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The purpose of this study was to identify entry-level physiotherapists perceptions of workplace injuries in private practice and the strategies they may use to reduce occupational injury risk in physiotherapy. Seventy-nine final year physiotherapy students were presented with a private practice workplace scenario, recent injury statistics, and common job risk factors in physiotherapy and were required to choose between the options of being a salaried employee or contractor and to discuss self-management strategies. This question was part of a substantive written examination that is a compulsory aspect of the final assessment for these students. Students identified nine categories for self-management and reducing injury risk with the majority of students choosing the option of being a contractor in preference to being a salaried employee. Regardless of the preferred employment option, students tended to select self-management strategies that would have a negative impact on income and service delivery and may be reflective of the relative inexperience of these students in private sector workplace settings. Given the high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMDs) in the 5 five years postgraduation, the findings from this study highlight the need for educational institutions and employers to address occupational health and risk factors in physiotherapy, which would include education on prevention as well as appropriate self-management strategies within each workplace.

The aim of this study was to identify the qualities of a "good" physiotherapist and to ascertain the characteristics of good and bad experiences in private practice physiotherapy from the patients' perspective. The nominal group technique was implemented with separate groups of patients (n = 26) and revealed that communication ability, professional behaviour and organisational ability, and characteristics of the service provided were the main qualities of a "good" physiotherapist. In particular, communication ability of the physiotherapist was ranked first or second in importance by all groups of patients. Good experiences in physiotherapy were most often attributed to effective communication by the physiotherapist, while bad experiences most often related to dissatisfaction with the service followed by poor physiotherapist communication. Based on the findings from this study, we suggest physiotherapists should actively seek to involve patients in their management. To do this effectively, physiotherapists would benefit from further training in communication skills to ensure that they can successfully adopt a patient-centred approach and to optimise the physiotherapist-patient interaction in private practice physiotherapy.

This qualitative study utilised the nominal group technique to identify a typology of the difficult patient in private practice physiotherapy and to determine strategies physiotherapists use, and would like to improve, when dealing with such patients. The two areas physiotherapists found most difficult to manage were behavioural problems of patients and patient expectations. Few differences were evident regarding ranking of difficult patient attributes between the experienced (n = 19) and less experienced (n = 18) physiotherapists except for the categories of pain and diagnosed psychological problems. While less experienced physiotherapists ranked the pain category highly, experienced physiotherapists did not identify this category. Further, more experienced physiotherapists specifically distinguished between patients with diagnosed psychological problems and patients with psychosocial concerns, while less experienced physiotherapists did not, and placed both these issues into one category. To assist in their interaction with difficult patients, physiotherapists (n = 37) identified that communication skills and behaviour modification techniques were strategies that they would like to learn more about. The results of this qualitative study contribute to the evolving literature relating to physiotherapist-patient interactions and form a useful basis for educational programs directed at improving the therapeutic relationship in private practice physiotherapy.