A short, structured skills training course for critical care physiotherapists in a lower-middle income country

ABSTRACTObjectives: The aim of this article is to describe the delivery and acceptability of a short, structured training course for critical care physiotherapy and its effects on the knowledge and skills of the participants in Sri Lanka, a lower-middle income country.Methods: The two-day program combining short didactic sessions with small group workshops and skills stations was developed and delivered by local facilitators in partnership with an overseas specialist physiotherapist trainer. The impact was assessed using pre/post-course self-assessment, pre/post-course multiple-choice-question (MCQ) papers, and an end-of-course feedback questionnaire.Results: Fifty-six physiotherapists (26% of critical care physiotherapists in Sri Lanka) participated. Overall confidence in common critical care physiotherapy skills improved from 11.6% to 59.2% in pre/post-training self-assessments, respectively. Post-course MCQ scores (mean score = 63.2) and percentage of passes (87.5%) were higher than pre-course scores (...