clinical care issues;
- assess the “decision-making weight” of this evidence in clinical decision making, considering both the patients' preferences and expectations and the social, organizational and economic context they are working in.
MANAGEMENT
This area includes all the management tools (resources, information, economic aspects) that are indispensable for correctly implementing everyday physiotherapy activities, through the following actions: use of specific tools based on quality criteria, management of privacy, clinical risk, decision-making following correct problem-solving processes.
These assumptions apply to both freelance practice and services provided in more or less complex healthcare facilities.
One way to achieve this competence is to learn to manage the vocational learning path demonstrating good organisation of time and management of resources as well as the ability to develop useful professional competences, also in non-institutional contexts.
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS
Finally, the curriculum pays particular attention to communication and interpersonal skills, as a primary dimension of human relations, and is thus used to establish a relationship with patients from the start of their care path; communication also plays a fundamental role in relations with other health professionals, relatives and caregivers.
Interpersonal skills required to interact with patients, caregivers and the professional system is developed in course units in human and psycho-pedagogic sciences, the internship and bodily awareness workshops, as well as the experiences in Medical humanities, organised during the programme to acquire the behaviour needed to ensure profitable therapeutic relations with the patient.

Communication skills

At the end of the programme graduates must be able to manage communication understood as the ability to establish a significant therapeutic relationship with the patients and an effective relationship with all other professionals in the same or other disciplines; they must also be able to use communication tools in the health field, demonstrating the ability to compile physiotherapy records, draft a therapeutic report, design a physiotherapy programme, etc., communicating clearly, concisely and professionally in both oral and written form that is technically and grammatically accurate, also being able to translate a technical language in a manner that makes it comprehensible for a non-specialist audience; they must be able to communicate appropriately in international scientific contexts to convey ideas, problems and the relative solutions.
Learning methods and activities, teaching tools to develop the learning outcomes:
• role paying an drama workshops
• practical exercises of "body awareness"
• internships supervised by tutors in different contexts and the progressive undertaking of autonomy and responsibility
Assessment tools for verifying the achieved results:
• tutorial exercised using clinical cases, assessment during the internship (using portfolios, structured assessment sheets and clinical reports on professional practice)
• internship exam with test on "handover to colleagues on Saturday morning"

Making Judgements

At the end of the programme graduates will be able to know and autonomously implement the physiotherapy process using clinical reasoning as a guiding tool for choosing from among the possible options available in each phase of the process. This autonomy is based on the ability to effectively respond to individual and/or collective health needs, as a single operator or working in a team, opting for the best therapeutic strategies, identifying appropriate approaches and tools, collecting data (and analysing the social context), examining the patients, carrying out the physiotherapy assessment/diagnosis, defining the prognosis and short, medium and long-term treatment objectives, drafting the therapy programme, choosing and applying physiotherapy methods and techniques suited to the clinical case (intensity, timing, type of professional and technical approach) using the best possible scientific evidences, following international Evidence Based guidelines; in the ethical field, this is shown in the compliance with the referred statutory, professional, health and ethical rules.
The ability of Physiotherapy graduates to make judgements lies in the habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning (diagnostic and assessment process), emotions, values, thought in everyday practice for the benefit of individuals and the community.
Teaching tools: lectures, teaching workshops, practical lessons in the laboratory and/or in equipped facilities, internship, reading and interpretation of international literature.
Assessment methods: written and oral reports on technical and professional aspects, discussion of clinical cases, definition of rehabilitation projects and programmes, compilation of physiotherapy and/or rehabilitation records based on actual clinical cases; internship exam, journal club.

Learning skills

Physiotherapy graduates must be able to assess their own level of learning to be able to maintain their know at the highest possible level of professional practice, and plan self-training paths to develop their own skills, based particularly on Evidence Based Practice in rehabilitation and physiotherapy fields.
They will also be able to develop competent and independent problem-solving skills, demonstrating the ability to continually seek opportunities for new learning and take responsibility for their own professional development to respond to the continuous changes in knowledge and health and social needs.
The competences acquired in the three years of the programme will allow graduates to continue studies to 2nd cycle level in Class LM/SNT/02, post-graduate programmes (including 1st and 2nd level masters), as well as Continuing Education in Medicine programmes, with a high degree of autonomy.
This ability will be developed and assessed in the exams, the frequency and assessment of the internship, blending theory with practice, the critical use of scientific literature and bibliographies also for the preparation of the final examination.
Teaching tools: classroom activities, seminars, simulation laboratories, internship
Learning skills will be assessed as follows: Theoretical and practical exams, written and oral reports on technical and professional aspects, discussion of clinical cases, definition of rehabilitation projects and programmes, compilation of physiotherapy and/or rehabilitation records based on actual and simulated clinical cases; research and production of teaching material.

