Doctors of physical therapy

INTRODUCTION: All Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the United States prepare students to demonstrate entry-level clinical performance upon graduation. Clinical residency programs are an option for DPT graduates seeking to specialize in a practice area. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: There is little research published on why DPT graduates decide to pursue residency education (RE) or not. This study aimed to determine factors influencing a Physical Therapist's (PT) decision-making process in choosing to pursue a postgraduate residency...

INTRODUCTION: Hispanic/Latino students often underachieve in higher education programs in the health professions and have shown lower first-time pass rates on the National Physical Therapy Examination than their White peers. A plausible explanation for this difference is the lack of English proficiency. The purpose of this study was to determine predictive academic variables for passing licensure examination on the first attempt for Hispanic/Latino Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Clinical associated faculty (CAF) are typically expert clinicians but novice educators, lacking professional development opportunities targeted to their unique needs. This can result in unnecessary variability in content delivery and potentially negative student learning outcomes. The purpose of this article is to describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a faculty development program designed specifically for CAF. METHOD/MODEL DESCRIPTION AND EVALUATION: Thirty-two CAF completed a longitudinal faculty development program designed by faculty at the University of Colorado Doctor of Physical Therapy Program (CU)...

INTRODUCTION: Faculty development has been identified as an important initiative in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) education. However, little is known about opportunities available for associated faculty (AF). These unique educators who make notable contributions to physical therapist education often lack formal preparation for teaching. The purpose of this study was to explore AF development opportunities across physical therapist education programs nationally. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Formal faculty development programs have been successful in medical and nursing education programs to enhance educator identity, skill, and retention in both core and clinical faculty...

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience (BES-CPE) for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students in the United States. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Belongingness is vital to one's mental, emotional, and physical health. Research has shown that belongingness is positively correlated with students' academic performance and achievement. An absence of belongingness may hinder students' full participation in clinical experiences and compromise clinical achievement...

INTRODUCTION: Video, phone, or in-person site visits are used to assess clinical education in entry-level physical therapy education programs. The perspectives of students and clinical instructors (CIs) related to site visits were examined in this article using 2 consecutive surveys. The first included items related to in-person and phone call site visits. The second added video calls. The research purpose was to assess the CI and student perspectives on the effectiveness of site visits and explore the differences between in-person, video, and phone visits...

INTRODUCTION: Although the provision of clinical education (CE) experiences affords many benefits to clinical stakeholders, little published literature exists regarding the factors influencing decisions of site coordinators of CE (SCCE), clinical administrators, and clinical instructors (CI) to provide CE. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: Site coordinators of CE and CIs navigate workplace expectations while making decisions about their engagement in CE experiences. The purpose of this study was to determine clinical stakeholders' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to the provision of CE experiences for entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy students...

INTRODUCTION: Restrictions on in-person gatherings during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic required educational programs to explore alternative educational formats. The nature of physical therapy education as a blend of cognitive and psychomotor skill presents additional challenges. During a gradual return to in-person learning, the authors' institution chose to break a full-length 15-week semester into 3, 5-week blocks. The first aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of semester design on course performance...

INTRODUCTION: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) education has traditionally been delivered in a face-to-face format. However, alternative educational models are on the rise with the proliferation of hybrid programs. Although hybrid education may benefit students in unique ways, many students prefer the personal interaction afforded by a face-to-face format. An alternative model, Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex), allows students to have the benefits of a hybrid education while allowing for face-to-face interactions...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Data analytics are increasingly important in health professions education to identify trends and inform organizational change in rapidly evolving environments. Unfortunately, limitations exist in data currently available to determine physical therapy (PT) academic excellence. It is imperative that the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) be able to demonstrate data-informed progress in addressing the common challenges faced by Doctor of Physical Therapy programs...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs accept responsibility for the development of clinical skills and professional behaviors in students. Academic and clinical faculty endeavor to teach and mentor at the highest levels. Doctor of Physical Therapy programs that develop leadership intentionally, specifically personal, or self-leadership may be successful in leading positive change within their graduates' relationships, environments, and patient outcomes. Personal leadership means leading from within as an individual and does not require the individual to have a leadership title or role...

