title: Physiotherapists and Physiotherapy Student Placements across Regions in Ontario: A Descriptive Comparison.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the distribution and type of physiotherapy student placements in one year relative to the number of practising physiotherapists of Ontario.
  
  
  METHODS
  Site information about physiotherapy students' clinical placements in Ontario in 2010 was obtained from Academic Coordinators of Clinical Education. Worksite information about physiotherapists who reported providing direct patient care at a primary employment site in Ontario and at least 600 practice hours in their annual renewal was obtained from the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario. Each placement and each physiotherapist was attributed to one of Ontario's 14 local health integration networks (LHINs). For each LHIN, a ratio of student placements to practising physiotherapists was calculated, using summed counts. Counts of placement types by setting, patient mix, and practice area were also calculated for each LHIN.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 5 LHINs in which the university programmes are located had high placement:physiotherapist ratios, from 0.92 to 0.38. The other 9 LHINs had lower ratios, the 3 lowest at approximately 0.15. There was a wide mix of clinical placement types across LHINs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physiotherapists' participation in physiotherapy students' clinical education varied widely among Ontario regions. Future research could explore whether regional differences are persistent, why they occur, and whether they should be reduced.
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston.
authors.forename: Kathleen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston.
authors.forename: Randy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: Northern Ontario School of Medicine-West Campus, Thunder Bay ; Lake of the Woods District Hospital, Kenora.
authors.forename: Brock
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chisholm
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Cindy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ellerton
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Ottawa.
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jelley
authors.affiliation: School of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Macphail
authors.affiliation: Physical Therapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston.
authors.forename: Paula E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Mooney
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.affiliation: Northern Ontario School of Medicine-East Campus, Sudbury.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taipalus
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.
authors.forename: Bronwen K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Thomas
keywords: clinical competence; delivery of health care; education, professional; health manpower; physical therapy; students, health occupations