Authors: Wieke Tijhuis, Marie-Laure Sibret , Femke Smeets
From: Belgium
PT educational system:
Due to its history, Belgium has developed a complex education system. Education in Belgium is regulated and mainly financed by one of the three communities: the Flemish community (Dutch speaking), the French community and the German community. The national government plays a very small role by indirectly financing the communities. The PT educational system differs in the communities.
In the Flemish part, the PT education is all organized at university (academic) level that consists of a 3-year bachelor and a 2-year master program that allows you to be able to specialize in 6 different fields (for example: neurological or musculoskeletal rehabilitation). Universities can be subsidized public or subsidized private schools.
In the French part, the PT education is organized at vocational level at schools for higher education and at university level. The university program also consists of a three year bachelor program and a 2-year master program. The vocational program consists of a 4 year program: 3-year of bachelor and 1-year of master.
How many schools/ universities do you have?
Flemish community: There are 4 universities that organise PT education at academic level and every university has multiple campuses.
French community: There are 7 schools that offer PT education at vocational level and 3 universities that organize PT education at academic level.
German community: Their students enrol normally in schools in the French part or in Germany.
Name of your students organization(s):
BeStKine: BelgianStudentsKinestherapie
Describe your students’ organization in 3 sentences:
We are still a very small organization mainly focussed on trying to expand our organization and unite all the PTstudents of Belgium. We would like to be able to organize events or PTcourses for our students as extra-training. We also hope to get a voice in different policy meetings at national or community level concerning PT education.
What are the goals of your students’ organization?
Our goals are:
1. To represent the Belgian PT students in all 3 communities and Europe.
2. To detect the needs of students in Belgium and bring them on a policy level.
3. To improve communication between students of the different communities and unite them at events.
How many PT students are there within the organization?
All the universities of the Flemish community have 2 delegates in our organization and we’re hoping the students of the French community will join us soon.
Communication about ECPTS within your country:
The delegates from the universities distribute articles about ECPTS on their own way. It can be published on websites of the faculties or local student organisations. Sometimes they are published in student magazines from the local student organisation.
What is the entry level for working as a physiotherapist in your country?
A master degree is necessary if you want to work as a PT in Belgium.
Do you offer English-speaking courses or summer schools for PTs/ PT-students?
Yes, there are English master programs in PT at university level