The professional development and career journey into musculoskeletal first contact physiotherapy: a telephone interview study

Abstract

(a)background: Musculoskeletal (MSK) first contact physiotherapy (FCP) is being rolled out in the National Health Service, but limited research exists on career pathways into MSK FCP, or on pre-and-post-registration educational preparation for the knowledge and skills that are required for musculoskeletal first contact physiotherapy.

(b) objectives: From the perspectives of existing MSK FCPs, the study sought to understand the pre-and-post-registration professional developmental journey into musculoskeletal first contact physiotherapy.

(c) methods: Semi-structured interviews over the telephone were conducted with a self-selected and snowball sample of 15 MSK FCPs from across Britain. Framework analysis was used to analyze the interview transcripts.

(d) results: Four overarching themes were identified: (1) Decision to choose a career path as a MSK FCP; (2) Relevancy of pre-registration physiotherapy (PT) education for MSK FCP; (3) Relevancy of post-registration continuing professional development for MSK FCP, and; (4) Improving pre-registration PT education for the foundational knowledge and skills required to work in musculoskeletal first contact physiotherapy. Each overarching theme generated several subthemes.

(e)conclusion: The research contributes to understanding the career pathway into the MSK FCP role and showed what relevant knowledge and skills were acquired for this role at pre-and-post registration levels. Findings will inform guidance for pre-registration PT curriculum development.

Keywords: Musculoskeletal; first Contact; professional Development Career Pathway; qualitative.