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Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on April 28, 2008
Rheumatology 2008 47(7):1025-1030; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken139
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© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Rheumatology education for undergraduate nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students in the UK: standards, challenges and solutions

S. Hewlett1, B. Clarke1, A. O’Brien2, A. Hammond3, S. Ryan4, L. Kay5, P. Richards6 and C. Almeida6

1School of Nursing, University of the West of England, 2School of Health and Rehabilitation, Keele University, 3Centre for Rehabilitation & Human Performance Research, University of Salford, 4Rheumatology Department, Haywood Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, 5Rheumatology Unit, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 6Academic Rheumatology, University of Bristol, UK.

Correspondence to: S. Hewlett, ARC Professor of Rheumatology and Nursing, University of the West of England, Academic Rheumatology, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol BS2 8HW, UK. E-mail: Sarah.Hewlett{at}uwe.ac.uk


  Abstract

Objectives. Rheumatological conditions are common, thus nurses (Ns) occupational therapists (OTs) and physiotherapists (PTs) require at least basic rheumatology knowledge upon qualifying. The aim of this study was to develop a core set of teaching topics and potential ways of delivering them.

Methods. A modified Delphi technique was used for clinicians to develop preliminary core sets of teaching topics for each profession. Telephone interviews with educationalists explored their views on these, and challenges and solutions for delivering them. Inter-professional workshops enabled clinicians and educationalists to finalize the core set together, and generate methods for delivery.

Results. Thirty-nine rheumatology clinicians (12N, 14OT, 13PT) completed the Delphi consensus, proposing three preliminary core sets (N71 items, OT29, PT26). Nineteen educationalists (6N, 7OT, 6PT) participated in telephone interviews, raising concerns about disease-specific vs generic teaching and proposing many methods for delivery. Three inter-professional workshops involved 34 participants (clinicians: N12, OT9, PT5; educationalists: N2, OT3, PT2; Patient 1) who reached consensus on a single core set comprising six teaching units: Anatomy and Physiology; Assessment; Management and Intervention; Psychosocial Issues; Patient Education; and the Multi-disciplinary Team, recommending some topics within the units receive greater depth for some professions. An innovative range of delivery options was generated plus two brief interventions: a Rheumatology Chat Show and a Rheumatology Road Show.

Conclusions. Working together, clinicians and educationalists proposed a realistic core set of rheumatology topics for undergraduate health professionals. They proposed innovative delivery methods, with collaboration between educationalists, clinicians and patients strongly recommended. These potential interventions need testing.

KEY WORDS: Rheumatology, Undergraduate, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Health professionals, Curriculum

Submitted 29 June 2007; revised version accepted 14 March 2008.
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