A Comparison of Clinical Performance Outcomes in Short Integrated Versus Single Long-term Clinical Experiences of Physical Therapist Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical performance outcomes of physical therapist students participating in short-term clinical experiences over the course of a year versus a single long-term experience at the end of the first year of a physical therapy curriculum. Two groups of 20 students completed similar didactic course work during the first year of the physical therapist education program. Clinical instructors rated the outcomes of the students on the 24 performance criteria using the American Physical Therapy Association's Physical Therapist Clinical Performance Instrument at the end of 7 weeks of clinical experience. Among all group comparisons, there was no statistically significant difference between the means of any of the 24 performance criteria or the averaged scores. These results were obtained using the Mann-Whitney U test. Previous studies have revealed that longer clinical experiences are more cost-effective for clinical sites. The results of this study suggest that student performance outcomes will not be impaired by waiting until the end of the first year to participate in a single long-term clinical experience.