Perceived Impact on Physical Therapist Students of an International Pro Bono Clinical Education Experience in a Developing Country

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Many physical therapists (PTs) will encounter patients from various cultures and backgrounds during their careers. A challenge to professional (entry-level) PT curricula is to prepare its graduates for practice in a rapidly changing society in a shrinking world. Nursing and medical curricula have investigated the benefits of international clinical education programs to their students. No research in this area was found in the physical therapy literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived impact of a 1-week physical therapy clinical education experience in Jamaica on the student participants. Subjects. The participants were 8 third-year students in the professional Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree program of Arcadia University's class of 2002. Methods. Individual responses to an e-mailed open-ended questionnaire served as the foundation for the focus group discussion in which all eight students participated. The focus group was conducted an average of 5 months after the international experience. Data from the transcribed focus group led to the development of a conceptual model. Categories and themes emerged from additional qualitative analysis of the data. Results. Students perceived benefits of participation in an international clinical education program in four categories: an expanded world-view, an expanded view of physical therapist practice, changes within themselves, and changes within themselves in the role of PT student. Discussion and Conclusion. Results of this study agree with several findings from the nursing and medical literature concerning the perceived benefits of an international educational experience. Physical therapist students appeared to perceive that an international clinical education experience has important, broadening, and lasting benefits to them as professionals, individuals, and members of a global society.