C. Footer1, T. Longbottom1
1Baylor University, Doctor of Physiotherapy Program, Waco, United States
Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the delivery of entry-level physiotherapist education around the world. The development of a hybrid model for entry-level physiotherapist education offers solutions to some of the resultant challenges. Within this model, creative strategies used to rethink and reorganize the essential neurologic curriculum provides an opportunity to re-imagine the content and delivery mode of physiotherapist education. The new curriculum reduces the redundancies in the neurologic content and allows for uninterrupted access to pandemic and post-pandemic education around the globe.
Purpose: To re-imagine the content and delivery of the neurologic curriculum in a hybrid entry-level physiotherapy education program.
Methods: The neurologic faculty team at Baylor University evaluated traditional ground-based program neurologic curricula to establish redundancies and need-to-know versus nice-to know content. A new streamlined and robust neurologic curricula was generated that used four main methods for teaching a learning, including
(1) online (on-your-own, asynchronous),
(2) remote real-time faculty instruction (regularly scheduled synchronous sessions),
(3) in-person lab immersions, and (4) evaluative activities.
(1) online (on-your-own, asynchronous),
(2) remote real-time faculty instruction (regularly scheduled synchronous sessions),
(3) in-person lab immersions, and (4) evaluative activities.
Results: The review of the neurologic curricula reduced 70 weeks of instruction in the ground-based programs to 32 weeks in the hybrid program. The hybrid program consisted of four courses with a neurologic focus, including:
(1) 6-week Movement Science course that integrated topics of the International Classification of Function, neuroplasticity, motor control, motor learning and movement analysis,
(2) 12-week Clinical Neuroscience course that emphasized neuroanatomy and neurophysiology with a clinical emphasis on the neurological screen and examination, and
(3) two 7-week Neuromuscular Practice courses that emphasized a clinical decision making framework integrating content from Movement Science, Clinical Neuroscience, ICF, Hypothesis-Oriented Algorithm for Clinicians, Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, and Evidence-Based Practice.
Since the initiation of this program in 2018, two cohorts of students have completed this neurological curriculum, with 100% of the first cohort having successfully passed all clinical education courses. Ninety-two percent of these students were able to complete their licensing examination prior to the interruption of the examination schedule caused by the pandemic. The first-time pass rate was 91.5% and an ultimate pass rate of 94.4% as of June, 2020. Further review of the licensing examination revealed that all students successfully passed the specific neurologic content area by scoring above the minimum requirement of 600/800 points in the content area. Data for the second cohort will be available after they complete their clinical education at the end of 2020 and their licensure examinations in the spring of 2021.
(1) 6-week Movement Science course that integrated topics of the International Classification of Function, neuroplasticity, motor control, motor learning and movement analysis,
(2) 12-week Clinical Neuroscience course that emphasized neuroanatomy and neurophysiology with a clinical emphasis on the neurological screen and examination, and
(3) two 7-week Neuromuscular Practice courses that emphasized a clinical decision making framework integrating content from Movement Science, Clinical Neuroscience, ICF, Hypothesis-Oriented Algorithm for Clinicians, Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, and Evidence-Based Practice.
Since the initiation of this program in 2018, two cohorts of students have completed this neurological curriculum, with 100% of the first cohort having successfully passed all clinical education courses. Ninety-two percent of these students were able to complete their licensing examination prior to the interruption of the examination schedule caused by the pandemic. The first-time pass rate was 91.5% and an ultimate pass rate of 94.4% as of June, 2020. Further review of the licensing examination revealed that all students successfully passed the specific neurologic content area by scoring above the minimum requirement of 600/800 points in the content area. Data for the second cohort will be available after they complete their clinical education at the end of 2020 and their licensure examinations in the spring of 2021.
Conclusion(s): The re-imagined neurological curriculum for entry into the physiotherapy profession can be provided in a hybrid model. Students completing the hybrid model demonstrated effective learning by successfully completing the national licensing examination.
Implications: The ability to provide effective education in a hybrid model generates new possibilities for access to education in environments where travel is difficult or attending a centralized ground-based program becomes prohibitive. Moving forward into the post-pandemic world, the re-imagined model should continue to thrive around the world as the desired results can be realized within a well-planned and streamlined hybrid curricula.
Funding, acknowledgements: Funding was not acquired for this project
Keywords: Education, Neurologic, Hybrid
Topic: Education
Did this work require ethics approval? No
Institution: N/A
Committee: N/A
Reason: This project addresses new and unique developments in approahcing education with a non-taditional model.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
