Innovation in Pediatric Clinical Education: The Development of a Clinical Instructor Toolkit

Abstract

Introduction/Literature Review: Clinical education (CE) experiences are essential components of physical therapist assistant (PTA) and professional physical therapist education requiring qualified clinical instructors (CIs). The 2014 CE Summit recognized the need for CI development. The Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy Academic and Clinical Educators special interest group assembled a task force to address the need for pediatric CI resources. The purposes of this study are to describe the process used to create a pediatric CI Toolkit and describe the results of the task force's work as a mechanism to meet the needs of CIs to facilitate clinical teaching. Participants: Pediatric PTAs and physical therapists (PTs) engaged in physical therapy CE were included in the needs assessment survey. The target population of the survey also represented the intended users of the created CI Toolkit. Method: A task force composed of individuals with diverse pediatric subspecialties, geographic regions, and roles in CE convened to create the CI Toolkit. The task force completed a literature search and online CE resources search to assist with survey development and with guidance in the development of the CI Toolkit. A needs assessment survey was created and deployed to gather information from pediatric PTAs and PTs. The task force developed the structure of the CI Toolkit and collected resources to populate the online tool. Results: An online CI Toolkit was created and contained 160 resources organized into topics, settings, and descriptors. Tools include resources for clinical reasoning, student assignments, general resources, weekly objectives, and CI development. A four-person committee was created to review proposed additions to the CI Toolkit. Discussion and Conclusion: The CI Toolkit is a model for accessible CI professional development for clinical teaching and learning. Health professions educators interested in creating resources for clinical educators will benefit from the lessons learned in the creation of the CI Toolkit.