How do graduating physiotherapy students perceive their professional competence?

In 2010, competence-based education was introduced in the physiotherapy education programme at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences. Competencies are described as the set of knowledge, skills and attitudes required for professional functioning. The purpose of the study was to determine students\u27 perceptions of their competencies acquired at the university and in the clinical setting after a three-year physiotherapy course. The students who participated in this study were enrolled in the undergraduate physiotherapy course offered by the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ljubljana. Fifty-three subjects, 8 males and 45 females, with an average age of 23.8 years (range 22 to 29 years) completed the questionnaire. Physiotherapy competency scale format was used to develop questionnaire for this study. Means and standard deviations were calculated for the overall perception of the students\u27 competencies. Kendall\u27s tau-b and Pearson correlations were calculated (P < .01) for the relationship between students\u27 demographic characteristics and perceptions of their competence. Students\u27 perceptions of their overall competencies averaged 3.58 (.68). The mean of the competencies acquired at the university and in the clinical setting were 3.41 (.74) and 3.74 (.68), respectively. Perceived competence appeared to increase in the clinical setting. This result was expected because students gain a more accurate picture of the complexity of the workplace and can more accurately compare their own competence to the demands of the workplace. To get a more accurate picture of the developmental process of individual students after a three-year course, a longitudinal study would be needed