Frequently Asked Questions

1 - Who has the right to vote?

All physiotherapists who, on the date the electoral roll is drawn up (30 October 2025), have not been in arrears with their membership fees for more than six months are eligible to vote.

The following bodies are up for election:

General Council

Bastonary

Jurisdictional Council

Supervisory Board

Regional Directorates

Regional Assembly Boards

Each voter votes in the regional office corresponding to their main professional domicile, as recorded in the Bar Association's registration system.

The rules are stipulated in the Electoral Regulations of the Order of Physiotherapists, available for consultation here.  here.

The Electoral Commission is made up of the chairman of the General Council and a representative from each of the lists admitted to the vote, to be appointed when the respective nominations are submitted.

The Electoral Commission is responsible for:

  • Receiving and admitting nominations;
  • To guarantee and ensure the impartiality and impartiality of the presentation of all lists and candidatures;
  • Supervising the electoral process and resolving any issues that arise within it;
  • Distributing the support resources made available by the Board among the different applications;
  • Carrying out the tabulation of election results;
  • Decide on appeals against the decisions of polling stations.

Nominations must be submitted to the Electoral Commission between 6 September and 6 October 2025.

To submit your application, access the application forms available [here] and follow the instructions provided.

Delivery can be made in three ways:

  1. a) Email:
    Address: eleicoes@ordemdosfisioterapeutas.pt
    The documentation is digitally signed by the Order's services and sent to the list representative, who must confirm receipt in writing.
  2. b) Hand delivery:
    Place: Rua D. João V, n.º 24 - 1.06, 1250-091 Lisboa
    All the pages are stamped and initialled; a copy is given to the representative of the list, who signs the confirmation form.
  3. c) By post:
    Address: Rua D. João V, n.º 24 - 1.06, 1250-091 Lisboa
    The documentation must arrive by the deadline (6 October). The opening takes place in the presence of two witnesses.

Each list must be signed by between 30 and 100 physiotherapists, depending on the body they are running for (30 for regional bodies, 50 for national bodies and 100 for the President). The Parity Law (Law 26/2019 of 28 March) also applies, namely: the first two candidates cannot be of the same sex; there cannot be more than two candidates of the same sex in a row; there must be at least 40% people of each sex.

The Electoral Commission will check that applications are in order, in accordance with article 21 of the Electoral Regulations, within 5 days of receiving the applications, i.e. by 11 October 2025. In the event of an irregularity, the list's representative will be notified and must remedy the situation within 3 working days, by 14 October 2025. If they fail to do so, their application will be rejected within 48 hours, by 16 October 2025..

Each list shall appoint a proxy from among the full members of the Order with electoral capacity, who shall be empowered to represent it throughout the electoral process.

The campaign will run from 20 November to 3 December 2025, ending at 11.59pm the day before election day.

During the election campaign period, the Order will make the following means of promotion and interaction with voters available to the candidate lists:

  • Each candidate list may send up to two emails to voters, to be forwarded by the Order;
  • Messages should be sent in HTML format to the following address: eleicoes@ordemdosfisioterapeutas.pt, clearly identifying the list;
  • The Electoral Commission will define the timetable for despatch, taking into account the order of receipt and the campaign period;
  • No member contacts will be made available or SMS/MMS sent on behalf of the lists;
  • At the request of the lists, hyperlinks may be placed on the Order's website redirecting to the official pages of the respective candidacies.

The Order will also provide occasional access to its premises at Rua D. João V, n° 24 - 1.06, 1250-091 Lisboa.

  • A room with a capacity of up to 15 people can be made available;
  • The request must be sent 48 hours in advance to the official address above;
  • The organisation's services will respond within 24 hours;
  • In the event of overlapping dates, and if there is no agreement between the lists, the premises will be made available to the list whose request was received first, and the other list must suggest an alternative date;
  • The hours available for use are 9am to 6pm on working days.

Under the terms of the Statute, there will be no contribution to the cost of election campaigns, as in previous electoral processes.

The lists will be displayed at the Bar Association's headquarters and made available on the website on 31 October 2025.

Voting will be exclusively electronic, through access to a secure platform. The Order will send credentials by e-mail and SMS in the days before the vote. This electronic vote can be cast remotely, using a device with internet access, or in person, at the premises of the Order of Physiotherapists (Rua D. João V, n.º 24 - 1.06, 1250-091 Lisboa), between 10am and 7pm, with digital accreditation.

Pedro Maciel Barbosa

Specialist physiotherapist at the Matosinhos Local Health Unit Sub-coordinator for Primary Health Care, Matosinhos Local Health Unit Visiting Assistant Professor at the Porto School of Health Member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Health - SNS Member of the General Council of the Order of Physiotherapists

Carlos Sand

Carlos Areia has been a physiotherapist since 2013, and has worked in various hospitals, clinics and clubs in both Portugal and the UK. He began his academic career at Oxford University in 2016, where he led a clinical trial comparing physiotherapy vs surgery in anterior cruciate injuries in 32 hospitals in England. In 2018 she moved to the neurosciences department, where she developed her own studies on remote monitoring of vital signs, which were implemented during the pandemic. Here he discovered his passion for data, and in 2022, he joined Digital Science as a Data Scientist. He completed his PhD earlier this year, and has more than 60 publications in journals such as The Lancet, BMJ, Cochrane, among others. He is also an honorary lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and a consultant in clinical research.

Eduardo José Brazete Carvalho Cruz

PhD in Physiotherapy from the University of Brighton, UK. Post-Doctorate in Epidemiology from the National School of Public Health at the New University of Lisbon.
Coordinator of the Studies and Planning Office of the Order of Physiotherapists. Coordinating Professor of the Physiotherapy Department of the School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (ESS-IPS). President of the ESS-IPS Technical-Scientific Council. Coordinator of the Physiotherapy Department at ESS-IPS. Integrated Researcher at the Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC) (a partnership between FCM-UNL, the National School of Public Health, the University of Évora, the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health and Santo Espírito Hospital, Terceira Island, Azores).

Sara Souto Miranda

Sara Souto Miranda has a bachelor's and master's degree in physiotherapy from the University of Aveiro, and a postgraduate qualification in adult respiratory physiotherapy from the same institution. In 2023 she completed her double doctorate in Rehabilitation Sciences/Health, Medicine and Life Sciences at the Universities of Aveiro and Maastricht (Netherlands) and is currently working as a technical-scientific advisor to the Studies and Planning Office (GEP) of the Order of Physiotherapists, and as a guest lecturer at the Piaget Institute in Vila Nova de Gaia. As a member of the Respiratory Research and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of Aveiro (Lab3R), she has carried out applied research in which she has assessed and treated patients with respiratory pathology, having taken part in 6 research projects. Throughout her career she has published 19 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals with an impact factor, 1 book chapter and more than 50 abstracts in conference proceedings. She was a research volunteer at the Ciro rehabilitation centre (Centre for expertise in chronic organ failure) in the Netherlands, and is currently a member of the Guideline Methodology Network of European Respiratory Society. She was honoured by European Lung Foundation e European Respiratory Society for carrying out patient-centred research, by the Directorate General for Higher Education with a merit grant for his master's degree, and by the Ciro Centre with a grant to support research abroad.

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