Getting started with EPT education in Mainz, Germany
Physiotherapy Education in Germany
Physiotherapists in Germany are not all trained at universities yet but, by default, by way of vocational training. If a future physiotherapist wants to study, several so-called model study programs in Germany either accompany the vocational training or integrate the state examination of the vocational training. This short introduction is essential for understanding the study program at the Catholic University of Mainz and the further development of the physiotherapy profession in Germany.
The physiotherapy program at KH Mainz
The Catholic University of Mainz is one of five universities in Mainz. There are approximately 36,000 students in Mainz, 1,500 of whom study at KH Mainz. Its undergraduate and postgraduate courses include Social Work, Migration and Integration, and Health and Nursing. From the second semester of their vocational training, physiotherapists study in the Health and Nursing bachelor’s program. During their training, they study alongside. After the state examination, which allows PTs in Germany to work with patients without direct access, they continue with a further 3 semesters of full-time study. After 8 semesters, they are physiotherapists and Bachelor of Science.
EPT Education Activity
Until now, there have been few activities involving sustainability at KH Mainz. The theme of the 2023 year was sustainability, and the university organized guest lectures and invited staff and students to brown-back lunches on the topic. A group of employees and students participates in the “Stadtradeln” every year, where Mainz invites companies and citizens to save CO2. Within the interdisciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the Faculty of Health and Nursing, no specific projects or educational activities on climate change, environmental physiotherapy, or planetary health exist.
Katharina Bopp (MA)
Research Associate and Lecturer (KH Mainz)
Katharina is a physiotherapist with a Master in Education in Health and Nursing. She is interested in environmental and critical physiotherapy.
Taking a first step
As a first step, the objective of the following activities was to raise awareness of environmental physiotherapy and sustainability in physiotherapy and further motivate students in physiotherapy to make EPT or sustainability in physiotherapy the subject of their bachelor’s or master’s thesis. Therefore, I put up posters illustrating how physiotherapy can contribute to making healthcare more sustainable regarding the adaptation and mitigation of climate change. I put them in prominent positions on the Institute of Applied Research and International Relations Blackboard and at my office door. Further, I have the opportunity to supervise students during their final theses. Within the supervision, I started to educate the students about research paradigms and their variety, which, in a first step, allowed students even to recognize which topics and objects they might be able to research in their final theses.
Feedback
The feedback was positive, and the employees and students identified with the topic. The students received the information on research paradigms with great interest. The work has not yet resulted in concrete projects, but the general interest is recognizable.
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