Evaluation of professional awareness in physiotherapy and rehabilitation students of Afyon Kocatepe University

Abstract

In latest years, physiotherapists have been progressively interested in defining their professional identity. For this purpose, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Departments of universities in Turkey lecture courses about this profession. The students have the opportunity to improve their professional awareness in these courses. The aim of this research is to determine the professional awareness of the students of the Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation at Afyon Kocatepe University. In the present study, "Professional Awareness Questionnaire" was applied to 227 students who is the first, second, third and fourth grade students at Afyon Kocatepe University. According to this study, the most correctly answered question was related to type of grade point for placement the department (95.2%). Interns respond more questions correctly (p < 0.01). Prevalence of students who prefer the physiotherapy due to their interest is 40.5%. There were no differences between the students who choose physiotherapy for their interest and the other reasons (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the findings from this study show that professional awareness can be influenced by individual differences. However, the level of professional awareness and the interest in the profession of the student can be increased by professional courses.