Educational Standards

Meet the Standards Committee

The vision statement of IFOMPT is focused on excellence of clinical and academic standards for manual/musculoskeletal physiotherapists. The Standards Committee of IFOMPT is a sub-committee of the Executive Committee and is responsible for advising the Executive on educational issues and maintaining standards.

standards committee

International Monitoring

As the international organisation representing orthopaedic manipulative physiotherapy (OMPT), IFOMPT is committed to the promotion and ongoing development of this area of clinical specialisation. A major function of IFOMPT is to ensure the quality of postgraduate education in OMPT.

The IFOMPT Educational Standards document provides a detailed guide to the standards of education for postgraduate programmes that are considered acceptable to IFOMPT. The process of IFOMPT international monitoring introduces a process to ensure that educational programmes accepted by IFOMPT continue to satisfy these education standards and produce physiotherapists who are able to deliver a high standard of patient care in the area of orthopaedic manipulative physiotherapy.

The international monitoring process is detailed in the Standards Document Part B.

The monitoring status per country can be found here.

International Monitoring Resources
External Assessor Resources

All Member Organisations appoint External Assessors to compile their International Monitoring Reports. For a list of the External Assessors per country, click here

The Standards Committee have developed a range of resources specifically aimed at assisting the External Assessors in conducting their assessments.

Standards Committee Workshop Resources

Reciprocal Recognition

Reciprocal recognition is when OMPT organisations of two countries agree that a member of one Member Organisation is able to become a member of another Member Organisation without added requirements such as further examination, portfolio review, or additional education. Reciprocal recognition is linked to allowing the OMPT trained physical therapist to have the same rights and privileges within the Member Organisation as others within the organisation who have successfully completed an IFOMPT approved OMPT educational programme.

The Member Organisations from Austria, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and USA accept all graduates of IFOMPT approved OMPT programmes as OMPT specialists within their organisations. This is essentially expands the concept of "Reciprocal Recognition" to "Universal Recognition" of the expertise of physical therapists trained in IFOMPT approved programmes for all the Member Organisations that represent these countries.

recognition
 

Note that reciprocal recognition is not linked to registration or licensure to practice in a Member Organisation country. The physical therapist must still meet the country's registration or licensure requirements to work and practice physical therapy.

  • "We strongly support the opportunity for an individual to train in one country and then practice in another country and be recognised by that countries MO, without having to jump through multiple artificial hoops."

    Participant in 2017 IFOMPT Member Benefits Survey

  • "The globalisation of the physiotherapy profession supports practitioners being mobile and expanding themselves. Many MO members have and will travel and work overseas thus RR may permit them to obtain greater recognition in those work environments."

    Participant in 2017 IFOMPT Member Benefits Survey