Exploring professional development for graduate physiotherapists in Australian public hospitals

Abstract

Public hospitals throughout Australia employ approximately 20% of the annual graduating physiotherapy cohort to deliver clinical care to patients across the lifespan in acute, sub-acute, outpatient, and community settings. Physiotherapists graduate from an entry-level university program, achieving at least the minimum competency required for professional practice and meeting the standards set by the Physiotherapy Board of Australia. However, this level of competency may not be sufficient to enable graduates a smooth transition into their professional roles as paid employees. This is evident within the published literature highlighting that graduate physiotherapists may not be adequately prepared to manage the complexities of their caseload and have lower levels of confidence in their clinical decision making. This is a pertinent consideration, as appropriately prepared physiotherapists represent an integral pillar in ensuring efficient and safe healthcare. Further, graduates who are not prepared for the workforce may face challenges in managing increasing levels of stress and anxiety, leading to detrimental impacts on job satisfaction and attrition rates. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to explore the professional development of new graduate physiotherapists and the extent to which they are considered prepared for clinical practice, using the Physiotherapy Practice Thresholds in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand as a benchmark measure of entry level competence. Through better understanding of readiness for practice, this thesis explores the experiences that physiotherapy graduates, and their supervisors, had with professional development activities delivered in the acute public hospital system during graduates’ first two years of practice.

Date of Thesis submission	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Sponsors	Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
Supervisor	Felicity Blackstock (Supervisor) & Wendy Hu (Supervisor)