Knowledge and understanding

Preparatory area
Knowledge and understanding of basic scientific disciplines, acquiring the tools required for the analysis and interpretation of data found in literature and to understand the physical forces involved in movement or which can affect the human body.
Knowledge of human and pedagogic sciences to understand the educational processes targeting the community and patients of all ages and to understand the susceptible dynamics of different cultural sources;


Biomedical area
Knowledge and understanding of biomedical sciences to understand the physiological and pathological processes of health and illness in patients of different ages.
Knowledge and understanding of psychological sciences to understand normal and pathological interpersonal dynamics and personal defence and adaptation mechanisms relating to situations of psychophysical suffering;


First Aid Area
Knowledge of first aid procedures and techniques.
Knowledge of the desired and side effects of the most common and frequently used drugs in rehabilitation patients.
Knowledge of surgical treatments and the most common risk factors relating to complications of surgery that normally require the intervention of rehabilitators


Core area
Knowledge and understanding of Physiotherapy Sciences required to:
- identify preventive and rehabilitation needs through the analysis clinical data in motor, psychomotor, cognitive fields as well as functional evaluations based on the extent and significance of the patient's symptoms;
- understand the signs expressing the pathological processes on which to focus the rehabilitation and/or therapy, in children, adults and the elderly;
- develop a rehabilitation methodology using the best therapeutic and technical approaches to solve the patients' health problems;
- understand the principles of scientific research in health, and acquire an evidence based methodology to assess the effectiveness tests concerning physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and their integration into clinical practice, respecting the values of the patients.
- acquire the scientific bases of functional alterations and general and specific rehabilitation methodology in various specialist fields (neurology, orthopaedics and traumatology, cardiovascular, critical area, oncology, infectivology, pneumology, mother and child, etc.);
- plan and check physiotherapy treatments using effective and objective and therapeutic evaluation methods and all appropriate tools to solve problems (instrumental therapy, manual therapy, psychomotor and occupational therapy, proposing where required the use of prostheses and aids), also in line with the instructions and prescriptions of the physician;
Knowledge and understanding of general and clinical psychological sciences to understand normal and pathological interpersonal dynamics and personal defence and adaptation mechanisms relating to specific situations of psychophysical suffering;
Knowledge of interdisciplinary and medical sciences to understand the physio-pathological elements applicable to different
clinical situations, also relating to diagnostic parameters;
Knowledge of health prevention sciences to understand and analyse health determinants, risk factors,
individual and collective level, and the interventions used to promote the safety of health workers and users;
Knowledge of health, ethical, legal and sociological Management Sciences in order to:
- organise rehabilitation activities by defining priorities, appropriateness and use of available resources, delegating activities to colleagues where applicable and working in a team, ensuring continuity and quality of care;
- underline the importance and usefulness of acting in compliance with the law and directives and respecting the values and ethical dilemmas facing professional practice;
- foster the understanding of professional responsibility and autonomy, as well as the need to act in collaboration, in those areas of integration and interdependence, with other members of
the care team;

Complementary Area
Knowledge and understanding of key audiological conditions and their influence on the state of health of the population, particularly in children and the elderly.
Knowledge and understanding of the main illnesses leading to malnutrition and dysfunctional diseases linked to an incorrect diet.

Applying knowledge and understanding

Preparatory area
Ability to analyse and interpret the data found in scientific literature
Ability to define the effects of physical forces on human movement in different parts of the body
Ability to define the effects of physical forces on tissues, organs and systems.


Biomedical area
Ability to demonstrate systematic and integrated understanding of biomedical disciplines, applying them to the health and rehabilitation field to analyse and interpret biological and physiological phenomena,
operating mechanisms of organs and systems, motor and psychomotor development.
Ability to understand normal and pathological interpersonal dynamics. Ability to apply psychological knowledge to recognise and cope with defence reactions and facilitate the adaptation mechanisms of people in situations of distress; ability to interpret the psychological, social and environmental dimensions of processes determining priority health problems and disabilities, in acute and chronic phases, considering different ages and the repercussions on life styles and personal autonomy;


First Aid Area
Ability to deliver first aid in an emergency situation.
Ability to recognise the undesirable effects of a drug in order to consequently modulate their own intervention.
Ability to recognise normal healing or potential complications in post-surgical patients undergoing rehabilitation.


Core area
At the end of the programme Physiotherapy graduates will be able to apply physiotherapy processes to patients both in rehabilitation and other health settings, fully autonomously and responsibly and working interprofessionally with the rehabilitation team. At the end of the programme, Physiotherapy graduates will be able to apply the physiotherapy process, also adopting a problem-solving approach, expressing their clinical reasoning and applying all the correlated procedures to ensure care and rehabilitation interventions in motor skills, cortical and visceral functions following pathological events with
different congenital or acquired causes, in different age groups.
Knowledge is applied considering fundamental aspects such as interaction with the
person's actual life context, interpersonal and inter-professional relations, organisational management of those aspects linked directly
to the type of work performed.
This ability will be achieved generally and fully through the mandatory attendance of the clinical internship, including specific technical and scientific laboratory activities, the teaching of gestures and interpersonal skills, based on both qualitative and quantitative methods. The internships and laboratories (at least 60 ECTS in the three years) cover different and complementary fields, progressively developing increasingly complex professional competences. The learning outcomes in core areas are assessed in the course unit exams, the internships and the internship exams.
The internship is assessed on the knowledge of the specific skills, clinical reasoning and the application of evidence-based physiotherapy methods, the ability to perform a correct physiotherapy intervention in terms of contents, behaviour and interpersonal skills; These activities are planned, monitored and assessed by the vocational training coordinator, promoting meetings with the tutors, the students, proposing learning activities, facilitating the development of self-training skills, access to bibliographical sources, etc.

Complementary Area
Ability to recognise audiological conditions in order to interact appropriately.
Ability to recognise a state of malnutrition in order to consequently modulate their own intervention.
Ability to recognise a potentially risky eating disorder in order to consequently modulate their own intervention.