The physical therapy profession needs to increase the number of minority providers to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse U.S. population effectively. However, neither the student body nor faculty demographic adequately reflects the population, leading to the problem of practice: the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minority faculty…

Physical therapy has changed from its humble beginnings as informal classes for reconstruction aides (RAs) educated in gymnasiums to the professional education programs for students graduating with an entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy. The occupation, now a profession, complete with autonomy, direct access, and great responsibility for…

This study sought to investigate the course constructs that allied health and nursing faculty perceived as limiting their ability to implement technology in allied health field and nursing curricula. While technology is and has been a part of the higher education process, including allied health education, there are no hard and fast…

Purpose: The primary purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention including the use of a clinical reference tool on the clinician's knowledge and self-efficacy scores in peristomal management. A secondary purpose compared the participant's knowledge and self-efficacy based on the education delivery method of…

Healthcare education guides students in obtaining skills to promote health in others. In working towards this goal, graduate students in healthcare programs potentially suffer from increased stress while undergoing the rigor of a medically based academic program. The purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of a learning community…

Problem Statement: Residency programs that emphasize clinical reasoning and manual therapy can provide a means to optimize the outcomes of physical therapy without the need for or access to expensive equipment. The residency format of continuing education could allow physical therapists in developing countries access to specialty training and…

This study examined the relationship of the scores on the Practice Exam & Assessment Tool (PEAT) to the scaled scores on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). A correlation analysis examined the relationship of the exam scores from three cohorts of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students on the PEAT and NPTE. This study sought to…

Training healthcare practitioners on cultural competence, as well as increasing the cultural diversity of healthcare professionals, may help to alleviate barriers and improve patient outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to conduct a cross-sectional survey in order to collect data and evaluate (a) the extent to which…

Physical therapy students are frequently ill-prepared to practice in the dynamic healthcare environment immediately after graduation. Implementing other teaching modalities may help to better prepare physical therapy graduates. Medical student and nursing education have effectively used simulation to help prepare students effectively for clinical…

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the effects of teaching a mindfulness curriculum to graduate physical therapy (PT) students in the classroom. The researcher investigated two research questions. How does training PT graduate students in mindfulness strategies affect self-regulation, stress management, and trait mindfulness in…

Students at the graduate level undergo higher levels of stress compared to their peers, and this stress is known to affect academic performance. Most of the research is focused on the negative aspect of stress. Positive psychology aspects, such as eustress and flow, are related to success in some activities; however, it is unknown whether these…

Problem Statement: Physical therapist (PT) students report discord between what they learn in the academic environment and what they experience in clinical practice. Despite increasing reporting requirements, standardized tests and measures (STMs) are not well integrated into routine clinical practice. The primary purposes of this study were to:…

Clinical education has long been an area of concern for physical therapy education. From a review of current literature, it is clear that professional behaviors, communication skills, and clinical reasoning skills are vital skills for healthcare practitioners to develop. The problem that this research addressed was the lack of quantitative…

Graduating sufficient numbers of healthcare providers to fill the needs of an aging population in the United States is a major social concern. To address this problem physical therapist assistant (PTA) programs need to improve their graduation rates to keep up with the demand for qualified personnel. Applying Senge's theory of effective systems, 1…

INTRODUCTION. The learning style of a student is an important factor in their ability to gain knowledge. This is especially important in challenging curriculums such as the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. A common tool to assess one's learning style is The Kolb Learning Styles Inventory (LSI). A common tool used to measure the…