An Investigation into UK Stakeholders’ Opinions on the Graduate Attributes of a Day 1 Competent Veterinary Physiotherapist

Background: Veterinary physiotherapy (VP) education has grown within the UK over the past 10 years. Taking a programmatic approach to degree design and assessment optimizes learning and ensures authentic assessments. Starting with the end in mind is a key principle of programmatic design. Graduate attributes (GA) are broad statements describing the qualities, behaviours and values that characterize the graduates of a program. The study aims to examine industry stakeholders’ opinions regarding the ideal GAs of newly qualified Veterinary physiotherapists (VPTs).

Materials and Methods: A qualitative mixed-method approach was used with 1-day stakeholder workshops run in three groups:

1. VP Professional bodies/registers

2. Practicing VPTs

3. Student VPTs

Nine GAs were developed based on the workshop outcomes and were circulated to a group of VP students and VPTs to establish consensus on their importance.

Results: Eighteen people attended the three workshops. Common discussion points raised were:

• Challenges of teaching clinical reasoning.

• What practical skills should day-1 graduates have?

• The importance of communication skills.

• What are the requirements of a VPT to function as an autonomous practitioner?

An agreement was reached on nine GAs. The consensus of the VPTs and student VPTs agreed with these GAs.

Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of VPTs graduating with practical clinical skills and strong communication skills. Clinical reasoning was embedded within all GAs. This reinforces having the ability to think critically, reflect, and alter actions in an evidence-informed manner. These GAs provide a framework to build future VP courses around.

 

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. September 2025