Rehabilitation research: Core principles
Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at University of Copenhagen
This is a generic course. This means that the course is reserved for PhD students at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at UCPH.
Anyone can apply for the course, but if you are not a PhD student at the Graduate School, you will be placed on the waiting list until enrollment deadline. After the enrollment deadline, available seats will be allocated to the waiting list.
The course is free of charge for PhD students at Danish universities (except Copenhagen Business School), and for PhD students at NorDoc member faculties. All other participants must pay the course fee.
Learning objectives
A student who has met the objectives of the course will be able to:
1. Design a pre-, post-, and non-operative rehabilitation intervention that can be used in clinical research and implemented in clinical practice.
2. Describe the intervention to ensure that it can be replicated by others.
3. Plan and design a pre-, post-, and non-operative rehabilitation research study.
4. Define outcome measures to evaluate the effect of a rehabilitation intervention.
Content
This course introduces the core principles of rehabilitation research. Students will be presented with definitions of rehabilitation as a concept in the Danish healthcare context.
The course primarily covers pre-, post-, and non-operative rehabilitation of patients who are or have been either admitted to a hospital or have consulted specialized care at an outpatient clinic.
This course will provide insights into how rehabilitation interventions can be tailored to specific populations, injuries, diseases, or surgical interventions.
It covers the principles and methodologies for creating structured and effective rehabilitation interventions and specific reporting guidelines, such as the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT).
Furthermore, research design considerations will emphasize the importance of selecting research designs based on the specific research question, and the randomized controlled trial will be presented as a foundational method.
Students will gain insight into relevant study design and reporting checklists.
Additionally, the course will cover considerations around outcome measurement, including functional and patient-reported outcome measurement tools for evaluating intervention efficacy.
The course will also explore how to design rehabilitation research that can be implemented in clinical practice.
Participants
PhD students from all graduate programs interested in rehabilitation research.
Relevance to graduate programmes
The course is relevant to PhD students from the following graduate programmes at the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences, UCPH:
- All graduate programmes
Language
English. Danish if only Danish participants.
Form
The course combines lectures from teachers with group work followed by group presentations, feedback from instructors and peers and discussions.
Participants will complete a pre-course assignment that includes an abstract of a rehabilitation intervention protocol that is aligned with their research interests or clinical context, along with focused questions.
The assignment should be submitted two weeks before the course and will serve as a foundation for group work and discussions. The assignment comes in addition to preparatory reading.
Course directors
Lina Holm Ingelsrud, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen/ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital - Amager and Hvidovre. Lina.holm.ingelsrud@regionh.dk
Maria Swennergren Hansen, postdoc, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Research - Copenhagen (PMR-C); Department of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager and Hvidovre. Maria.swennergren.hansen@regionh.dk
Teachers
Maria Swennergren Hansen, post.doc (Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager and Hvidovre), Thomas Maribo, Professor (Aarhus University), Jan Christensen, Associate Professor (University of Copenhagen), Tomas Bandholm, Professor (University of Copenhagen), Jeanette Wassar Kirk, Associate Professor (Copenhagen University Hospital, Amager and Hvidovre & University of Southern Denmark) and Lina Holm Ingelsrud, Associate Professor (University of Copenhagen).
Dates
November 10 - 11, 2025 - 9-15:30 both days
Course location
Copenhagen University Hospital – Hvidovre, Kettegård Alle 30, 2650 Hvidovre
Forsknings- og Udviklingsbygningen, Room 10
Registration
Please register before October 10, 2025
Expected frequency
The course is expected to be provided annually.
Seats to PhD students from other Danish universities will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and according to the applicable rules.
Applications from other participants will be considered after the last day of enrolment.
Note: All applicants are asked to submit invoice details in case of no-show, late cancellation or obligation to pay the course fee (typically non-PhD students). If you are a PhD student, your participation in the course must be in agreement with your principal supervisor