2.10 Supervised Clinical Practice Hours

Date Approved: May 9, 2013
Date Effective: May 9, 2013
Date Revised: February 24, 2020

Scope
This policy applies to all internationally-educated physiotherapists applying to CAPR’s credentialling process.

Principles
Minimum requirements for supervised clinical practice hours are necessary to ensure that clinical practical skills were attained and evaluated and represent the skills expected of a university-trained graduate across the scope of practice present in the Canadian healthcare system.

Purpose
To provide clarity regarding the minimum requirements an applicant must have with respect to supervised clinical practice hours.

Definition
Supervised clinical practice consists of supervised and evaluated experience as a physiotherapist-in-training within an entry to practice program, where the student gains practical experience and engages in a range of professional opportunities in various settings, for the purpose of learning and applying physiotherapy knowledge, skills, behaviours and clinical reasoning. Supervised clinical practice does not include academic classroom hours or practice on other students or staff. (Adapted from the 2011 Clinical Education Guidelines for Canadian University Programs.)

Policy
An applicant’s entry to practice, university level physiotherapy degree must have a component of supervised physiotherapy clinical practice that consists of:

• A minimum of 1025 hours supervised clinical education in total, with
• A minimum of 100 hours in musculoskeletal, 100 hours in neurological and 40 hours in cardiorespiratory conditions.

The applicant must have successfully completed the minimum number of hours outlined above.

Where an applicant has an entry-to-practice, university level degree in physiotherapy, the successfully completed supervised clinical practice hours may be accepted from the following sources:

• The entry-to-practice, university level degree in physiotherapy from a recognized/accredited university;
• A college program in physiotherapy, whether recognized/accredited or not, but where the hours have been explicitly accepted as transfer credit by the recognized/accredited entry-to-practice, university level degree program in physiotherapy;
• A non-entry-to-practice Master’s degree in physiotherapy from a recognized/accredited university.

Where an applicant does not meet the required hours of supervised clinical practice, they may be eligible to address these gaps by having worked hours as a physiotherapist recognized as prior learning when the applicant has successfully completed:

• A minimum of 820 hours of supervised clinical education in total, and
• A minimum of 80 hours in musculoskeletal, 80 hours in neurological and 40 hours in cardiorespiratory conditions.