Volunteer Orientation Course

Original Editor - Rachael Lowe

Top Contributors - Admin, Kim Jackson, Rachael Lowe, Tony Lowe, Wendy Walker, Evan Thomas and Richard Benes  

Introduction[edit | edit source]

Physiopedia is the largest online resource for our profession in the world. It is a community-created resource and relies on physiotherapists all over the world to create, review and update content. A major part of this process is undertaken by our volunteer team whose role is to oversee the development of the Physiopedia content. All members of this team are graduates from our Volunteer Orientation Course.

The Volunteer Orientation Course runs twice a year in the spring and autumn. You can register your interest here. The next course in 2022 will be held later in the year..

Course Aim[edit | edit source]

The aim of the Volunteer Orientation Course is to prepare individuals to be a part of the Physiopedia volunteer team.

Course Co-ordinators[edit | edit source]

During this course you will be personally mentored by Physiopedia co-founder and trustee, Rachael Lowe and several of the current volunteers.

Course Summary[edit | edit source]

This free 3-week course is completely online. There is no specific time that you need to attend, you can do the course in your own time at a time that suits you, as long as you finish within the three weeks.

You will be given several tasks each week that you can complete in your own time, these tasks are to:

  1. Complete between 2 and 5 learning activities each week
  2. Look at additional readings, videos and resources
  3. Contribute to the online discussion on our chatting platform, Slack

You will also be actively encouraged to share your course activities and reflections through your own social media platforms.

Course Outline[edit | edit source]

  1. Week one: Exploring Physiopedia - you will create your profile page on Physiopedia and explore all corners of the Physiopedia project
  2. Week two: Reviewing and updating content - you will review and update an existing page in Physiopedia
  3. Week three: Creating new pages - you will create a new page in Physiopedia

Learning Objectives[edit | edit source]

At the end of this course you will:

  1. Be familiar with the many varied aspects of the Physiopedia project.
  2. Be confident to edit Physiopedia.
  3. Be familiar with the Physiopedia quality standards.
  4. Have an idea of what role you would like to have in the Physiopedia project.
  5. Develop key professional skills such as digital skills, social media skills and online professionalism.

Accreditation, Assessment and Certification[edit | edit source]

On the successful completion of this course (assessed by the course co-ordinators) each participant will be provided with a certificate of completion from Physiopedia plus a Yellow Belt badge. These will be awarded provided you have:

  1. Completed your Physiopedia profile page.
  2. Reviewed and updated an existing Physiopedia page.Created your own new Physiopedia page.
  3. Contributed to the discussion in Slack each week.
  4. Completed your volunteer orientation activity report.

Time Commitment and Location[edit | edit source]

This course is 3 weeks long. Participants will be required to devote a minimum of 4 hours per week to the course. There is no specific time or place that you need to attend, you can do the course in your own time at a time and location that suits you.

Intended Audience[edit | edit source]

This course is suitable for any physiotherapist or physical therapist who would like to contribute to the Physiopedia project as a part of the official volunteer team.

Participants on this course must be:

  1. A physiotherapist or physical therapist.
  2. Intending to take on a volunteer role within the Physiopedia project on completion of the course.
  3. Committed to making monthly contributions to the Physiopedia project.
  4. Willing to make edits to the Physiopedia website.

Course Contacts[edit | edit source]

Throughout this course you should email us if you have any problems at all. We would prefer that you let us know about problems or difficulties that you have encountered so that we can amend the guidance documents or create help videos and provide feedback and training where appropriate.

Contact course co-ordinator

Useful Links[edit | edit source]

You might find these resources useful throughout the course: