An Integrative Curriculum Model Preparing Physical Therapists for Vision 2020 Practice

Background and Purpose. Preparing physical therapist students to enter practice ready to assume high demands for productivity and autonomous practice as called for in Vision 2020 presents a challenge for physical therapist educators today. Although a significant body of education literature exists to guide physical therapist educators in curriculum and course design, few educators actually apply this evidence to their teaching and curricular development with the same rigor used to apply evidence to clinical practice. The primary purpose of this article is to describe a physical therapist curricular model grounded in education literature and research and designed to support efficient and effective learning to prepare physical therapists for practice according to Vision 2020 standards. Method/Model Description and Evaluation. In this model, courses are structured around physical therapist practice settings. Students take 1 course at a time and content in each course is organized into 4 streams: (1) Medical and Behavioral Science; (2) Practice Environment; (3) Examination, Evaluation, Diagnosis; and (4) Plan of Care, Intervention, Outcomes. Content from the streams is purposefully organized to juxtapose medical and behavioral science, clinical application, and practice issues in each course. An integrated clinical education (ICE) component is included. The model is evaluated based on exit interviews of the graduates, results on the National Physi cal Therapy Exam (NPTE), and graduate, alumni, and employer surveys. Outcomes. Students reported that the curricular design and emphasis on context and relevance enhanced their ability to think clinically (ie, think like a physical therapist) and to retain and recall information. No appreciable differences have been noted between licensure results with graduates of this curricular model as compared to graduates of our previous model. Survey data of graduates and employers indicate that this curricular model prepared students well for clinical practice. Discussion and Conclusion. The structure of this model supports a learner, rather than an instructor-centered learning environment. Key structural elements include designing learning activities that reflect Kolb's learning cycle, particularly reflective observation and concrete experiences; using clinical cases and early clinical education experiences (the ICE component) to help students contextualize learning; and sequencing content in a way that mirrors how physical therapists organize, retrieve, and apply information. Our model is an adaptable platform upon which content is organized to help students begin thinking like physical therapists early in their professional education. The sooner students begin thinking like physical therapists, the more likely they will be able to enter the profession as effective and efficient practitioners, prepared to meet the requirements outlined by Vision 2020.