Investigation and Curriculum Analysis of Physiotherapy Associate Programs in Vocational High Schools in Turkey

The aim of this study is to examine the Physiotherapy associate programs in Turkey and make curriculum analysis. By the scanning of ‘TR Center of Evaluation, Program Selection and Placement (ÖSYM)’ and ‘Higher Education Council (YOK)’ web pages, Physiotherapy associate degree programs in state and foundation universities established in our country were scrutinized. The dates that students were admitted to Physiotherapy programs, 2013 and 2018 quota numbers, number of lecturers, course curricula have been examined, and the data have been documented as percentages and rates. In our data scanning, it is seen that 38 (42.6%) of Physiotherapy associate degree programs were opened in 2013 and before, 58 (57.4%) were opened after 2013. The quota numbers in these schools are 1605 by the year 2013 and 5827 by the year 2018. While the number of lecturers in 2018 is 2 or below in 26 (25.7%) schools, the number of Physiotherapist lecturers is 2 and below in 51 (50.5%) schools. When the curriculums were examined, it has been determined that assessment and evaluation courses were in 64.4% of schools and rehabilitation courses were in 79.2% of schools. According to the obtained results of our study, there is an insufficient number of faculty members in Physiotherapy technician associate degree programs in Turkey and there is a lack of standardization in their curriculum. We think that the program should be organized in accordance with the profession definition and the number of faculty members should be increased.