A comprehensive 8-month clinical skills training programme has successfully equipped Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals with crucial knowledge and mentoring, improving their ability to treat the growing number of traumatic injuries, burns and wounds in patients across the country.
The need for rehabilitation services in Ukraine has surged dramatically due to the ongoing conflict and the resulting rise in war-related injuries. The Clinical Skills Training Programme, running from August 2023 to April 2024, aimed to strengthen the country’s rehabilitation workforce and improve the quality of care provided. This hybrid programme combined online learning and practical case discussions for Ukrainian rehabilitation professionals, many of whom were leaders of rehabilitation centres. Participants included doctors of physical and rehabilitation medicine, physiotherapists, and one occupational therapist, with representation from eight different regions across Ukraine.
The training involved online courses from Physiopedia Plus (Plus), which served as preparation for twice-monthly virtual meetings focused on discussing practical cases, guided by mentors from the USA and facilitated by Angela Patterson from Physiopedia. A total of 12 mentoring sessions were conducted by highly skilled volunteer international mentors, Rebecca Downey, Lilly Webster and Alfred Bracciano. Simultaneous Ukrainian translation, provided by the Rehabilitation of War Trauma Project in Ukraine, was a distinctive and essential feature of the training, enabling participants to ask questions in their native language and thoroughly engage with the content.
Communication with a mentor helps to organize the rehabilitation process more efficiently and quickly. I will use the knowledge in my practical work to organize training and improve the professionalism of my colleagues, as well as to more effectively organize the educational process for students, future physical therapists, who are undergoing clinical practice in our center. – Andrii Bukhval, physical therapist in Medical Center for Rehabilitation of Participants of Combat Actions Hostilities of Lutsk City Territorial Community
Key topics were chosen in alignment with priorities set by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and Plus online courses covering the following subjects were translated into Ukrainian:
All courses received accreditation from the Testing Board in collaboration with the Ukrainian Physical Therapists Association and were officially included on the list of events eligible for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points in Ukraine. Consequently, certificates with CPD points can be officially recognised as part of the professional portfolio.
Mentoring relationships are important in the work of the team, as it allows sharing experience and information with colleagues, giving advice at team meetings or in individual cases. It is always useful to learn new information that can be helpful at the most unexpected moment of working with patients. I am very grateful for participating in the Program. I listened to almost all the sessions with pleasure. – Oksana Vorobel, Head of physical rehabilitation department in the St. Panteleimon’s Hospital of the First Lviv Territorial Medical Union
Throughout the programme, discussion was actively promoted via the Rehabilitation Community site, where participants and mentors engaged in guided topic discussions, extending the learning experience beyond the formal meetings.
A lack of regular mentorship opportunities exists for many rehabilitation professionals in Ukraine, making this training programme a rare chance to exchange experiences and acquire new skills in the field of rehabilitation.
All was interesting and useful. It was the first experience of a mentoring relationship for me, and there was a lot of new information. I will apply the knowledge when discussing clinical cases with the team, and if there are cases similar to those discussed during the mentoring sessions, I will share how to use this knowledge in practice. – Taras Ikalo, Head of department in the Volyn Regional Clinical Hospital
This programme, featuring a diverse group of participants and mentors and supported by Ukrainian interpretation, concentrated on crucial topics chosen in response to the rising incidence of traumatic injuries, burns, and wounds in the country. By enhancing participants’ knowledge and enabling them to pass this on to their colleagues, the programme has equipped them to become agents of change and significantly elevate the quality of rehabilitation services in Ukraine.
This initiative is coordinated by Physiopedia as part of the “Strengthening Rehabilitation Services in the Health Systems” (SRSHS) activity, implemented by the Momentum Wheels for Humanity, with the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).”
