New curricula promotes shared learning

The School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) has revamped its curriculum in partnership with the Educational Development Unit (EDU) and the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The school launched a review of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and communication sciences and disorders curricula in 2006.

The aim wasto transform not only the content and structure of programmes in response to higher education and service drivers, but also the experiences of students in the service-learning clinical arena.

Part of the initiative offers senior students the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of multiprofessional practice at selected practice learning sites in and around Cape Town.

Collaborating on case management and then presenting together at case conferences enables students to learn about each other's professions, while appreciating the practicalities of the primary healthcare approach and the need for contextually relevant practice, explains Soraya Maart of the Division of Physiotherapy.