Given the growing interest of the Nigerian physiotherapists in primary care, it is important to understand the general concept of this health care delivery system and the responsibilities associated with being a primary care provider. Physicians are historically trained to shoulder the responsibilities of a primary care provider. Other professionals are also redesigning their curriculum in order to be able to provide primary care within other health care professions such as physiotherapy and nursing due to large number of patients the physicians have to attend to. The evolving primary care practice in physiotherapy is a direct function of the first-contact / direct-access privilege in physiotherapy. This paper describes the concept of primary care and the role of physiotherapists within this practice environment.

 

Keywords: Physiotherapy, Primary Care, direct access, triage, medical screening, imaging, pharmacology.