GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF TRAINING IN PHYSICAL THERAPY IN BRAZIL: DISORDERED GROWTH AND REGIONAL INEQUALITY

Abstract

The incredible growth in the number of Physical Therapy schools in Brazil needs to be analyzed. There was a 476 percent increase in the number of courses located in major cities and in private educational institutions between 1995 and 2008. Aiming to analyze the distribution of Physical Therapy schools in the different Brazilian regions, identifying the institutions offering presence and distance education, a quantitative, exploratory, and cross-sectional study was carried out based on secondary data collected from the e-MEC site in 2015. The number of openings and school distribution were listed based on population estimates. Physiotherapy courses are concentrated in large cities, making it difficult for the population in the interior to have access to them. The highest concentration is in the states of São Paulo (239 courses), Minas Gerais (152 courses), and Paraná (120 courses), where most professionals are also located. Course distribution analysis identified the need to invest in opening courses in Northern Brazil. The unbridled growth of Physical Therapy schools, coupled with the lack of criteria for opening new courses in the country, reiterates inequalities in the distribution of professionals.

physiotherapy; distance learning; education