Defining Core Faculty for Physical Therapist Education

Abstract

Background and Purpose. With the rapid transition in professional (entry-level) educational preparation from the master's degree to the doctoral degree in physical therapist education, the need for doctorally trained faculty is likely to increase substantially. Several different doctoral degrees that may meet the academic qualifications expected of core faculty members currently are offered; however, these doctoral degrees vary widely in their educational focus, rigor, and philosophy. Such differences in doctoral preparation, combined with faculty shortages, have increased the debate over the necessary academic qualifications for people who serve as core faculty members in physical therapist education programs. The purpose of this article is to suggest that the ideal faculty team in professional physical therapist education should include a balance of people possessing terminal academic degrees in physical therapy or a closely related field, people possessing terminal professional clinical degrees with documented clinical specialization, and people possessing terminal academic degrees in foundational sciences with or without physical therapy degrees. Position and Rationale. A diverse core faculty with a balance of academic training in complementary fields will benefit an education program in many ways, such as providing breadth of expertise, serving to maintain academic standards in doctoral education, and meeting requirements established by accrediting agencies and home institutions. Discussion and Conclusion. For programs providing professional physical therapist education, a variety of doctorally prepared people should be actively recruited for core faculty positions. Once hired, these faculty members should be vigorously supported and mentored so as to ensure their success in meeting the faculty expectations established by their academic institutions and pertinent accrediting bodies. Key Words: Core faculty, Academic qualifications, Accreditation, Terminal degree. Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE At present, there are shortages of faculty in physical therapist education.1 This problem may be compounded by the transition to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) as the accepted professional credential. With such a transition, the need for core faculty members to be doctorally trained is likely to be substantially increased because of the need to satisfy both institutional and accreditation standards requiring that recipients of doctoral degrees be trained by doctorally prepared faculty. Determining how best to meet this need for doctorally prepared faculty has been complicated by several questions and is likely to be clouded by credentialing debates. Is it suitable for a core faculty member to hold any doctoral degree, or is a particular doctoral degree more appropriate? Does clinical expertise substitute for a doctoral degree, or can it be combined with a professional degree or a clinical doctoral degree to meet the expectations for core faculty members? One may begin answering these questions by considering the requirements necessary to be a core faculty member in physical therapist education. These are questions that must be viewed from several perspectives, including accreditation standards, meeting institutional tenure and promotion criteria, and educational and clinical perspectives. POSITION With regard to the qualifications expected of core faculty members in a DPT program, we consider the following notions: optimal matching of doctoral training with the chosen type of scholarly pursuits increases the likelihood of success for both the academic program and core faculty members, the ideal faculty team should include a balance of people possessing earned terminal academic degrees and terminal professional degrees with demonstrated clinical expertise, and the faculty should include a small number of members who possess a terminal academic degree in a foundational science and who may or may not possess a physical therapy degree. …