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