Team spirit in physiotherapy training
Training as a physiotherapist (m/f/d) is primarily a special way to gain knowledge. For example, about human anatomy, special disease theory and physiotherapeutic treatment techniques. The training period itself brings together a community of people in the physiotherapy school. On site, in addition to the teaching content, values, interaction and togetherness in the industry are also directly or indirectly conveyed and experienced. Even though the learners and the lecturers at X-PHYSIO are familiar with so-called “blended learning”, it has so far been more of a welcome change in the daily learning routine with 1-2 days per month.
Special framework conditions
What happens if this project-like newness now becomes the rule? This happened virtually overnight and, like a real-time training experiment, could be followed by everyone. It felt surreal and the feeling that it was a short-lived temporary state was overtaken by the new normal. Meeting each other at school, exchanging ideas with each other, and
Being together as part of the physiotherapist training was definitely different now. The important spontaneous, extracurricular and informal discussions, which also resulted from the immediate proximity, were now simply missing. The feeling of togetherness can only consolidate slowly, especially among trainees who have just started their training, because the non-verbal communication and physical proximity that are crucial for this only play a limited role in homeschooling. The common experiences and impressions that retrospectively ensure that the life phase of education is filled with very special associations are now extra to generate with the spatial distance. Beforehand, these were created quite automatically, as if by magic.
X-PHYSIO as a community and lifestyle
But here in Bonn at X-PHYSIO | Schule für Physiotherapie, the clocks are always a little ahead of the times. The external circumstances that are beyond one’s direct influence naturally also apply to the teaching facility in Ellerstraße, but the aim is always to make education better and a special time in one’s life. This succeeds above all with the right mindset of the lecturers at the School of Physiotherapy in the centre of the federal city. In this way, possibilities were collected to bring the special togetherness and shared experience, which is usually on the agenda in a physiotherapy training, even if it is only to be found between the lines in the timetable, home to the learners.
Ein gesunder Geist in einem gesunden Körper A healthy mind in a healthy body
Janine Moritz, a sports scientist and lecturer specialising in physical education, had the brilliant idea. What works in workplace health promotion must also bring good benefits in physiotherapist training. She presented this impulse to the lecturers and the school management in one of the regular strategy meetings and received great encouragement. Physical and mental health are more important than ever in times of home offices for teachers and homeschooling for students. The head coach of all teams and the school management have jointly developed an idea of how the school can be active together in a playful way in the home office, so that everyone can experience something together despite the distance. Especially in the training to become a physiotherapist, the theoretical and practical examination of the subject area of sport and movement is of enormous importance. So it is clear that there is much more to it than home office activation and homeschooling. In addition, social interaction is also very valuable for aspiring physiotherapists, because they work with people on the human musculoskeletal system.
A team event with gamification factor connects people with each other even over long distances
Since the thought was formed, there has to be more fun and movement in the everyday life of the trainees in physiotherapy, no matter whether people are currently participating in the training from their desks in Bonn, Brühl, Königswinter, Sinzig, Remagen, Ahrweiler, Hennef, Linz, Alfter, Meckenheim or Bornheim, everyone should be able to join in. So the right digital solution was sought for this. The decision was made in favour of the Teamfit app. This has a high encouragement character for more movement! Trainees and staff can contribute points to their respective teams by exercising and doing sports themselves on a regular basis – 4 weeks, a common goal in addition to the interesting training content. Success is decided solely by the joint team performance. To keep things exciting and for everyone to share the experiences with each other, a social media campaign on the X-PHYSIO channels will accompany all the action throughout the month with impressions of the learners and teachers.
The facts about the first X-PHYSIO Team Challenge
Divided into teams according to lecturers and courses:
- 100 participants
- 7 teams
- Cardio training, strength sessions and coordination workouts
- 4 weeks
- Top prices
How does it work?
- Download the “Teamfit” app to your smartphone (App Store – Google Play Store).
- join the team with the code generated by the head coach
- Complete ready-made workouts or enter your own workout
- Collect as many minutes of exercise or repetitions as possible!
The news shows who collects how many points for the team and which workouts are completed at what intensity. A chat area for mutual motivation and tips from the head coach is of course also included. A large ranking list and several lists sorted by training categories make it extra exciting. So there are many ways to head a list! An individual activity index page shows progress towards the overall goal and your own activity level. In addition, an assessment was of course carried out in accordance with physiotherapeutic methods. The test battery was collected from everyone once before, once during and after the challenge. Thus, the Challenge also had a separate value for the training in terms of content.
Finish
The X-PHYSIO | Team Challenge took place from 1 February to 28 February 2021. The winners were decided ahead of time and so the award ceremony took place two days before the time limit. This of course took place in “Together” mode via Microsoft-TEAMS Meeting. Everything that keeps fit and healthy was diligently recorded and evaluated: Hiking, cycling, walking, strength training, coordination training, yoga, etc.
The winners
- Course X07 (3rd semester)
- Course X08B (Semester 1)
- Course X06B (4th semester)
The individual winner was Nils Mündelein as a competitive swimmer and athlete in the national squad, followed by Pascal Steininger. In the women’s category, Florence Müller collected the most points by riding a lot of kilometres on her unicycle. There were words of praise from the head coach Janine Moritz and the headmaster Daniel Wegen. The winners revealed some little secrets of their success. There was plenty to laugh about and celebrate. The individual winner was even able to spontaneously offer NADA proof of his doping-free status in response to the amusing remarks of some of those present that, given the number of points he had scored, he might have been using performance-enhancing drugs!
The prices
- Photo shoot with gluecklicher FOTOGRAFIE and one set each of Training@Home from PINO® (During the photo shoot, portraits will be taken first. A collage of the team is then created from the individual pictures).
- Exclusive online team training with Andreas “Big Daddy” Kraniotakes (professional MMA fighter, book author and moderator)
- Online group training with a local sports provider from Bonn (member of the ProBaskets)
Greetings from photographer Nadine Albrecht from gluecklicher FOTOGRAFIE and from Andreas Kraniotakes, which were recorded as a video message, rounded off the event. Everyone agrees: After the Challenge is before the Challenge! So you can look forward to what comes next.
Addendum
The lecturers reached the target value and thus the 100% on 27.02.2021. Kudos for that as well. Next to the current workload, this is definitely a considerable achievement. 
