Azzam Alarab^1*, Safa Abu Abed¹, Philip Afghani² and Iyad Abu Radwan³

¹Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Post Graduated Studies and Research, Palestine Ahliya University, Bethlehem, Palestine
²Department of Clinical Sciences, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Port Orange, FL, USA
³Physiotherapy Department, Hebron University, Hebron, Palestine

*Corresponding Author: Azzam Alarab, Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Post Graduated Studies and Research, Palestine Ahliya University, Bethlehem, Palestine.

Received: June 02, 2026; Published: June 26, 2026

Abstract

Background: Over the past few decades, the physiotherapy discipline has developed very fast, which led to growing significance, methods, venues, and obligations of its specialists. It is important to understand the way in which students perceive their future profession in order to develop a proper curriculum and improve their careers.

Objectives: The objective of this research was to explore the way in which undergraduate physiotherapy students in Palestine perceived their training programs and their views on the physiotherapy profession.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey on a five-point Likert scale was performed among 311 undergraduate physiotherapy students at five Palestinian universities: Palestine Ahliya University, Bethlehem University, Al Quds University, An-Najah National University, and Palestine Polytechnic University.

Results: The research found that personal curiosity and motivation to help others play an important role in attracting people to the profession (54.7% found "desire to help others" very influential). The availability of employment and reputation of the university play a moderate role in influencing the perception of students. A majority of the respondents considered physiotherapy to be a reputable profession (53.4% agreed/strongly agreed). However, students felt concerned about lack of employment opportunities (only 28.3% felt that there were enough opportunities available), lower salary levels (23.1% agreed on competitive salary levels) and lack of advancement opportunities (27% found development opportunities adequate). Some of the major barriers in the field include lack of faculty support (59.3%), heavy academic work load (54.8%) and clinical placement opportunities (41%). There is a negative correlation between age and perception (r = -0.140, p = 0.013), whereas positive perception correlates with satisfaction (r = 0.245, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Although the field of physiotherapy is respected in Palestine, there are various obstacles like lack of employment opportunities, low salaries and insufficient institutional support that make professional advancement difficult.

Keywords: Perceptions; Physiotherapy; Satisfaction; Undergraduate Students

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Citation

Citation: Azzam Alarab.,et al. “An Exploration of Palestinian Physical Therapy Students' Attitudes and Perceptions Toward their Field". Acta Scientific Orthopaedics 9.4 (2026): 01-09.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2026 Azzam Alarab.,et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.