Abstract
BackgroundThe use of simulation-based education (SBE) in health professions, such as physical therapy, requires faculty to expand their teaching practice and development. The impact of this teaching on the individual faculty member, and how their teaching process changes or develops, is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to explore individual physical therapist faculty members’ experience with SBE and how those experiences may have transformed their teaching practice to answer the research questions: How do physical therapist faculty develop through including SBE and are there commonalities among educators?MethodsAn interpretive phenomenological analysis approach was used with a small sample of subjects who participated in three individual semi-structured interviews. Interview questions were created through the lens of transformative learning theory to allow faculty transformations to be uncovered. A two-step thematic coding process was conducted across participants to identify commonalities of faculty experiences with SBE in physical therapist education. Credibility and trustworthiness were achieved through member checking and expert external review. Thematic findings were validated with transcript excerpts and research field notes.ResultsEight physical therapist faculty members (25% male) with a range of 3 to 16 years of incorporating SBE shared their individual experiences. Four common themes related to faculty development were identified across the participants. Themes identified are the following: faculty strengthen their professional identity as physical therapists, faculty are affected by their introduction and training with simulation, faculty develop their interprofessional education through SBE, and faculty experiences with SBE facilitate professional growth.ConclusionPhysical therapist educators had similarities in their experiences with SBE that transformed their teaching practice and professional development. This study provides insight into what physical therapist faculty may experience when adopting SBE.
Highlights
The use of simulation-based education (SBE) in health professions, such as physical therapy, requires faculty to expand their teaching practice and development
SBE has been considered as a replacement for clinical education hours in physical therapist education, as it has in other professions, such as nursing
Research has suggested that 25% of clinical education hours in physical therapist education could be replaced by SBE [6, 9]
Summary
The use of simulation-based education (SBE) in health professions, such as physical therapy, requires faculty to expand their teaching practice and development. The impact of this teaching on the individual faculty member, and how their teaching process changes or develops, is not fully understood. Simulation-based education (SBE) is a teaching methodology that creates a learning environment where students perform psychomotor and clinical reasoning skills in a realistic and controlled environment [1]. Faculty select from among a variety of media, ranging from simple anatomical models, to computerized manikins, to human patient actors, so the simulation creates a realistic learning experience that allows students to demonstrate skill acquisition [3]. Research has suggested that 25% of clinical education hours in physical therapist education could be replaced by SBE [6, 9]
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