PTY1502 · Physiotherapy 1

Overview

PTY1502 Physiotherapy 1 is the main musculoskeletal unit of the Bachelor of Allied Health (Physiotherapy). You will build on the foundations established in PTY1501, extending them to full clinical depth across sixteen weeks of regional musculoskeletal anatomy, pathology, assessment and management. You will study the knee and lower limb, the lumbar, sacral, cervical and thoracic spine, the upper limb, and the hand, with each anatomical region paired to the clinical conditions that make it matter. You will learn to classify pain mechanisms, screen for musculoskeletal red flags, perform systematic physical and neurological examination, apply joint mobilisation and soft tissue techniques, prescribe exercise, gait aids and taping, and appraise clinical evidence to justify your decisions. Learning is organised around rural patient cases and a structured clinical question research cycle that scaffolds learning of new concepts. Safety assessments related to cervical spine manual therapy will be conducted.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook lists an examination for this unit.

Assessment in this unit includes hurdle assessment tasks. Failure of any hurdle assessment task may result in failure of the unit.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Apply knowledge of musculoskeletal anatomy and physiology relating to the spine, lower limb and upper limb to the clinical assessment and management of musculoskeletal conditions across the lifespan.
2. Identify clinical characteristics indicative of dominant pain mechanisms for a given musculoskeletal presentation.
3. Integrate knowledge of dominant pain mechanisms with biopsychosocial factors to support evidence-based assessment and clinical management.
4. Demonstrate appropriate documentation and defensible clinical decision making in response to systematic screening for musculoskeletal red flags, including features of serious spinal pathology, cauda equina syndrome, and cervical vascular involvement.
5. Identify and document psychosocial factors using validated screening instruments in prognosis formulation, risk stratification, and management planning, including the management of patients with compensable and healthcare frameworks.
6. Appraise sources of evidence relating to musculoskeletal clinical presentations, including its suitability to inform clinical decision making.
7. Critique digital health technologies, including those enabled with artificial intelligence, in the context of musculoskeletal presentations.
8. Perform systematic musculoskeletal physical examination, including safe positioning, clear verbal instruction, and appropriate and effective technique.
9. Apply clinical reasoning to implement safe and effective therapist-applied physiotherapy management.
10. Prescribe exercise for musculoskeletal presentations, integrating knowledge of acute-exercise variables and progression frameworks to target specific, age-appropriate adaptation across the lifespan.
11. Apply clinical reasoning to provide functional aids and physical adjuncts, including the safe prescription and fitting of gait aids, and basic taping techniques.
12. Demonstrate person-centred, culturally safe and trauma-informed musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice in simulated environments.

Workload

The indicative workload is 36 hours per week across 16 teaching weeks (approximately 576 hours total). This comprises approximately 16 hours per week teacher-directed activities (13.5 hours of scheduled contact and 2.5 hours of structured asynchronous content) and 20 hours per week student-directed activities.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.