NZ Physio Registration study plan

Build a one-page regional musculoskeletal screening checklist (cervical, lumbar, shoulder, hip, knee) covering red flags, and rehearse it aloud on five case vignettes you write yourself.

Map the standard assessment sequence (history, observation, active/passive/resisted testing, neuro, special tests) onto two contrasting MSK presentations and justify each test choice in writing.

Derive the key special-test likelihood ratios you rely on from primary sources and record where each number came from.

Draft ten original MSK clinical-reasoning vignettes with a single best answer and a written rationale for each distractor.

Compare operative versus conservative pathways for two common MSK conditions (for example rotator cuff related shoulder pain and ACL injury) and write the decision points that change your plan.

Construct a progressive loading programme for a tendinopathy case, specifying dosage, progression criteria and regression triggers.

Explain, in writing, how you would adapt MSK assessment for an older adult with cognitive impairment and for a patient with limited English.

Self-mark your Week 1 question set against source texts and rewrite any item where the correct answer was arguable.

Perform and document a full neurological screen (cranial nerves, tone, power, reflexes, sensation, coordination, gait) on a peer or simulated patient and record findings.

Differentiate upper from lower motor neurone patterns using three self-written case vignettes, stating the localising reasoning for each.

Outline assessment and early management priorities for stroke, Parkinson's disease and a progressive neuromuscular condition, citing at least one guideline per condition.

List the outcome measures you would use for each of those three conditions and justify the choice.

Summarise task-specific gait and balance retraining evidence for post-stroke rehabilitation and translate it into a four-week session plan.

Interpret a set of arterial blood gases and a chest X-ray report, writing the reasoning that links findings to physiotherapy action.

Describe airway clearance techniques (for example ACBT, PEP, positioning) with indications, contraindications and when to escalate.

Explain safe mobilisation and early rehabilitation of a patient with an acute respiratory condition, including monitoring parameters that would stop a session.

Build a pre-, intra- and post-session safety checklist for mobilising a patient with respiratory compromise and rehearse applying it to two vignettes.

Write a step-by-step infection prevention routine for a community physiotherapy visit, covering hand hygiene, PPE selection and equipment decontamination.

Identify high-risk scenarios (falls, syncope, desaturation, chest pain) and write the immediate response for each.

Explain the reporting pathway and your obligations after a clinical incident or near miss in a New Zealand setting.

Write out the core obligations of Te Tiriti o Waitangi (partnership, participation, protection) and give two concrete practice examples of each in physiotherapy.

Apply a cultural safety framework to a consultation scenario, identifying where your own assumptions could affect care and what you would do differently.

Summarise the legal and ethical duties around informed consent, privacy, competence to consent and record-keeping in Aotearoa New Zealand, citing the relevant legislation by name.

Draft responses to three ethical dilemmas (boundary crossing, conflicting family wishes, disclosing an error) using a structured decision framework.

Design a discharge and community reintegration plan for an older adult after hip fracture, naming the interprofessional team members and each role.

Explain how the ACC scheme, the public hospital system and primary care interfaces affect a physiotherapy referral pathway in New Zealand.

Compare aged residential care, community rehabilitation and outpatient models and state which patient profile fits each.

Map a frailty and falls-prevention pathway from admission to community follow-up, noting handover points where communication commonly fails.

Appraise one primary study using a critical appraisal checklist and state how it would change your practice, if at all.

Write a short quality improvement proposal (problem, measure, intervention, review cycle) for a real or plausible practice issue.

Complete a 60-question mixed mock exam across all ten domains under timed conditions and review every wrong answer to its source.

Revisit your weakest two domains from the mock and write a targeted 10-point revision sheet for each.