<b>IDENTIFYING METAPHORS TOWARDS PHYSIOTHERAPISTS</b>

The aim of this study was to identify mental images that physiotherapists and student physiotherapists have regarding the concept of physiotherapist through metaphors. The study was a mixed-methods research that combined latent content analysis and categorical data analysis. Data were collected from 207 physiotherapists or physiotherapy students. Content analysis, a qualitative method, was performed on the raw data, which was composed of each participant’s statement completing the following sentence “<i>Physiotherapist is like… because…</i>”. Metaphors for physiotherapists were centered around 12 concepts. Most cited metaphor by student physiotherapists was “<i>healer</i>” (29.4%) and it was “<i>guiding</i>” (17.2%) for in-service physiotherapists. The rate of the "<i>negative connotation</i>" category in in-service physiotherapists (7.1%) was 2% higher than that of the student physiotherapists. Women mostly emphasized the "<i>healer</i>" (21.9%) category, while men mostly emphasized the "<i>healer</i>" and "<i>supporter</i>" (17.8%) categories. Participants aged under 25 and 26-35 age group were mostly in the "<i>healer</i>" category (26.4% and 18.8%, respectively) but the participants aged 36 years and over mostly opted for "<i>guiding</i>" and "<i>supporter</i>" (20.0%). There were fundamental differences between student physiotherapists and in-service physiotherapists in terms viewpoint regarding physiotherapy as a profession, and that these differences vary by gender and especially by age. During the undergraduate period, it will be beneficial to ensure that students have a realistic perspective with versatile training programs.