The Shark Tank Approach to Building Entrepreneurial Savviness in Entry Level Dpt Students
The Shark Tank Approach to Developing Business Savviness in Entry Level DPT Students
Purpose:
The purpose of the presentation session is to demonstrate the process used to prepare the entry level physical therapist student for both a leadership and entrepreneurial role as a practice manager or owner. The presentation discusses a business simulation that is used to foster the learning, critical problem solving, and creativity of the DPT student. This presentation will demonstrate the course content and process whereby the 2nd year DPT student collaborative groups develop a deliverable 100+ page business plan. In 3 ½ months the students progress from concept-to-design and development of a fully actionable business plan that has been vetted by a lawyer, banker, and mentor. The audience will be aware of the action inquiry pedagogy and business simulation that facilitates the self-empowered teams to collaboratively work with expert mentors through concept design, business plan development, and for some the launch of a start-up business upon graduation. The capstone project involves the creation of a private practice concept that is evolved into a fully actionable business plan that is defended at a Shark Tank Method Presentation and vetted by industry experts. In the Shark Tank, student groups present their business plans in a 15 minute presentation with a 10 minute question and answer defense. Investors, business experts and mentors assess the presentations for viability and assimilation of concepts. The investors then assist students in the financial vetting of the project from ideas-to-real businesses. For many entry level students the projects lead to long term desirable clinical careers, management positions, ownership, and bucket-list jobs. The course dynamic includes experiential and simulation learning in a real-world scenario building contextually rich business plans suitable for implementation in a real brick-and-mortar agreement following graduation.
Methods/Description:
The content level of this presentation provides basic entrepreneurial and business simulation modeling for the production of actionable learning, adaptation, and business plan development in a 3 ½ month period during the spring semester of the 2nd year of the DPT student. The presentation includes power point, lecture, and video of student and mentor engagement in idea generation, reflection, and delivery of both business plan presentation and Shark Tank question and answer. The work presented in this presentation is original and is developed from the Experiential Learning Capstone Project Performed in the Physical Therapy Management Course at Augusta University Department of Physical Therapy and is the product of the professor and the 2018 cohort of Shark Tank students.
Teaching Methods include the following approaches. • Short presentation of Pedagogy via Power Point.
• Short Video documentary produced during 2018 Capstone Development activity showing students engaged in the process of action inquiry from idea to 150+ page, actionable, completed business plan to Shark Tank Method Presentation and mentor assessment.
• Examples of business plans produced in the course will be available for review.
• Questions and Answers
Learning objectives for presentation include the following goals. • Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to describe the pedagogy of Action Inquiry and how it can be used to create and build a deliverable business plan with entry level DPT students.
• Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to describe Kolb’s Learning Cycle and how it can be used to facilitate mentor-driven collaborative self-empower teams for entrepreneurial skill development toward business start-up and design.
• Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to describe the entrepreneurial skills that are imparted through the capstone project and how this will serve the entry level student.
• Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to describe the value of this learning process relative to the entry level graduates with the aspiration toward management or ownership of a practice.
• Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to describe the value of this learning process relative to the entry level graduates that does not aspire toward a management or ownership stake.
Results/Outcomes:
Students involved in the course have reported an exponential learning curve in key concepts for entrepreneurial start-up of a private practice. Entering the course students complete a self-assessment of knowledge and upon leaving the course reassess their learning. For the 2018 course sessions students reported a significant growth in three primary areas that are directly related to business plan development. Knowledge growth for the project managers was greater and showed increased desire for mastery verses performance learning. The following assessed areas of knowledge produced the highest level of learning as noted in the chart below. All ten o the assessed questions have shown growth and improvement but the three below are directly related to the business plan development. • My current knowledge in pricing, billing, and coding and how to establish a fee schedule for the clinic is?
• My knowledge in how to project business growth and profitability including a business Pro Forma is?
• My knowledge of business legal structures and organizational structures is?