Comrades marathon for short-term experiential learning as perceived by physiotherapy students: A short report

Abstract

This  study  described  the  learning  experiences  of physiotherapy students during the 2009 comrades marathon. A quali-tative  approach  using  focus  group  discussions  was  employed  for  this study.The population for this study was all the 43 B.Sc. physiotherapy final year students of the university of limpopo, who provided physio-therapy services at the 2009 comrades Marathon. forty (93%) students participated in this study. All the participants were black with majo-rity 23 (58%) of them from the limpopo province. Twenty one (52%) of the participants were females with ages ranging between 21 and 30 years. The field trip provided both sport specific and general learning experiences. participants had the opportunity to handle sports injuries and athletes, work and learn as a team and were quite independent. This trip also provided participants the opportunity experiencing workplace communication and interaction, the reality of the real workplace experience of heavy workload, experience of prejudice, time management and an unsafe environment.Despite organizational challenges of the trip, the event provided an opportunity for the participants to practice sport physiotherapy. Participants appreciated the opportunity to experience the dynamics of team and collaborative learning. To ensure effective use of this event for experiential learning, it is recommended that proper guidance and support be provided by the faculty.