9 research outputs found
The Prevalence and Characteristics of Physical Therapy Pro Bono Services Involving Doctor of Physical Therapy Students
Purpose: The offering of pro bono services has been a historical practice in a number of professions including law and medicine. Medical literature suggests pro bono services provide a vital safety net for individuals who are underinsured or uninsured. Medical students commonly participate in pro bono services, however, little is known about doctor of physical therapy (DPT) student involvement. The purpose of this study was to conduct a survey of physical therapy (PT) programs accredited or in candidacy in the United States to determine the prevalence and characteristics of pro bono services involving DPT students. Method: A 30-item electronic survey was sent to 101 individuals representing accredited or in candidacy PT programs thought to be involved with students in the delivery of PT pro bono services. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Frequency counts and percentages were used to describe prevalence and characteristics of current pro bono services. Results: The response rate was 71.3% with 72 unique institutions completing the survey. Sixty-six institutions reported student involvement in pro bono services and an additional five with plans to start services in the future. The survey yielded data related to institution demographics, general pro bono service characteristics, clinic operations, student leadership, interprofessional interactions and curricular links. Conclusions: Pro bono services involving DPT students are on the rise and the literature points to the importance of PT pro bono services as a rehabilitative safety net and as a creative pedagogy for student professional development. Provision of PT pro bono services may promote public awareness of PT while serving as a catalyst to actualize altruism and social responsibility Core Value expression in DPT students
Investigating the Influence that Service in a Pro Bono Clinic has on a First Full-Time Clinical Education Experience from the Perspective of Students and their Clinical Instructors
Purpose: Academic physical therapy programs strive to foster student readiness for full-time clinical education experiences in a variety of ways. This research looks at one program who has students participate in a student-run pro bono clinic for at least 60 hours prior to the first full-time clinic experience. The purpose of the study is to explore the influence that participation in this pro bono clinic has on a first full-time clinical education experience from the perspective of both the student and the clinical instructor (CI). Methods: Qualitative methodology was employed to gain the perspectives of 29 students and their respective CIs. Data collection included student journals and focus groups, and CI Likert-scale rankings and open-ended questions upon midterm calls. Data points were triangulated through iterative data analysis. Results: CIs rated students high in the eight categories that were triangulated to student data. The themes that were strongest among both students and Cis included comfort with client interaction, interaction with CIs, and cultural competency. Additional themes included documentation, interprofessional interaction, examination, clinical reasoning and intervention. An overarching theme was that students were well-prepared and functioning at high levels of competency for a first full-time clinical experience. Conclusions: Participation in a student-run pro bono clinic helps to facilitate student readiness for a first full-time clinical education experience according to both student perceptions and CI ratings
Curricular Integration and Measurement of Cultural Competency Development in a Group of Physical Therapy Students
Abstract
Introduction and Background
The link between cultural competence and effective physical therapy encounters is established. Physical therapist educational programs face the challenge of fostering the cultural competence of students in effective and meaningful ways within the curriculum. They also face the challenge of measuring the development of cultural competency to establish efficacy in the curriculum. One program measured the development of cultural competency in its students using the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals-Student Version (IAPCC-SV) before and after the program’s various educational opportunities immersed throughout the curriculum that could serve to increase cultural competency. In the three-year curriculum, the students participated in both mandatory and voluntary experiential learning opportunities. Required didactic presentations and activities were integrated throughout the curriculum and designed to enhance cultural competency. Voluntary experiences included providing service and/or leadership to a student-run pro bono clinic. The program was interested in whether cultural competency increased after these experiences and whether leadership opportunities or additional hours of voluntary service beyond the class median caused increases that exceeded the minimal detectable change (MDC) reported in the literature.
Methods
All students completed the IAPCC-SV at the beginning of their Doctor of Physical Therapy education and again at the end of their final year of didactic curriculum.
Results
For the class of 2011, a Wilcoxon signed ranks test noted a significant increase in IAPCC-SV scores from pre-test (56.51 +/- 4.82) to post-test (64.16 +/- 6.19) in the Class of 2011, p .001. For the class of 2012, a Wilcoxon signed ranks test noted a significant increase in IAPCC-SV scores from pre-test (58.87 +/- 5.67) to post-test (64.13 +/- 5.47) in the Class of 2012, p .001. Sixteen students from the class of 2011 and 13 from the class of 2012 exceeded the 8.57-point MDC of the IAPCC-SV.
Discussion and Conclusion
Exposure to a variety of cross-cultural encounters throughout a physical therapy curriculum significantly increases self-rating of cultural competency in these graduate students. Students who take advantage of volunteer leadership roles in extensive cross-cultural encounters may be more likely to achieve an increase that exceeds the MDC on the IAPCC-SV. These results are particularly interesting given that the students themselves were ethnically homogeneous and did not experience cultural diversity within the constituents that made up their class or faculty
Assessing the Development of Civic Mindedness in a Cohort of Physical Therapy Students
Introduction and Background
Colleges and universities have an obligation to educate graduate students who demonstrate civic literacy and who can engage in civic inquiry and action. Service-learning and community engagement courses are highly effective in developing civic-mindedness. Graduate professional programs may have additional reasons for focusing on development of civic mindedness. The purpose of this paper is 1) to determine if civic-mindedness increased in a cohort of physical therapy students exposed to a variety of civic engagement programs and service-learning courses and 2) to determine if there is a difference in civic-mindedness between students serving on a clinic Student Board and their classmates in a graduate physical therapy program.
Methods
The Civic-Minded Professional Scale (CMP) is a 23-item, 7-point Likert-scale survey designed to measure the domains of self-identity; work, career and profession; and civic attitudes, civic action, and public purpose to measure the construct of civic-mindedness. The CMP was administered to a cohort of graduate physical therapy students at the beginning of the professional curriculum and at the end of each of three years of didactic coursework.
Results
Friedman’s repeated measures ANOVA with post hoc testing revealed that civic mindedness increased in our students throughout the course of the graduate physical therapy curriculum.
Discussion and Conclusion
Students involved in service-learning coursework imbedded throughout a graduate physical therapy program had increases in civic-mindedness. Service-learning coursework may be an effective way to develop civic mindedness in graduate students