Barbara Sanders

Flipping Texas State University's Physical Therapist Musculoskeletal Curriculum: Implementation of a Hybrid Learning Model

Background and Purpose. Although our vision of physical therapist practice has changed considerably for future generations, methods of teaching have not reflected a similar transformation. Additionally, students of today have an inherent comfort level with technology. The “flipped” classroom is an approach designed to meet the distinctive set of expectations and requirements faced by physical therapist educators. The purpose of this paper is to describe the methods and outcomes of a blended learning approach— using the “flipped” classroom model—when delivering musculoskeletal content to first‐year physical therapist students. Method/Model Description and Evaluation. In this “flipped” classroom model, students view lectures prior to class, leaving class time for instructors to engage students with critical content clarification and valuable clinical reasoning as well as active learning activities (eg, psychomotor skills lab). Outcomes. Student response to a webbased survey indicated overall satisfaction with the usefulness and effectiveness of the recorded lecture format and the instructors. Faculty response was positive and overall class outcomes were improved from traditional delivery. Discussion and Conclusion. The model presented in this paper describes the implementation and evolution of a “flipped” classroom to teach musculoskeletal content to first‐year physical therapist students. Student response indicated that the model was useful and effective, while qualitative feedback suggested means for improvement.

Minority Recruitment and Retention Strategies in Physical Therapist Education Programs

Background and Purpose. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were direct relationships between: (1) the number of recruitment and retention strategies and the number of minority students who were accepted into, enrolled in, and graduated from a physical therapist education program and (2) the number of minority full‐time faculty and the number of minority students who were accepted into, enrolled in, and graduated from a physical therapist education program. Subjects. The sample used for this research study consisted of 76 of 173 physical therapist programs in the United States accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) in 1999. Methods. The program director at each program surveyed completed a questionnaire. The responses served as the data utilized for this research study. Results. The results were analyzed using descriptive analysis and Pearson product moment correlations. More recruitment strategies was not significantly correlated (r=.210) with having more minority applicants. Number of minority recruitment strategies was not correlated with number of first‐year minority students (r=.119). Retention strategies were correlated with a greater percentage of minority graduate students (r=.382, P<.05). Special retention efforts also were significantly correlated with number of graduating minority students (r=.350, P<.01). There was a correlation between minority faculty and minority applications (r=.426, P<.01), although there was no correlation between number of minority faculty and number of first‐year students (r=.173) and graduating minorities (r=.219). Discussion and Conclusion. The results indicate that physical therapist education programs: (1) are deficient in keeping ethnicity and racial data of minority applicants; (2) are deficient in keeping data related to the reasons why minorities fail to graduate; (3) have more minority applicants and minority graduates when utilizing special efforts to recruit and retain minorities, respectively; (4) have more minority graduates when using more retention strategies; and (5) have more minority applicants when having more minority full‐time faculty.

A Survey of Essential Functions and Reasonable Accommodations in Physical Therapist Education Programs

ABSTRACT: Physical therapist (PT) education programs are required to make reasonable accommodations to any student with a disability according to the Americans Wth Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. Although not mandated by law, postsecondary institutions are advised to develop a list of essential functions in an attempt to comply with the ADA. The list may be used to determine whether a student with a disability can complete the PT curriculum with or without reasonable accommodations. The primary purpose of this study was to obtain the most current data regarding the existence and use of essential functions in accredited PT education programs. In addition, the study was designed to determine the types of disabilities most prevalent in PT education programs, describe the types of reasonable accommodations made for students with disabilities, and identify the time frames in which essential function lists are introduced to students. A survey instrument designed by the investigators was mailed to 171 accredited PT education programs in the United States. The results of this study indicate that 54% of the respondent programs (n=112) had developed a list of essential functions. Thirty percent of the programs introduced the list to prospective students prior to admission, whereas 22% did so during admission and 25% did so after admission. The results further indicate that learning disabilities are the most prevalent type of disability (73%) that required the use of reasonable accommodations. The most commonly used reasonable accommodation was extension of examination times and deadlines (71%). Findings may provide useful information to programs as they attend to the expectations of the ADA and to meeting the needs of students with disabilities.

