Impact of Clinical Education Duration on the Leadership Skills Embedded in the APTA Clinical Performance Instrument
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of clinical education (CE) duration (# of weeks) on the assessment of physical therapist students using the APTA Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) criterion. CPI criterion were designated as having embedded leadership skills using the framework of the Seemiller Student Leadership Competencies (2014).Methods/Description: This study compared two separate cohorts of students with different durations of clinical education weeks yet the same sequencing of didacic content. Cohort A = 68 students and Cohort B = 72 students. Both cohorts had an age range of 21-26 years and roughly 75% of the population was female, non-Hispanic white. Cohort A had 32 weeks of CE and Cohort B had 38 weeks of CE. Performance data was collected from the CPI at the completion of full-time CE experiences for each cohort across 6 time points (TPS). Two comparisons were completed on the aggregate scores for Professional Practice (PP) which includes criterions 1 - 6 of the CPI and Patient Management (PM), criterions 7 - 18. Post hoc analysis was completed on individual CPI criterions when statistical significance was noted in the aggregate comparisons. Mean scores were calculated for and data analysis was completed via IBM SPSS Statistics 23 for the following tests: mixed model ANOVA and independent t-tests.Results/Outcomes: A 2 x 3 mixed model ANOVA was used to assess the impact of class cohort (A or B) on performance scores on the CPI. There was a significant interaction between class cohort at the midterm assessment (TP1) for PP and PM. For midterm assessment, TP5, PM exhibited statistically significance difference. Independent t-tests examined each time point and individual criterions. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found for the criterions of professional behavior, communication, and professional development for TP1. For both TP1 and TP5, significant differences (p<0.05) were found for clinical reasoning, professional intervention and outcomes. Additional criterion data will be reported during presentation.Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Our Leadership Landscape: Perspectives from the Ground Level to 30,000 Feet: The development of leadership skills and behaviors during CE is not defined. The APTA CPI does not measure leadership skills explicitly. Literature supports that leadership skills consist of an agglomeration of criterion from both professional practice and practice management. Framing the statistically significant CPI criterion within the Seemiller Student Leadership Competencies, this study demonstrates that CE duration has an impact on the development of leadership skills within the clinic environment especially in the earlier full-time experiences. This study is a unique examination of the impact of CE duration on the development of specific CPI criterion that comprise leadership skills. Additional intentional research is needed to demonstrate the impact of length of CE on the development of leadership skills within the clinic environment and to determine the clinical importance of statistically significant changes in CPI criterion.References: Engelhard C., McCallum C. (2015). A description of current curricular design models used in physical therapy clinical education and their relationship to pass rates on the National Physical Therapy Examination. Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice 13(4), pgs. 1-9. Seemiller, C. (2014) The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook: Designing Intentional Leadership Learning and Development. San Francisco, CA. John Wiley & Sons. Rapport, M, Kelly, M., Hankin, T., Rodriquez, J., Tomlinson, S. (2014). A Shared Vision for Clinical Education: The Year-Long Internship. Journal of Physical Therapy Education 28(1), pgs. 22-29 American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (2014). Clinical Education Summit Report and Recommendations, http://www.acapt.org/docs/default-source/pdfs/clinical-education-summit-2014-final-report-1.pdf, retrieved 11/7/16 American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (2013). Terminology for Clinical Education Experiences Proposed by Academic Council Board of Directors-Terry Nordstrom, http://acapt.myriadmedia.com/docs/default-source/motions/2013-motions/ac-213_terminology_for_clinical_education_passed.pdf?sfvrsn=2, retrieved 11/7/2016. American Physical Therapy Association (2010). Physical Therapist Clinical Education Principles. http://www.apta.org/PTClinicalEducationPrinciples/, retrieved 11/14/16.