INTRODUCTION: Racial or ethnic minorities are underrepresented in many health care professions, including physical therapy. Understanding the experiences of minority students in graduate education provides insight into how physical therapy educational programs can promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, which are factors that have been shown to improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively analyze and describe the lived experiences of Black student physical therapists (PT) in Texas...

INTRODUCTION: This prospective longitudinal study will report the results of a quantitative analysis of the change in Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) scores and the distribution of students in 5 orientations along the Intercultural Developmental Continuum (IDC) in 8 cohorts of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students during their academic preparation. REVIEW OF LITERATURE: The expanding interest in developing intercultural sensitivity in an increasingly more complex and diverse health care environment calls for the dissemination of research on the effectiveness of innovative curricular models that include psychometrically strong outcome measures...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Imposter phenomenon (IP), or perceived fraudulence, describes an ongoing fear of exposure as a fraud or imposter, despite objective successes and accomplishments. Although there is a growing interest of IP in medicine, IP in the physical therapy profession has been minimally examined. We aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of IP among licensed physical therapists in the United States. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study utilized an online survey to assess levels of IP using the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale...

Skills on Wheels, a 5-week pediatric wheelchair skills training program implemented over 2 years, was developed to address confidence, social participation, and mobility for wheelchair-using children. This study tests the hypothesis that pediatric wheelchair skills training will increase wheelchair skill ability, confidence, and participation of wheelchair-using children. Individualized instruction was delivered by occupational ( N  = 50) and physical ( N  = 12) therapy practitioners and doctoral students...

PURPOSE: This study compared Doctor of Physical Therapy students' perceived confidence with evaluating/treating complex patients before and after a case-based patient management course. The impact of simulated learning and prior clinical exposure were explored. METHODS: A longitudinal, pretest-posttest design was used across 4 university campuses. A Physiotherapist Self-Efficacy survey was used to collect student responses before/after the course, related to adequate preparation, verbal/written communication, subjective/objective assessments, interpreting assessment findings, identifying/prioritizing patient problems, selecting appropriate short/long term goals, performing/evaluating treatments, discharge planning, progressing interventions, and dealing with a range of patient conditions...

PURPOSE: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) education continues to progress with contemporary content and innovative teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to examine clinical assessment data from the Physical Therapist Clinical Performance Instrument (PT-CPI) focused on professionalism and safety in an initial clinical experience between an accelerated-hybrid and traditional DPT program. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on mid-term and final Safety, Professional Behavior, and Communication PT-CPI scores of each program's first clinical experience...

PURPOSE: University students generally, and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students specifically, experience stress that may threaten their well-being and academic performance with implications after graduation. Universities can benefit from implementing strategies to help students develop stress management skills. An essential first step is identifying modifiable psychological variables that allow students to cope positively with stress. Psychological flexibility may represent one such variable...

BACKGROUND: Physical therapists (PTs) report job satisfaction when delivering autonomous, high-quality care, but they also experience work-related stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion. Retaining experienced and skilled clinicians is important. However, a subset of PTs are choosing to voluntarily leave clinical practice (i.e., experience attrition). PT attrition may negatively impact patient care, increase organizational costs, and negatively impact the profession. PURPOSE: This study examined the nature of the experiences of PTs voluntarily leaving clinical practice in order to understand factors contributing to PT attrition...

PURPOSE: To describe current substance use disorder (SUD) curricula approaches (e.g., SUD content, assessment) in accredited Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the United States. In addition, faculty expertise and perceptions regarding integrating SUD content in curricula were explored. METHODS: An 18-item survey was emailed to DPT program directors, who were requested to complete it themselves or forward it to another faculty member. Data about SUD curricular content, barriers to implementation, faculty expertise, and demographics were collected...