Undergraduate physical therapy students ́ experiences of supervision during bachelor thesis course

Studies evaluating scientific supervision at the undergraduate level are few and heterogeneous. The aim of this study was to further explore undergraduate students ́ experiences of and thoughts about scientific supervision. The sample of informants consisted of 13 physical therapy students from two Swedish universities. Data collection was done using semi-structured interviews covering the areas of supervision and collaboration. Data analysis was performed according to qualitative content analysis. Three theme emerged from the interviewsthe role of the supervisor, the student's perception of uncertainty and structure of the supervision. Physical therapy students ́ experience of their supervision was dependent on the supervisors’ attributes, both favourable and unfavourable, difficulties with communication, being disregarded and affected by the supervisors’ personal views. This was also put in the context of the current form of supervision, as individual and group supervision brought both positive and negative factors to the experience of the process.