ORCID

Abstract

Purpose: Physiotherapists and Osteopaths have been found to have more similarities than differences but are they able to work well together when necessary. The two professions are likely to share patient populations due to their similarities and it has been found that there are benefits for both clinicians and patients when they are able to work together. Students start to establish their professional identity and lay the foundation of their knowledge of other professions during degree learning, therefore do these professions have knowledge of the other profession and do their views and perceptions align with working in an interprofessional collaboration.Methods: Surveys were undertaken to investigate the views and perception that osteopath and physiotherapy students held of one another. The physiotherapy students were recruited from one university in the Southwest and the osteopath students were recruited from a university in London.Results: 22 students were recruited in total. 12 participants were physiotherapy students and 10 were osteopath students. The main themes that appeared were uncertainty around the other profession, limited knowledge on the range of treatments the other profession can provide and that students place high importance on interprofessional learning and see benefits of working together.Conclusion(s): The findings from this study align with the previous research. The osteopathy students and physiotherapy students have limited knowledge of each other, with some preconceived notions around treatment techniques and little opportunity to learn about the other profession before working in practice. Students generally place high importance on their interprofessional learning and can see potential benefits of being able to work with the otherprofession. Greater emphasis should perhaps be placed on teaching both cohorts about the other profession to ensure they have the necessary knowledge to learn from, refer to and collaborate with the other profession appropriately once in practice.Impact: Further insight into this topic could be beneficial for students’ interprofessional understanding of one another and lead to greater interprofessional collaboration and research in order to best maximise patient care.

Publication Date

2025-11-21

Event

CSP Annual Conference 2025: Future directions in physiotherapy

Deposit Date

2026-02-27

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