The Australian College of Physiotherapists was established in August 1971, although the idea of a College was first suggested in 1955. The original vision was to develop a means of encouraging and recognising scholarly and original work carried out by members of the profession as there were no formal higher degree academic qualifications available to physiotherapists at that time. The model on which the College was established did not follow that of the United Kingdom where the Chartered Society was the awarder of Fellowships. Rather the Australian College of Physiotherapists was to be established as an autonomous body, albeit closely linked with the Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) and serving as its awarding body.
Over the next 15 years, academic and administrative work continued towards establishing the College. In 1969, a steering committee was set up to formulate the College Constitution. On establishment in 1971, eight eminent physiotherapists were elected as Founders – Geoffrey Maitland (President), Pat Cosh (Honorary Secretary), Monica Adams, Marie Hammond, Ann Hodges-Hall, Beryl Kennedy, Margaret Ward, and Cliff White. These founders were gradually replaced by Fellows.
The first award by the College was a Fellowship by thesis or monograph, a scholarly work assessed by peers to be original work and deemed to have made a significant contribution to the advancement of an area of knowledge, relevant to the physiotherapy profession. The first two Fellowships by Original Contribution were awarded in 1977 to Roberta Shepherd and Barry Stillman, with the nomenclature Fellowship of the Australian College of Physiotherapists (FACP).
Attention was then directed to the need for, and the method of implementation of a process whereby clinical physiotherapists could achieve specialist status – Fellowship by Specialisation. In 1980, a federal committee was set up to establish the process by which specialisation would be achieved. It completed its task in 1982. The specialisation process was originally developed and available for: Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy, Manipulative Therapy, Neurological Physiotherapy, Obstetrics and Gynaecological Physiotherapy, Paediatric Physiotherapy and Sports Physiotherapy. Consideration was to be given to other fields in the future as their academic and clinical processes developed further.
The specialisation process included a supervised clinical placement for two years; publications or evidence of research; and clinical or academic teaching experience. The College would not entertain a ‘grandfathering’ clause and final examinations were sat by all applicants. These included both theory examinations and clinical vivas in which candidates were evaluated on the assessment and treatment of three patients over three days. In 1983, the first Fellows by Clinical Specialisation were awarded to Geoffrey Maitland (pictured above, receiving his award from Pat Cosh), Patricia Trott and Brian Edwards. Australia led the physiotherapy profession internationally in the development of clinical specialisation.
Since its foundation, there has been continuous review of College processes and procedures to ensure the College was in line with changing academic and clinical practices. A major review was undertaken in 2005 by a joint APA and College committee to encourage more physiotherapists to undertake Fellowships. With the many opportunities now available for physiotherapists to undertake higher research degrees, the requirements for a Fellowship by Original Contribution were changed to submission of a portfolio of published peer reviewed papers preceded by an introduction and followed by a discussion of the work and its clinical significance.
The Fellowship by Specialisation underwent substantive change. Opportunities for entry into the specialisation process through alternate methods of entry (postgraduate qualifications or successful completion of an APA national group alternate pathway) were opened. There was a major restructure of the two-year specialisation training program. Curricula were established to enhance theoretical knowledge, clinical reasoning and reflective skills. Candidates were appointed facilitators to enhance their clinical learning and experiences. Final clinical examinations were retained as the capstone assessment. New areas of specialisation were added – Occupational Health and Gerontological Physiotherapy and the term Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy replaced the term Manipulative Therapy.
In 2010, the College and the APA commenced discussions relating to establishing an APA career pathway that aimed to engage all graduate physiotherapists in a lifelong learning pathway from Foundation to Expert. It aligns with international standards recognised in the CanMEDS framework The College has and continues to actively participate in the development of the career pathway and in 2018 established six standing committees to oversee its implementation.
Review and further development of the College’s two-year specialist training program is a continuous process. In 2020, a new category of Membership of the College was introduced and extended to APA titled physiotherapists (physiotherapists with either postgraduate qualifications in a speciality area or successful completion of an APA alternate education pathway). A new specialty area of Pain was introduced and names of two specialty areas were updated to contemporary terms, Women’s and Men’s Health and Sports and Exercise.
Specialisation is contributing to the profession and importantly enhancing patient care in many ways. The clinical excellence required for the award of a Fellowship by Specialisation benefits particularly patients with complex problems. Patients seek specialist care directly and physiotherapists are recognising the advanced skills of specialists and intra-professional referral is increasing. External recognition of the Fellowship as a credential of expertise is increasing with care pathways beginning to refer to specialist physiotherapists. Increasingly compensable bodies are calling on specialist physiotherapists to provide expert level case reviews or patient care and hospitals are seeking specialist physiotherapists for clinical leadership and screening clinic roles. Importantly, the process of specialisation and the training program provides the individual physiotherapist with immeasurable intellectual stimulation and the opportunity to advance their clinical reasoning and management skills.
In 2021, the College celebrated its first 50 years. The near future will see specialisation in other areas as the College embarks on its second 50 years.
NB: The author, Gwendolen Jull, was President of the Australian College of Physiotherapists from 1998 to 2009.
Buenos días desde (Sevilla) España:
El año que yo nací, 1977, una mujer maravillosa como Roberta Sheperd recibió uno de los dos primeros reconocimientos que se realizaron y, en fin, me ha parecido maravilloso conocer este dato. No sé si existirá la foto de ella recogiendo el premio, pues actualmente, en un momento clave de la visibilización de la mujer en la profesión, sería genial que pudieseis compartir una imagen de ella en este contexto.
Enhorabuena por el trabajo que estáis realizando por la Historia de la Fisioterapia en el mundo.
Dra. Raquel Chillón Martínez