If you’re sitting the APEP exam, cardiorespiratory physiotherapy is a section you cannot walk into unprepared. It covers ten distinct topics spanning cardiac, respiratory, and vascular conditions, and the exam tests them in a way that mirrors real hospital practice: overlapping, interconnected, and rarely textbook-clean.
This blog breaks down every topic on the APEP cardiorespiratory syllabus, what each one actually involves, and how they tend to show up in exam scenarios.
What Is Covered Under Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy in APEP?
The APEP cardiorespiratory physiotherapy section covers ten core topics: heart disease and malformations, myocardial ischaemia and infarction, heart failure and cor pulmonale, pneumonia, atelectasis, respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, COPD, restrictive lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, and peripheral arterial disease. Together these span cardiac, respiratory, and vascular physiotherapy practice.
Below, each topic is explained individually.
Cardiac Topics in APEP
1. Heart Disease, Malformations, and Injuries
This topic covers structural and acquired heart conditions, ranging from congenital malformations to trauma-related cardiac injuries. Examiners expect you to connect the underlying condition to its functional impact, specifically how it affects exercise tolerance, and how physiotherapy assessment needs to adapt around it.
2. Myocardial Ischaemia and Infarction (Including Post-Surgical Management)
This is one of the most heavily weighted topics in the section. You need working knowledge of:
| Area | What You Need to Know |
| Pathophysiology | Difference between ischaemia and infarction |
| Rehabilitation | Post-MI phased rehab protocols |
| Post-surgical care | Management following CABG and similar procedures |
| Safety | Red flags and contraindications to exercise progress |
3. Heart Failure and Cor Pulmonale
Candidates need to distinguish left-sided from right-sided heart failure, and understand how cor pulmonale develops secondary to chronic lung disease. APEP scenarios frequently test whether you can adjust physiotherapy intervention based on NYHA (New York Heart Association) functional classification, so know the four classes cold.
Respiratory Topics in APEP
4. Pneumonia (Primary and Post-Operative)
Community-acquired pneumonia and post-operative pneumonia are managed differently, and APEP expects you to know why. Focus on appropriate chest physiotherapy techniques for each presentation and the risk factors specific to post-operative cases.
5. Atelectasis (Primary and Post-Operative)
Post-operative atelectasis is one of the most common complications physiotherapists manage in Australian hospitals, which makes it a high-yield exam topic. Know your prevention strategies (early mobilisation, deep breathing exercises, incentive spirometry) as well as treatment once atelectasis has already developed.
6. Adult/Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome
This spans acute lung injury and ARDS across both adult and paediatric populations. Expect scenario-based questions on ventilation strategies, positioning (including prone positioning), and the physiotherapist’s specific role within a critical care team.
7. Asthma
A foundational topic, but don’t underestimate it. APEP tests acute exacerbation management, long-term condition education, and exercise-induced asthma considerations, often within the same scenario.
8. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD spans the full disease spectrum, from stable long-term management to acute exacerbations. Pulmonary rehabilitation principles, breathing techniques, and exacerbation triggers are commonly tested here.
9. Restrictive Lung Diseases
Understand the physiological distinction between obstructive and restrictive patterns, since this distinction directly changes physiotherapy assessment and treatment planning. This is a common area where candidates lose marks by defaulting to obstructive-disease logic.
10. Cystic Fibrosis
A chronic, progressive condition requiring long-term airway clearance strategies. APEP may test specific clearance techniques and how physiotherapy fits into multidisciplinary CF management.
Vascular Topic in APEP
Peripheral Arterial Disease
Frequently underprepared for, PAD tests your understanding of vascular assessment and the role of exercise therapy in managing claudication and improving walking distance. Don’t skip this one just because it’s the only vascular topic on the list.
Why Cardiac and Respiratory Topics Overlap in APEP Scenarios
Cardiorespiratory conditions rarely exist in isolation in clinical practice, and APEP scenarios are built to reflect that. A patient recovering from cardiac surgery may develop post-operative atelectasis. Someone with longstanding COPD may present with cor pulmonale. Studying these ten topics in separate silos is one of the most common mistakes candidates make, and it shows up in lower scores on integrated-scenario questions.
The most effective preparation treats cardiac and respiratory physiotherapy as one interconnected system, not two separate revision lists.
How to Prepare for This Section Without Getting Overwhelmed
Ten topics, three organ systems, and a long list of assessment tools can feel like a lot to hold at once. A few things help:
• Group by system, then cross-reference. Learn cardiac topics as one block and respiratory as another, then go back and map where they intersect (heart failure and COPD, post-surgical atelectasis after cardiac procedures, and so on).
• Attach an assessment tool to every condition. Don’t learn pathology in isolation. If you can name the condition, you should automatically be able to name how it’s measured.
• Practise scenario-based recall, not list recall. APEP rarely asks “list the symptoms of X.” It asks you to reason through a case. Practise pulling the right topic and tool together under scenario conditions, not just reciting facts.
• Revisit post-surgical management as its own thread. It appears across ischaemia/infarction, pneumonia, and atelectasis. Treating it as one recurring theme rather than three separate facts saves revision time.
How Academically’s APEP Course Supports This Kind of Preparation
Cardiorespiratory physiotherapy is exactly the kind of section where scattered self-study falls short.
Academically’s APEP preparation course is built around this integrated approach. Rather than working through topics in isolation, the course pairs conditions with their matched assessment tools, works through scenario-based practice questions modelled on Australian Physiotherapy Council-aligned questions reflecting real-time APEP exam scenarios, and includes structured revision material that treats post-surgical management as a recurring theme across cardiac and respiratory topics.
The course includes:
• Live classes covering domain-specific content, paired with recorded lectures you can revisit anytime during the course duration
• AI-based adaptive mock tests that recalibrate practice based on individual performance, so if clinical reasoning or case-based questions are a weaker area, the system adjusts accordingly
• Question banks and high-yield handouts built around APC-aligned questions matched to real-time APEP exam scenarios
• 1:1 mentor support for doubt-clearing, with access to a community of mentors, registered practitioners, and alumni who have already cleared the exam
• Extended access, so course material remains available for more than a year, supporting revision across multiple attempts if needed
Academically has guided more than 10,000+ students across 30+ countries, with a 90%+ success rate on international healthcare licensure exams including APEP, AMC, OPRA, ADC, and DHA.
If you’re preparing for the APEP written assessment and want a structured path through the cardiorespiratory section instead of piecing it together from scattered sources, explore Academically’s APEP preparation course.
Final Thoughts
Cardiorespiratory physiotherapy is one of the most heavily tested and most interconnected sections of the APEP exam. The ten topics outlined here, spanning cardiac, respiratory, and vascular conditions, rarely appear in isolation, and neither should your preparation.
If you’re preparing for APEP and want a structured path through the cardiorespiratory section instead of piecing it together from scattered sources, explore Academically’s APEP course to see how the curriculum is built around how the exam actually tests this material.