Feasibility and effectiveness of guided self-study on examination and treatment competencies of undergraduate physiotherapy students: a protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial

Background:
To date, in-depth knowledge about how to structure guided self-study for the
enhancement of the competencies of examination and treatment techniques in physiotherapy
undergraduate students in the field of geriatrics, internal medicine and orthopedics
is still lacking. For undergraduate physiotherapy students at Bern University of Applied
Sciences—Health of Department a module on internal medicine and geriatrics as well as
a module on orthopedics are scheduled in the third semester of the educational program.
Objective: This pilot study will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a guide self-study
on examination and treatment competencies of undergraduate physiotherapy students in
their third semester.

Method:
This study protocol describes a randomized-group controlled pilot educational
study that will assess the feasibility and effectiveness of guided self-study units on the learning
success of undergraduate physiotherapy students. Fifty physiotherapy students will be
allocated into a guided self-study group (SG) or control group (CG). During the third semester,
SG will receive three tutor supervised guided self-study sessions of 90 min each. One
week prior to the guided self-study session, the case and the learning goals will be provided
to the students via the institutional electronic learning system. Students will prepare
the cases in groups of five to six peers. The students will be guided by a tutor during this
preparation time. The results of the group works will be presented and reflected during
a moderated plenum session. The primary outcome will be the feasibility of implementing
the guided self-study in the existing educational program including assessment of protocol
adherence and evaluation of the quality of the proposed cases. The secondary outcomes
will be the total score in the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) exams
and written exams that demonstrate the learning success of the undergraduate
physiotherapy students.

Conclusion:
This pilot study evaluates the feasibility and preliminary effects of implementing
guided self-study units on active learning in bachelor’s degree physiotherapy students.