Utilization of an Integrated Clinical Experience in a Physical Therapist Education Program

Abstract

Background and Purpose. Integrating skills learned in the classroom into the clinical setting can be challenging. An integrated clinical experience (ICE) is an active-learning method allowing early interactions between physical therapist students and patients/clients. The purpose of this paper is to describe an ICE model that includes peer mentoring, service learning, and pro bono components. Method/Model Description and Evaluation. The ICE consists of 3 courses offered in successive semesters. Peer mentoring occurs during the first and third semesters. All sessions are supervised by faculty. Students work 1-on-1 with patients/clients who commit to participating throughout the entire semester. An examination and individualized plan of care is completed for each patient/client. Students are challenged to provide interventions that are practical and meaningful for patients/clients with different levels of functional ability. Physical therapist students, with faculty guidance, explore patient/client problems, co-morbidities, and intervention strategies leading to future interventions and treatment goals through a debriefing meeting at the end of each session. At the end of each course, a group debriefing is completed to assess the method of teaching. Outcomes. Topics assessed in the group debriefing include: (1) ICE strengths and challenges, (2) individual task strengths and challenges, (3) suggested course/curriculum changes, (4) benefits and challenges working with wellness and previous patients/clients, and (5) guided reflection of what was learned during the pro bono experience. Discussion and Conclusion. The ICE advances entry-level physical therapist student clinical exposure, provides students the opportunity to advocate for health and wellness in a pro bono service-learning setting, and promotes 1-on-1 patient/client care, which will increase the physical therapist student’s ability to modify plans of care. This method model describes a developed and implemented ICE for an entry-level physical therapist education curriculum. Based upon the student and faculty experiences implementing and assessing the ICE model within Clarke University’s physical therapist education program, the authors encourage similar education programs to consider developing an integrated clinical experience within their curricula as a means to provide early exposure to advocacy for patients/clients in a planned experience. This allows for early practice, development, and assessment of affective, psychomotor, and cognitive skills in a supervised setting to prepare for external clinical education experiences and future clinical practice.