Engaging, Inspiring and Developing Physical Therapist Students Into Leaders: A Call to Action
Purpose: The Student Leadership Development (SLD) subgroup, appointed by the Leadership Development Committee (L-DOC) of the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT), is in the process of defining pathways for current and future student leadership skill development, by exploring existing mechanisms and identifying gaps. Our mission, through collaboration with other components and stakeholders within the American Physical Therapy Association, is “to engage, inspire and develop physical therapist students into leaders who advance the profession.” The purpose of this dynamic forum is to present current resources and best methods for development of students into leaders, and then seek input and ideas from program chairs, faculty, directors of clinical education, clinical instructors, clinical leaders, and students to guide this endeavor. Our goal is to identify current and emerging resources, and identify opportunities for future development, and to inspire current leaders to begin identifying, mentoring, and training students to become future leaders of the profession.Methods and/or Description of Project: The session will begin with a presentation of current ideas, endeavors and resources, followed by focused roundtable discussions and brainstorming sessions with participants. Each table will have a representative of the SLD, to guide discussions and gather ideas, information, resources, concerns and passions from participants. After gathering this information, we will begin developing a training program to be used throughout the nation's physical therapist education programs.Results/Outcomes: Ideas, resources, and questions will be identified and shared with the participants, to instigate a broader attempt to develop students into future profession leaders. Information will then be used to develop surveys develop training programs. The leadership program ideas and resources created would be one that could be used in all programs, to increase the number of students who have the opportunity to explore stheirleadership potential, and become ready to begin leadership roles at the local, state, national and international level. We will end with "a call for action," to encourage academic and clinical leaders to begin identifying students for leadership development opportunities.Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Our Leadership Landscape: Perspectives from the Ground Level to 30,000 Feet: This educational session is very relevant to the themes of the 2018 ELC. We are seeking to get input from key stakeholders to begin shaping a program to develop leaders for our profession. We will discuss the opportunities to embed leadership training during both the didactic and clinical portion of physical therapy programs. The leadership program developed from this session would be to develop students who can become leaders at the local, state, national and international level.References: Campbell, C. M., Smith, M., Dugan, J. P., and Komives, S. R. Mentors and college student leadership outcomes: The importance of position and process. The Review of Higher Education. 2012; 35(4): 595-625. Komives, S.R., Longerbeam, S.D., Mainella, F., Osteen, L., Owen, J.E. and Wagner, W. Leadership identity development: Challenges in applying a developmental model. Journal of Leadership Education. 2009; 8(1): 11-47. Murphy, S. E., and Johnson, S. K. The benefits of a long-lens approach to leader development: Understanding the seeds of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly. 2011; 22(3): 459-470.Course Objectives: 1. Discuss the need for engaging, inspiring and developing physical therapist students into leaders. 2. Share brief case examples of strategies attempted and outcomes achieved. 3. Seek input on current approaches and resources for student leadership development throughout the didactic and clinical education experiences. 4. Discuss gaps, barriers and opportunities for student leadership development. 5. Develop actionable steps. 6. Inspire participants to begin seeking opportunities to develop students into leaders.Instructional Methods: The session will be introduced with a presentation of best methods from current practice and literature reviews for developing students into leaders, followed by roundtable discussions to collect ideas from key stakeholders. These inclusive discussions will gather current resources and endeavors, identify gaps in current endeavors, seek opportunities to provide training, and barriers to the proposed nationwide leadership training program, develop the next steps in the program, and encourage current academic and clinical leaders to begin identifying and educating students to explore leadership roles.Tentative Outline/Schedule: Agenda 15 min. Overview - The Need for Student Leadership Development, sharing brief case examples 25 min. Roundtable Discussions - Seeking Input (guided discussion/questions) 25 min. Roundtable Discussions - Gaps, Opportunities & Barriers (guided discussion/questions) 15 min. Roundtable Discussions - Actionable Steps 10 min. Wrap up and call for action