Organizational Change Associated With DPT Curricular Transformation: A Qualitative Study of Faculty Experiences in One Program

Abstract

Introduction. Faculty perceptions of organizational change and culture shifts created by major curricular revision in higher education have been described. However, there are no similar descriptions for faculty in physical therapist education. Methods. All faculty from one Doctor of Physical Therapy program were recruited and agreed to participate in this study (n = 19). A qualitative thematic approach was applied to deidentified transcripts of faculty interviews conducted at the end of the first year (round 1) of a new curriculum and again after all academic courses had been taught at least once (round 2). Independently coded themes were discussed and further refined iteratively. All data and themes were sent to an external reviewer with feedback incorporated into findings. Results. Ten themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews—7 from round 1 interviews and 3 additional themes from round 2 interviews, including Convoluted Planning Process, Challenging Management Processes & Structure, Overwhelming Workload, New Pedagogy, Integrated Curricular Structure, Crucial Teamwork and Communication, Insufficient Resources, Evolving Attitudes and Approaches, Personal & Professional Growth, and Cautious Optimism. Discussion and Conclusion. The themes that emerged from this study—as well as faculty observations, insights, and concerns—parallel those experienced by non-PT faculty going through similar changes to innovative curricula although with greater levels of angst than evident elsewhere in the literature. The themes also fit the framework by Armenakis and Bedeian that identified 4 common issues across the organizational change literature. Most of our faculty remained hopeful that the original goal of a patient-centered, integrated, active learning curriculum could be reached with continued curricular development and faculty growth. There are increasingly urgent calls to rethink physical therapy education to better prepare graduates for a dynamic health care environment, to respond to emerging biopsychosocial research and pandemic demands, and to reduce graduate indebtedness. These will likely lead to extensive curricular change across programs in the near future. Our findings may facilitate more realistic expectations of physical therapy faculty when facing the challenges of major curriculum change.