Fernandez-Fernandez A1,2, Gaikwad S1
1Nova Southeastern University, Physical Therapy, Fort Lauderdale, United States, 2South Miami Hospital, Miami, United States
Background: Clinical exposure is a fundamental facet of preparation for physical therapy practice. Unfortunately, there are limited opportunities for full-time clinical placements with certain populations. Previous research supports the use of experiential learning to supplement didactic content, reinforce knowledge transfer, and facilitate critical thinking.
Purpose: This report presents a unique model of an integrated experiential lab in which community volunteers with a lower-extremity amputation participate in a structured one-day experience with students, under faculty and clinician guidance. The goal of the activity was to enhance student learning, increase their awareness of this practice area, and improve their confidence and therapeutic self-efficacy. The purpose of the program evaluation process was to evaluate whether these educational outcomes were met.
Methods: After a didactic module on amputations, third-year PT students completed a full-day experiential lab with volunteers from a local amputee support group. As part of the experience, students performed an initial examination, created a problem list and goals, and designed interventions to address areas of need. Students educated volunteers on individualized home exercises, and performed selected interventions. Students were also asked to summarize their patient cases through oral report to the class, in order to improve their communication and synthesis skills; and also had to document the episode of care. Prior to lab, students completed a self-assessment survey on their perceived confidence and skill self-efficacy when managing this population. After the lab, they completed another survey to assess changes in self-assessment, and impact on learning. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used to compare paired student responses in the baseline and exit surveys. The items compared were related to patient interaction, communication skills, and therapeutic skills. Items that only appeared in the exit survey were analyzed and reported as response frequencies.
Results: Between 2014 and 2017, 162 students completed the lab and surveys. After lab, students reported significant increases (p 0.05) in their perceived understanding of how to support patients through the psychological challenges of an amputation, performing subjective and objective assessments, communicating with a prosthetist regarding patient needs, and applying learned handling skills. Additionally, 89.5% of students reported that the lab helped them better understand clinical decision-making, 92.6% felt they were able to better integrate didactic content as a direct result of the lab, and 83.0% reported an increase in confidence during patient interaction.
Conclusion(s): An integrated clinical experience with individuals with amputations improved student confidence for working with this population, enhanced self-efficacy in therapeutic skills, and enabled clinical application of didactic content.
Implications: The inclusion of experiential activities in the curriculum can serve as a way to better prepare students for future careers in specialized areas of physical therapy, and can facilitate community outreach by seamlessly integrating learning with service. As an added benefit, individuals with amputations who volunteered to participate in the labs also reported high satisfaction with the experience, with a majority of return participants stating that they had adhered to the prescribed home exercise program, or that they had followed up with their prosthetist regarding issues identified during the examination.
Keywords: integrated clinical experience, amputees, education
Funding acknowledgements: Unfunded
Purpose: This report presents a unique model of an integrated experiential lab in which community volunteers with a lower-extremity amputation participate in a structured one-day experience with students, under faculty and clinician guidance. The goal of the activity was to enhance student learning, increase their awareness of this practice area, and improve their confidence and therapeutic self-efficacy. The purpose of the program evaluation process was to evaluate whether these educational outcomes were met.
Methods: After a didactic module on amputations, third-year PT students completed a full-day experiential lab with volunteers from a local amputee support group. As part of the experience, students performed an initial examination, created a problem list and goals, and designed interventions to address areas of need. Students educated volunteers on individualized home exercises, and performed selected interventions. Students were also asked to summarize their patient cases through oral report to the class, in order to improve their communication and synthesis skills; and also had to document the episode of care. Prior to lab, students completed a self-assessment survey on their perceived confidence and skill self-efficacy when managing this population. After the lab, they completed another survey to assess changes in self-assessment, and impact on learning. Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used to compare paired student responses in the baseline and exit surveys. The items compared were related to patient interaction, communication skills, and therapeutic skills. Items that only appeared in the exit survey were analyzed and reported as response frequencies.
Results: Between 2014 and 2017, 162 students completed the lab and surveys. After lab, students reported significant increases (p 0.05) in their perceived understanding of how to support patients through the psychological challenges of an amputation, performing subjective and objective assessments, communicating with a prosthetist regarding patient needs, and applying learned handling skills. Additionally, 89.5% of students reported that the lab helped them better understand clinical decision-making, 92.6% felt they were able to better integrate didactic content as a direct result of the lab, and 83.0% reported an increase in confidence during patient interaction.
Conclusion(s): An integrated clinical experience with individuals with amputations improved student confidence for working with this population, enhanced self-efficacy in therapeutic skills, and enabled clinical application of didactic content.
Implications: The inclusion of experiential activities in the curriculum can serve as a way to better prepare students for future careers in specialized areas of physical therapy, and can facilitate community outreach by seamlessly integrating learning with service. As an added benefit, individuals with amputations who volunteered to participate in the labs also reported high satisfaction with the experience, with a majority of return participants stating that they had adhered to the prescribed home exercise program, or that they had followed up with their prosthetist regarding issues identified during the examination.
Keywords: integrated clinical experience, amputees, education
Funding acknowledgements: Unfunded
Topic: Education; Education: methods of teaching & learning; Musculoskeletal: lower limb
Ethics approval required: No
Institution: N/A
Ethics committee: N/A
Reason not required: All data was collected for educational program evaluation purposes only, and data analysis was done retrospectively on archival data for curricular improvement. All students have since graduated and analysis of the archival data does not impact them in any way.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
