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Paydo C.1, Ulanowski E.1, Danzl M.1
1Bellarmine University, Physical Therapy, Louisville, United States
Background: Physical therapy (PT) education in the United States has evolved to the professional doctor of physical therapy (DPT) degree with 255 accredited programs in 2016. Average class size grew from 35 to 50 students from 2007 to 2015. Program and class size growth necessitates growth in the faculty workforce. The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) reports 282 current and projected vacancies nationwide (2015-2016 report). Half of core faculty are over the age of 50 indicating the need for faculty is likely to continue to rise. One hypothesis for this shortage is that students lack mentorship, role models, and professional guidance to pursue academic careers. The development of programs that meet these needs as well as support faculty scholarship efforts would be beneficial to advancing PT research and cultivating the next generation of PT academicians.
Purpose: To describe an innovative program within a DPT program that serves to cultivate future PT researchers and academicians and advance faculty scholarship, including descriptions of the program origins and the benefits to students and faculty.
Methods: The DPT Scholars program was created four years ago within a DPT program at a liberal arts and sciences university. Students serve as research assistants to faculty (average of five hours/week, six semesters) in exchange for financial support towards tuition. Requirements to maintain the scholarship include: 3.0 grade point average, grades of B or higher in all coursework, contribution to ongoing research projects, and demonstration of ethical behaviors that espouse professional core values. Scholar-faculty dyads are determined by program leadership in consideration of student research skills/interests and the faculty scholarship agendas. Preliminary findings from a qualitative research study highlight the benefits of the program. Faculty perceptions and experiences were collected through individual interviews. Students´ interests were collected through analysis of personal essays from 20 applicants.
Results: Applicants describe interests in conducting research and making a mark on the profession in this regard, as well as the desire for mentorship. Students have participated in faculty-guided scholarship activities including conducting literature searches, recruiting subjects, Institutional Review Board (IRB) proposals, data collection, data analysis, manuscript preparation, and development and delivery of conference presentations. Students also receive mentorship about PhD programs and career paths toward academia and research. Student contributions improve efficiency of research generation and help move scholarship forward to dissemination.
Conclusion(s): Immersing students in research and providing insights into academic culture and life as a faculty member provides students opportunities to grow and develop as future academicians and researchers. This program also provides valuable support to faculty at a teaching intensive liberal arts and sciences university, where research is a component of the distribution of effort. Future research is needed to longitudinally examine outcomes such as the number of DPT Scholars who pursue careers in research or teaching.
Implications: This work provides a springboard to faculty at other programs considering the potential value of developing this type of program to prepare students to pursue careers in PT education and increase faculty scholarship at teaching intensive institutions.
Funding acknowledgements: Funding was not provided for this work.
Topic: Education: continuing professional development
Ethics approval: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Bellarmine University (Louisville, Kentucky, USA) approved this study (IRB #509).
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
