title: Is there an agreement among the items of the Korean physical therapist licensing examination, learning objectives of class subjects, and physical therapists' job descriptions?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the agreement among the items of the Korean physical therapist licensing examination, learning objectives of class subjects, and physical therapists' job descriptions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main tasks of physical therapists were classified, and university courses related to the main tasks were also classified. Frequency analysis was used to determine the proportions of credits for the classified courses out of the total credits of major subjects, exam items related to the classified courses out of the total number of exam items, and universities that offer courses related to the Korean physical therapist licensing examination among the surveyed universities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportions of credits for clinical decision making and physical therapy diagnosis-related courses out of the total number credits for major subjects at universities were relatively low (2.06% and 2.58%, respectively). Although the main tasks of physical therapists are related to diagnosis and evaluation, the proportion of physiotherapy intervention-related items (35%) was higher than that of examination and evaluation-related items (25%) on the Korean physical therapist licensing examination. The percentages of universities that offer physical therapy diagnosis and clinical decision making-related courses were 58.62% and 68.97%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both the proportion of physiotherapy diagnosis and evaluation-related items on the Korean physical therapist licensing examination, and the number of subjects related to clinical decision making and physical therapy diagnosis in the physical therapy curriculum, should be increased to ensure that the examination items and physical therapy curriculum reflect the practical tasks of physical therapists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Inje University Graduate School, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Hyeok
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1530-7254
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Yonsei University, Wonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Oh-Yun
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9699-768X
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Jeonju University, Jeonju, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Wook
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0311-9766
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Nambu University, Gwangju, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Won
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9881-2784
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Daegu University College of Rehabilitation Science, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Ho
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7939-2139
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Silla University Medical Life Science College, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Young
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7549-2375
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Joongbu University, Geumsan, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Hyuk
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0774-5294
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Weon
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Dong-Eui Institute of Technology, Busan, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Sik
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3801-8911
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Inje University College of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Gimhae, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Seop
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1907-0423
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description / Q000592:standards*; D007858:Learning; D008004:Licensure / Q000592:standards*; D059825:Physical Therapists / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000592:standards; D056910:Republic of Korea; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Job description; Korea; Learning; Licensure; Physical therapists