STUDENT MEMBERS' ATTITUDES, PERCEPTIONS, AND EXPECTATIONS REGARDING A STUDENT SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP OF A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION

M. Jamin¹, W. Ge^2,3

Background: Student members make up a significant portion of membership for professional organizations including the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Providing high-quality services to student members is very important for the long-term retention of the membership and cultivation of future association leadership. Student Special Interest Groups (SSIGs) are very important for providing services to student members. Currently, there are 18 Sections and 51 State Chapters as the components of the APTA and only 29 State Chapters and 4 Sections have a SSIG. Each SSIG structure varies greatly based on their organizational set up but a common goal shared is the formation of relationships based on common clinical interests. A petition to integrate a SSIG within the Academy of Clinical Electrophysiology and Wound Management (ACEWM) was submitted in July 2018 and was officially accepted in October 2018. Students generated the petition with subjective statements regarding what they perceived was a lack of representation in the areas of wound management, electrophysiology, and biophysical agents in their Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curriculum.

Purpose: It may be presumed that a SSIG is beneficial based on the sheer number of them or by anecdotal reports of their benefits. However, limited data exists to support this statement. Through the identification of expectations of student members, organization leaders will be better suited to organize their SSIG to improve student members’ experience. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes, perceptions, and expectations of student members in the ACEWM.

Methods: The research design was a cross-sectional survey. A total of 10 questions were administered using SurveyGizmo. Demographics were also collected. All 179 student members of the ACEWM were contacted via email.

Results: A total of 56 responses (14 males and 43 females) were received. The response rate was 31.3%. Most students strongly agreed or agreed that they were aware that ACEWM has an SSIG for no additional cost to join in (71.2%), that the SSIG was valuable to them as a student member (71.2%), that it was important to interact with other students with a similar career interest as theirs (93.3%), that the SSIG should promote a culture of clinical excellence (96.6%), and that it was important to network with expert clinicians with a similar career interest as theirs (98.3%). For education programs to supplement their DPT curriculum, most students strongly agreed or agreed that the SSIG should offer more educational programs on electrophysiology (71.2%), wound management (89.8%), biophysical agents (69.5%), and diagnostic ultrasound (69.5%). Lastly, most students strongly agreed or agreed that they would gain valuable skills, knowledge, and professional opportunities by being a member of the SSIG (85.8%).

Conclusion(s): The data indicated student members had positive attitudes and perceptions regarding SSIG. They expected that SSIG can offer education programs to supplement their DPT curriculum.

Implications: The results inform the SSIG’s future activities and can be used to guide the improvement of services to student members within the Academy. The results are also useful for other APTA components and professional organizations in prioritizing their services to their student members.

Funding, acknowledgements: None.

Keywords: Students, professional organizations, survey

Topic: Professional issues: business skills, leadership, advocacy & change management

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Youngstown State University

Committee: Institutional Review Board

Ethics number: 183-19