Rebecca Dillen, MLS 
Health Sciences Librarian 
School of Physical Therapy 
University of the Incarnate Word 

This is an update of my review of AccessPhysiotherapy, which was published in Doody’s Collection Development Monthly in September of 2019. You can find the original review here.   

AccessPhysiotherapy is a multifaceted physical therapy database from McGraw Hill Medical and is part of their array of online healthcare information resources such as AccessMedicine, AccessPharmacy, and the F. A. Davis Physical Therapy Collection. AccessPhysiotherapy contains information for both clinical and academic settings with the intended audience being doctoral physical therapy students, physical therapy faculty members, practicing physical therapists, and now physical therapy assistant students. 

Content 

Content includes textbooks, multimedia, an interactive National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE®) review, case studies, an interactive cadaver dissection tool, study tools, a lecture series, drug monographs, and answers for common conditions. Procedure and exercise videos are partially organized by systems, which aids in learning as well as examination review.   

New content includes the Physical Therapy Assistant Course and Board Review, an ebook version of Physical Therapist Assistant Examination Review and Test-Taking Skills with two coordinating 200-question practice examinations. This addition may make the database more appealing to libraries serving physical therapy assistant programs. In addition, AccessPhysiotherapy now has NPTE Prep Live replay sessions – 13 videos ranging from nine minutes to over an hour that review anatomical systems and help prepare for tests. The most current editions of widely used books such as Dutton’s Orthopaedic Examination, Evaluation, and Intervention are added to the database in a timely manner. Another addition is the Question of the Week, a weekly multiple-choice question diagnosing a hypothetical patient. Unfortunately, the weekly question has not been updated since September 2021.  

Features/Functionality 

The features and functionality of AccessPhysiotherapy are well constructed but have remained primarily the same since 2019. AccessPhysiotherapy has search functions for everything within the database or within a specific book. Users may also do a federated search across all McGraw Hill Medical sites, which continue to grow. The search results filter to content fully available through the institution’s subscriptions. Book and case study content is available via text and audio. Chapter sections can be downloaded via PDF.   

The functionality of AccessPhysiotherapy is greatly increased for users when they create their free MyAccess accounts, which works across all the Access sites. Quiz results can be named and retained,  folders and images can be saved or later downloaded, and the Online Simulated NPTE ®Exam can be taken. Additionally, the individualized dashboard makes it easier to see what other McGraw Hill databases the user may access through their institution. 

Continuing medical education is available for family physicians through AccessMedicine but continuing education units are not available for physical therapists through AccessPhysiotherapy. Perhaps that might be an enhancement in the future.   

Business Model 

University subscriptions are based on a full-time equivalent count of physical therapy students and are renewable annually. One notable feature of this database is the ability to purchase a site license with unlimited concurrent users. Allowing multiple users facilitates course assignments for a cohort of students.   

The McGraw Hill Medical products are also available to individuals through subscriptions. The current published rate for individuals to AccessPhysiotherapy  is $999 per year, which is an increase of over $400 a year. Practicing clinicians might want to compare the content with what is available through their American Physical Therapy Association memberships before making the investment. The 24-hour subscription remains at $34.95, while an additional increment of 48 hours has been added for $54.95. The small timeframes could be worth the investment for recently graduated physical therapists wanting to take the simulated NPTE® or physical therapy assistant graduates wanting to take the two practice examinations. 

Breakthrough 

AccessPhysiotherapy continues to be a sound purchase for university libraries supporting the curriculums of doctoral physical therapy degrees. The books, case studies, multimedia, and NPTE® examination preparation are all robust in content. It is a highly utilized database in our university libraries, primarily for the books, although we are making inroads to the other features. The University of the Incarnate Word School of Physical Therapy students and faculty members are pleased with this database and use it largely in conjunction with the F. A. Davis Physical Therapy Collection.