Understanding the roles of physical therapists on the care team: An interprofessional education experience for first-year medical students

Abstract

Physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) are essential to recovery from illness and injury, as well as maintaining and improving quality of life. As the utilization of PT and OT increases, a physician's understanding of these interprofessional colleagues' practice is critical. This study aimed to improve first-year medical students' self-rated understanding of PT and OT, and intentions to incorporate these health professions into future care plans. First-year medical students participated in a 2-h interprofessional (IP) clinical observation experience in outpatient PT. Before the experience students received a handout reviewing the respective clinical focuses of PT and OT, potential reasons for referral, trajectory of care, and an example case. During the experience, students shadowed patient sessions and discussed the principles of PT and OT and key clinical details of the patient they were observing with a provider preceptor. Experience effectiveness was evaluated via post-experience 5-point Likert scale surveys and qualitative prompts given to students and providers. The PT Clinical Observation Experience resulted in a significant increase in students' self-rated confidence in their understanding of PTs'/OTs’ roles, knowledge of when to refer a patient, and intent to incorporate PT/OT into future care plans. All providers agreed the experience helped students improve their communication skills with other interprofessional team members. This curriculum experience achieved learning objectives with no additional monetary costs or training of facilitators, making it a feasible and useful mechanism for medical schools without associated professional schools to provide IP experiences to preclinical students. Additionally, this experience addresses gaps in medical student education regarding the roles and responsibilities of PT and OT and helps build a foundation for future interprofessional collaboration. Handouts and surveys used in this study are included in this report.