An On-Site Clinic: A Model for Part-Time Concurrent Clinical Education

ABSTRACT Clinical education is an essential component of physical therapist professional education. This article describes the development, implementation, and clinical operation of a part-time concurrent clinical education experience within a physical therapist education program. Students, faculty, and the community recognize benefits of the on-site physical therapy clinic. Students have an early opportunity to incorporate their academic skills into clinical practice under the direct supervision of instructors. Faculty have an on-site place to practice and share their clinical skills with students. The community benefits from having ready access to physical therapy services at modest costs. Coordinating the schedule of academic classes and patient treatment sessions has been the primary challenge associated with the on-site clinic. Overall, the on-site clinic has proved a beneficial educational experience, providing students with early patient interaction and an alternative clinical education opportunity. INTRODUCTION Clinical education experiences are an essential component of a student physical therapists professional education and provide a vital link between academics and clinical practice. These experiences allow students to apply theoretical knowledge and skills acquired in an academic setting into their clinical practice, bridging the gap between theory and reality in the practice environment and providing students with opportunities to establish working relationships with patients, colleagues, and other health care providers within a practice setting.1 The clinical education experiences allow students to develop skills and patterns of interactions under the supervision of experienced physical therapist clinicians for correction, guidance, and refinement of skills, an opportunity not easily available in the classroom setting.2 Traditionally, clinical education is coordinated within the curriculum plan, with students assigned to clinical education experiences in facilities external to the academic setting. This relationship confirms the shared responsibility between academic and clinical faculty described by Windom.3 The academic faculty member responsible for coordination of clinical education is usually the academic coordinator of clinical education (ACCE) or the director of clinical education (DCE). This individual works with the center coordinator of clinical education (CCCE) and the clinical instructor (CI). This approach requires minimal involvement of the academic faculty during the clinical education sequence, whereas the major responsibility for coordination of the students clinical education at the facility lies with the CCCE and the CI. As indicated by several authors,4-7 a common problem in clinical education occurs early in the clinical education experience. Initial clinical education experiences, which are often designed to be completed prior to completion of the professional phase of the curriculum, require increased level of clinical supervision. In addition, limited availability of sites for early clinical education experiences is problematic due to changes in the health care delivery system, such as staffing patterns, productivity standards, and scheduling variations.7-9 As the number of physical therapy education programs increases and physical therapy practice changes, alternative approaches to clinical education will be needed. Wells and Lessard10 suggested that clinical and academic faculty work cooperatively to address the overlapping components associated with education of a physical therapist. Academic faculty have the responsibility of preparing students with the relevant theoretical frameworks required to provide high-quality patient management, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention. In addition, faculty are responsible for bolstering the development of professional behavior, appropriate communication skills, and the ability to participate in administrative and consultative activities. …

Process Model for Physical Therapy Student Selection: Policy-Capturing Approach

ABSTRACT: Policy capturing is the identification and quantification of attributes pertinent to a decision and subsequent mathematical description of the decision policy to evaluate these attributes. This study developed and tested the applicability of policy capturing to student selection in physical therapy programs and identified which attributes had the most and least influence in policy development. Admissions committees of five physical therapy education programs participated in a simulated student‐selection process. Using nine predictor variables, 19 participants ranked applications of 74 students based on any criteria they selected. Multiple regression analysis provided 19 different equations indicating the relative weights for each predictor variable. These equations represented the studentselection policy of each committee member. A grouping technique was used to develop a policy for each university committee and an overall policy. Minimal similarity existed among the 19 individual equations. The committee policies included the same predictor variables in the three most heavily weighted variables: science grade‐point average, written communication, and cumulative grade‐point average. These same variables were most influential in the selection process. The results of this study demonstrate that policy‐capturing is a suitable process model for developing admissions policies in physical therapy education.

A Team Approach: Leadership in Physical Therapy Education

ABSTRACT: A philosophy of academic leadership is described that builts upon a sports analogy. The contributions of team members, the team captain, and the coach are described as interacting to enable the realization of a vision and goals and to promote cooperation, commitment, trust, persistence, and optimism. Processes such as facilitation, mentoring, and lifelong learning are described as essential for effective leadership and organizational success just as they are in sports competition and training. Continuing education is essential for developing and improving one s leadership skills. Leaders in physical therapy education, like captains and coaches, serve as role models and have a significant impact on the behavior of their faculty members.

More on the DPT.

To the Editor: I read with interest the letter from Konrad Kuenstler, one of our members in the Texas Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association, that was published in the July issue of the Journal. Clearly, Mr Kuenstler feels passionately about the issue of moving aggressively to the doctorate in physical therapy (DPT) to allow us to invoke the term “doctor.” He has raised this issue within the chapter, and, although his viewpoint has not generated a groundswell of support from either the rank-and-file membership or the chapter leadership, we are pleased to see his willingness to pursue the issue. We will be stronger as an organization for having created the forum for this dialogue. There were a couple of points made in Mr Kuenstlers letter to which I feel duty bound to respond as the spokesperson for the chapter.… [ ARTICLE][1] [1]: /lookup/volpage/78/780?iss=7