Venskus D1, Craig J1, Donovan S1
1Marymount University, Department of Physical Therapy, Arlington, United States
Background: “Experience gained in authentic workplaces that are concurrently involved in education and delivering real-life services is the most important medium through which people learn to practice as healthcare professionals.”1 The context, or environment of learning teaches the learner and, in turn, the learner influences their environment and future practice.1
International service learning and global education programs have existed for many years at academic institutions, however these often limit students as observers without engaging hands-on practice opportunities.
Purpose: This presentation will share practices and outcomes of an ongoing 8-year project in Costa Rica and Nicaragua influencing and advancing physiotherapy practice while providing faculty-guided student-led physiotherapy services to underserved populations.
Methods: This Global Education model uses a 4-6:1 student:faculty ratio for delivering physiotherapy services in partnership with local clinicians/students for collaborative learning and practice. The areas of clinical practice served range from pediatrics to geriatrics, inpatient to outpatient and traverse general practice to specialties in orthopedics and neuro-rehab care. Practice settings are frequently resource scarce with respect to equipment and patient education level, which requires the students to reflect in-practice creative solutions for care. “Normal” physiotherapy practice is often challenged due to these constraints.
Results:
1) Students acquire practice experience in a direct-access climate; they participate in, and lead interprofessional discussions that demonstrate the contemporary role of the physiotherapist in primary care; and practice as primary care practitioners in the absence of other care providers. (Data will be presented detailing student development in the areas of social responsibility, cultural sensitivity and self-efficacy4 in physical therapist practice.
2) Students work alongside faculty in collegial roles to develop and deliver curriculum for teaching in-country practitioners about movement, and the specialty role of physiotherapists as experts in the movement system. In so doing, in-country practitioners conceptualize a more contemporary model of physiotherapist practice.
3) Students teaching students empowers professional identity formation and advancement of practice.
4) Engagement of community leadership challenges the status quo of physiotherapy as an ancillary service toward development of physiotherapy as a principal discipline in primary care.
Conclusion(s): These experiences expand students' capacity to care for individuals with different world views and to collaborate in teams.2 Experiences in action legitimize students' learning3 affording them time to develop relationships with practitioners in the clinic, to understand the culture, to establish and implement plans of care and to train and develop in-country practitioners and advance their practice. Experiences that are repeated over time, albeit with different student groups, build trust and enrich the host location with a regular addition of new learning opportunities and much needed assistance.
This project significantly advances physiotherapy practice in the hosting countries, impacting overall health and movement performance among individuals and communities.
Implications: The model and practices described in this project are adaptable to different curricula and community needs, and thus have the potential to introduce and/or advance physiotherapy practice across regions.
Keywords: Global education, Practice development, Professional development
Funding acknowledgements: This project is supported by the Department of Global Education at Marymount University and by student-led fundraising initiatives.
International service learning and global education programs have existed for many years at academic institutions, however these often limit students as observers without engaging hands-on practice opportunities.
Purpose: This presentation will share practices and outcomes of an ongoing 8-year project in Costa Rica and Nicaragua influencing and advancing physiotherapy practice while providing faculty-guided student-led physiotherapy services to underserved populations.
Methods: This Global Education model uses a 4-6:1 student:faculty ratio for delivering physiotherapy services in partnership with local clinicians/students for collaborative learning and practice. The areas of clinical practice served range from pediatrics to geriatrics, inpatient to outpatient and traverse general practice to specialties in orthopedics and neuro-rehab care. Practice settings are frequently resource scarce with respect to equipment and patient education level, which requires the students to reflect in-practice creative solutions for care. “Normal” physiotherapy practice is often challenged due to these constraints.
Results:
1) Students acquire practice experience in a direct-access climate; they participate in, and lead interprofessional discussions that demonstrate the contemporary role of the physiotherapist in primary care; and practice as primary care practitioners in the absence of other care providers. (Data will be presented detailing student development in the areas of social responsibility, cultural sensitivity and self-efficacy4 in physical therapist practice.
2) Students work alongside faculty in collegial roles to develop and deliver curriculum for teaching in-country practitioners about movement, and the specialty role of physiotherapists as experts in the movement system. In so doing, in-country practitioners conceptualize a more contemporary model of physiotherapist practice.
3) Students teaching students empowers professional identity formation and advancement of practice.
4) Engagement of community leadership challenges the status quo of physiotherapy as an ancillary service toward development of physiotherapy as a principal discipline in primary care.
Conclusion(s): These experiences expand students' capacity to care for individuals with different world views and to collaborate in teams.2 Experiences in action legitimize students' learning3 affording them time to develop relationships with practitioners in the clinic, to understand the culture, to establish and implement plans of care and to train and develop in-country practitioners and advance their practice. Experiences that are repeated over time, albeit with different student groups, build trust and enrich the host location with a regular addition of new learning opportunities and much needed assistance.
This project significantly advances physiotherapy practice in the hosting countries, impacting overall health and movement performance among individuals and communities.
Implications: The model and practices described in this project are adaptable to different curricula and community needs, and thus have the potential to introduce and/or advance physiotherapy practice across regions.
Keywords: Global education, Practice development, Professional development
Funding acknowledgements: This project is supported by the Department of Global Education at Marymount University and by student-led fundraising initiatives.
Topic: Education: methods of teaching & learning; Service delivery/emerging roles; Globalisation: health systems, policies & strategies
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: Marymount University
Ethics committee: Institutional Review Board
Reason not required: Project reports outcomes from academic/curriculum work. There is no research hypothesis tested, therefore ethical approval is not indicated.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
