This study examined the perspectives of three graduates of a problem-based learning (PBL) physical therapy (PT) program about their clinical practice. Researchers used qualitative methods of observation, interview, and journaling to gather the data. Three sessions of audiotaped interviews and two observation sessions were conducted with the three…

People with spinal cord injury have behavioral tendencies that place them at-risk of such injuries. This study investigated the relationship between personality characteristics as suggested by manner of onset of injury and long-term medical, vocational, and psychological adjustment. Imprudent subjects tended to be better adjusted at follow-up than…

This research report describes the reliability and validity of hand-held dynamometer measurements of knee extension force obtained from 13 patients referred for physical therapy. Results found that hand-held dynamometry can be used to obtain reliable measures of muscle strength; however, correlation between strength measures and function was not…

Occupational and physical therapy students (n=78) were assigned to pairs based on learning style (both abstract-experimentation, both reflective-observation, or mixed). On a collaborative exercise, mixed pairs did not perform significantly better than homogenous ones. Pairs' average grades correlated strongly with performance, suggesting that…

A survey assessed the financial, family, educational, and psychosocial needs of 196 nontraditional students in physical- and occupational-therapy programs. Results indicate that 65% agreed that those needs were being met. Local clinical placements and stipends were more beneficial than part-time, night, or weekend opportunities. (JOW)

Physical therapy students (n=28) completed the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) and California Critical Thinking Skills Test before and after the academic year and after clinical placements. Greatest critical thinking improvements occurred in truth-seeking, critical thinking self-confidence, and deduction. Student review…

Children with multiple handicaps, including cerebral palsy (CP), often lose or regress in their functional ability through adolescence and young adulthood. The purpose of this study was to examine functional and psychosocial changes in children, adolescents, and young adults with CP. A retrospective chart review and a prospective telephone…

The study confirmed previous research indicating that workshop training by itself is an ineffective method of increasing direct care staff compliance to treatment prescriptions, and that providing direct staff supervisors with a training and management tool (prescriptive checklists) may be an effective alternative for serving multihandicapped…

The neuromotor development of Down's syndrome (DS) infants is reviewed, current physical therapy approaches are cited, a neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) approach is described, and a study on the effects of NDT on motor performance in DS infants is reported. (SB)

The first of three successive classes of beginning physical therapy students (n=17) completed traditional cadaver anatomy lecture/lab; the next 17 a self-study computerized anatomy lab, and the next 20 both lectures and computer lab. No differences in study times and course or licensure exam performance appeared. Computerized self-study is a…

The study investigated the effectiveness of an instructional program designed to promote independent walking in a mentally and physically handicapped (cerebral palsied) preschooler involving a collaborative effort between a behavior therapist and a physical therapist in an interdisciplinary setting, a public school. (Author/DB)

This study used bibliometric analysis of the published literature (as represented by six journals) in physical and occupational therapy to compare the fields. The study found substantial overlap between the fields but also sufficient diversity for the professions to be regarded as different. Each profession is urged to become acquainted with the…

Responses from 74 of 148 directors of accredited physical-therapy-education programs indicated the following: (1) 76-100% of chairs and faculty and 20-57% of students, alumni, and staff participate in institutional assessment; and (2) 90% of directors believed the new accreditation criteria were important guides for program effectiveness. (SK)

This study examined the effectiveness of activities associated with transdisciplinary teaming and integrated therapy on targeted motor responses of three elementary age students with multiple disabilities during the general education classroom routine. All three students immediately increased and maintained their target motor responses under the…

This study focuses on the attributes of students of Physical Therapy, and compares the profiles of students of Physical Therapy in two institutions of higher learning in Israel, Ben Gurion University (BGU) and the Academic College of Judea and Samaria (ACJS), Israel's largest public academic college. This study focuses on this department, where…