Abstract

Introduction and aim of study. Many factors, including legal regulations pertaining to the practice of physiotherapy and employment possibilities, can influence the vocational plans of physiotherapy graduates. The aim of the study was to analyse the vocational plans of students in selected European countries. Material and methods 299 students: 20 from Bulgaria (BG), 100 from Spain (ES), 21 from Latvia (LV), 58 from Turkey (TUR), and 100 from Poland (PL), 225 females, with a mean age of 23.05 years (SD: 2.71; min/max: 21-39). An anonymous, voluntary questionnaire in national languages. Statistica 9.0, Kruskall-Wallis test, p<0.05. Results Most PL students (58%) wanted to enrol in a second-cycle programme, ES (58%) wanted to take up work, TUR (48%) to continue education by attending training courses (p<0.01). TUR declared familiarity with employment opportunities more frequently (86%) than PL (31%) and ES (63%) (p<0.01). TUR declared more frequently (96%) than their PL (10%) and ES counterparts (22%) that it was easy to find work in their country (p<0.01). PL, ES and TUR were most likely to declare that it was easy to find work in EU countries. Conclusions 1. Students believe that finding a job is easier in other EU countries than their own and so, when they enter university, they plan to look for a job abroad or they count on an improving situation on the domestic job market. 2. A professional information service on job opportunities in EU countries should be developed offering objective employment information for physiotherapists in EU. It should include predictions covering the next 3-4 years.

Key words:

physiotherapy, Graduates, first-cycle studies, employment, international multicentre study