Integrated Clinical Experiences in a Student Run Pro Bono Clinic Positively Impacts Cpi Categories
Purpose:
The purpose of this poster is to demonstrate the benefit of integrated learning experiences in entry-level DPT programs through participation in a student run pro bono clinic. Success of the learning experience was determined based upon data from the clinical performance instrument (CPI) comparing scores for students who worked in the pro bono clinic versus students who did not work in the pro bono clinic.
Description:
DPT students have an opportunity to partake in the management and treatment of patients in a pro bono clinic on campus that is supervised by program faculty and area clinicians. This begins during the second semester of the program and continues throughout all 3 years. First year students start in more of an observation role with progression to assisting the 2nd and 3rd year students in patient management and treatment as their knowledge and skills increase throughout the first year curriculum. In the second year, the students take a much more active role in the business side and management of the student run clinic in addition to patient examination and treatment. In our curriculum, students complete their first full-time clinical experience after 3 semesters of didactic work, in either home health, acute care, or skilled care settings. They return for 2 more semesters of didactic work and complete a second full-time clinical experience for 8 weeks in an outpatient setting. Final CPI data was collected and compared between students that participated in the pro bono clinic and those students who did not for both the first and second clinical experiences. Data was collected from 4 cohorts and each CPI category score was assessed individually for number of students who ranked above the minimum requirements for the clinical experience in both groups. Data analysis revealed that first year students who participated in the pro bono clinic scored higher in the following CPI categories vs students who did not: Diagnosis and Prognosis, Evaluation, Financial Resources and Supervision of Personnel. Second year students that partook in the pro bono clinic scored higher in all CPI categories on their second clinical experience except Evaluation compared to those students who did not.
Summary of Use:
Providing Integrated clinical experiences through a student run pro bono clinic may help students synthesize and integrate the knowledge learned didactically into their clinical experiences. It also helps students to understand the management/business side of physical therapy and additional patient exposure may help students develop evaluation and prognosis/diagnosis skills earlier in their academic studies.
Importance to Members:
Information from this poster may provide members the support they need when deciding to begin a student run pro bono clinic. It may provide justification for recommending participation in a student run pro bono clinic when there are concerns for a student’s success in their future clinical internships.