Abstract

Background. Work on standards of professional aualifications was started in Poland in the 1990’s. The standards contain a general description of professional tasks in the context of the particular profession together with an outline of the associated skills and qualifications. A total of 253 qualifica-tions standards had been developed by the end of 2007, including standards for physiotherapists, physiotherapy assistants and massage specialists. Material and methods. Five levels of qualifications have been defined in the National Professional Oualification Standard in accordance with EC provisions, taking under consideration the complexity of work, the difficulty of the skills, the degree of responsibility and the level of professional hierarchy which students are prepared to. The sets of skills, knowledge and psychophysical characteristics were assigned to four groups of qualifications: extra-professional, general-professional, basie professional and specialised professional skills, with indMdual groups differing in terms of scope and degree of generalny. On the basis of the above criteria, a questionnaire was designed and a survey was carried out. The questionnaire, which had over 30 pages, was first tested in a pilot study involving 8 persons and then used in a target study of 40 respondents. Both studies involved active physiotherapists as well as the management of the facility where they were employed. The results of the suney served to develop a preliminary version of the standard, which was later assessed by three evaluators during a session with the authors. Following incorporation of justified comments and emenda-tions, the standard was sent to reviewers, whose remarks were incorporated before the standard was submitted to a relevant committee for approval. Results. The standard of the physiotherapist profession was elaborated, including the legal basis of the profession, a synoptic description of the profession, work place, professional tasks, and a specification of general-professional, basie and specialized qualifications for the profession. Conclusions. 1. The standard is a single document specifying the range of knowledge and skills, professional tasks and the scope of professional responsibility. 2. The standard of the physiotherapist profession can be used by interested persons and institutions for a variety of purposes, e.g. vocational counselling, employment policies, personnel policy of companies and institutions as well as for social insurance related purpos-es to estimate occupational risk and determine insurance premiums accordingly and in jurisprudence and to determine social insurance.

Key words:

physiotherapist, professional tasks, professional competence