Ethical practice is often treated as something clinicians absorb through experience or professional codes alone, rather than a skill that can be deliberately developed. A new 8-course programme on Physiopedia Plus (Plus) challenges that assumption, positioning ethical reasoning as a structured process, one that draws on theory, communication skills and an understanding of how values are formed, rather than relying on instinct alone.
Led by physiotherapist and researcher Andrea Sturm, the new Mastering Professional Ethics Programme on Plus gives rehabilitation professionals a structured way to build ethical reasoning skills that hold up across diverse clinical and cultural contexts.
No matter in which field of rehabilitation you work, ethical issues connect us all.
The 8 courses build progressively, starting with the RIPS Model of ethical decision making and the Ethical Reasoning Bridge, before widening out to ethical theory, professional codes, values and communication, and finally to applied ethical situations and the emerging challenges of AI use in healthcare.
Here’s what you’ll work through across the 8 courses:
- Understanding frameworks and theory: the programme introduces the RIPS Model and Ethical Reasoning Bridge as practical tools for working through ethical dilemmas, then situates these within a global perspective on ethical theories, recognising that ethical reasoning does not look the same in every cultural or regulatory context.
- Developing your professional identity: the programme traces how professional codes of ethics have developed over time and explores the relationship between personal and professional values, helping you understand where your own ethical instincts come from and how they intersect with formal codes.
- Putting ethics into practice: ethical practice is framed not just as a set of rules but as something enacted through everyday communication with patients, families and colleagues, with the final courses applying this thinking to real ethical situations in healthcare and rehabilitation, including the responsible use of AI.
What runs through the programme is the idea that ethical reasoning, like clinical reasoning, is a skill that develops with deliberate practice rather than something fixed by training alone. This makes it relevant not just to individual clinicians but to those teaching students or training other healthcare providers.
“This course has made total sense of the need for interaction between ethics and clinical reasoning to practice physiotherapy to the full. The lecturer was excellent and provided a structured explanation of the different aspects involved. This was all brought together in a case study with a most rewarding outcome. I would say that this is an essential course for every practising physiotherapist and related therapists.” – Plus learner, Ethical Reasoning Bridge
As the programme puts it: “each one of us can be part of the solution in responding to the burning questions in healthcare of the 21st century. Your moral agency is required wherever you might live and work, and your active contribution could make a difference in moving the profession forward.”
The Mastering Professional Ethics Programme is available now through a Physiopedia Plus subscription. If you want to sharpen the ethical reasoning behind your clinical decisions, this is a solid place to start.
This article was written by one of our course instructors...
Stacy Schiurring
DPT
Learning Architect, Physical Therapist
Physiopedia Plus