Journal of Allied Health最新文献

Purpose: To describe current substance use disorder (SUD) curricula approaches (e.g., SUD content, assessment) in accredited Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the United States. In addition, faculty expertise and perceptions regarding integrating SUD content in curricula were explored.

Methods: An 18-item survey was emailed to DPT program directors, who were requested to complete it themselves or forward it to another faculty member. Data about SUD curricular content, barriers to implementation, faculty expertise, and demographics were collected. Data characterizing how SUD content was taught in the curriculum and faculty expertise and attitudes were summarized using frequencies and percentages.

Results: Thirty-four (14%) of 242 accredited DPT programs participated in the study. Twenty-seven (79%) of the respondents were program directors. All programs (n=34) addressed SUDs, but the delivery of SUD content and hours devoted were varied. Signs and symptoms of SUD were most often discussed (88%), whereas a brief negotiated interview was least likely to be addressed (18%).

Discussion: SUD curricular content in DPT programs may need to be more substantial. To prepare entry-level practitioners, evidence-based SUD assessment and curricular guidelines could be integrated into academic programs.

Background: Interprofessional education is recognized as an important part of the training of future health professionals. Limited investigation has been done on the experiences of students who have completed interprofessional mentored research during their clinical training.

Purpose: To explore if this experience provided meaningful training in key areas of interprofessional education.

Method: Using a qualitative descriptive framework, one-on-one interviews were conducted with eight healthcare providers (three occupational therapists and five speech language pathologists) who engaged in interprofessional research during their clinical training. Qualitative content analysis was completed with triangulation by analyst and member checking.

Conclusion: Three main themes were identified: 1) interprofessional research project collaboration, 2) professional development, and 3) recommendations for student-oriented interprofessional research collaborations. The results illustrated that the health practitioners found their student experiences valuable to their current interprofessional practice and provided salient training on roles and responsibilities, teamwork, and communication.

Introduction: Graphical representations of a case study can help learners recognize how systems and institutions impact health. The impact of the social determinants of health (SDoH) on individual and community health is well established, yet it may be challenging for students to visualize the impact of these components within a case study.

Purpose: This study explored the use of ecomaps in an interprofessional forum and examined the perceptions from students and faculty regarding use of this educational tool.

Methods: This tool was assessed over two semesters, Fall 2021 (n=968) and Fall 2022 (n= 835) to evaluate student and faculty perceptions of the use of the tool along with faculty's assessment of student completion of the tool within a rubric.

Results: Nearly all students (99%) came prepared to the forum and presented their ecomaps to others during the small group discussion to facilitate conversation as they explored the role of SDoH related to the case study. Both students and faculty rated the use of this tool favorably.

Discussion: In conclusion, ecomaps were viewed favorably by both students and faculty. This visual exploration of SDoH helps students to visualize both positive and negative factors that impact a patient's experience.

This study presents a qualitative thematic analysis of the conversations between students from clinical mental health counseling (CMHC), occupational therapy (OT), nursing, physician assistant (PA), physical therapy (PT), social work (SW), and speech-language pathology (SLP) programs at an interprofessional education (IPE) symposium. The analysis describes the evolution from individuals to a collaborative interprofessional team, capturing the evolution as it unfolded. During a 1-day IPE symposium, conversations from one table of 11 students and a faculty facilitator were recorded and analyzed. The team of students was charged with developing a treatment plan and later a discharge plan for a fictional patient who had a stroke. Recordings were transcribed and analyzed using the general inductive approach (GIA). Three main themes were identified: 1) "From I to We" describes the transition from students representing their individual professions to functioning as an interprofessional team; 2) "I think I hear you saying" chronicles the role of the faculty facilitator; and 3) "Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC)" describes how the students developed the IPEC competencies for collaborative practice over the course of the symposium. The study is unique because it focused on the analysis of actual interactions, describing the transition from individuals to a collaborative team as it happened, as opposed to analyzing retrospective interviews or surveys, which is more common in the literature. Analyzing the rich content of the interactions provided a window into the team development process. The results demonstrate that this IPE symposium helped students further develop the necessary skills required for collaborative interprofessional practice.

Introduction: Professional network connections among health professions faculty are essential for engagement, innovation, and productivity. The research question was, "How do strategies for developing a professional network of early career health professions faculty contribute to our understanding of effective guidance for scholarly productivity?"

Methods: The method was an explanatory sequential mixed method. Study participants were 50 full-time equivalent physical therapist faculty in their first 5 years at accredited institutions in the U.S. The quantitative strand included social network analysis and a Scholar Score (SS). The Scholar Score was calculated using variables from curriculum vitae (grants, publications, presentations) on a 1-25 quality scale. In-depth interviews were conducted. A grounded theory approach was implemented to explore the process of professional network development. Integrated results were used to examine differences in network development strategies.

Results: Fifty participants completed the quantitative strand. Twenty were selected for an interview based on high/low SS and network effectiveness. Network interconnectedness for the high performers was 36% (SD 10.3) compared to 45% (18.2) for low performers. High Scholar Scores were linked to broader networks. In four categories, network development strategies differed between high- and low-performers: prior connections, new acquaintances at their current institution, unplanned encounters, and self-initiated approaches.

Conclusion: Scholar productivity is influenced by network development strategies. Study findings help inform mentors and early career faculty regarding the enhancement of scholarly productivity.

Purpose: Physician assistant (PA) programs have an academically rigorous curriculum, which places a myriad of pressures on students and contributes to burnout. The benefits of optimal quality and quantity of sleep are well documented, yet students still view sacrificing sleep as a necessary step in academic success. The purpose of this pilot study was to create behavior changes to promote optimal sleep hygiene in PA school and decrease measurements of burnout.

Methods: 39 PA students from a single institution volunteered to take part in an 8-week study. Wrist actigraphy was used to measure students' sleeping habits, resting heart rate, and physical activity. Additionally, the students completed a questionnaire regarding stimulant and sleep aid use and burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory) at two time points. The intervention was 8 weeks in duration split into 2, 4-week blocks separated by a 1-hour, evidence-based education intervention to promote beneficial behavior change and sleep hygiene.

Results: Sleep duration, wake time, and bedtime remained consistent across the study period with no changes post-intervention (p > 0.05). Moderate to high levels of cynicism and emotional exhaustion were seen in more than three-quarters of students. There was no relationship between sleep duration and exam scores, heart rate, or steps. Shorter sleep duration predicted increased emotional exhaustion and cynicism (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Sleeping habits influence emotional well-being and are likely minimally affected by educational interventions alone. Combatting the high prevalence of burnout in PA schools can begin with targeting environmental and policy-level changes that can influence student recovery and well-being opportunities throughout the academic year.

Background: Physical therapists (PTs) report job satisfaction when delivering autonomous, high-quality care, but they also experience work-related stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion. Retaining experienced and skilled clinicians is important. However, a subset of PTs are choosing to voluntarily leave clinical practice (i.e., experience attrition). PT attrition may negatively impact patient care, increase organizational costs, and negatively impact the profession.

Purpose: This study examined the nature of the experiences of PTs voluntarily leaving clinical practice in order to understand factors contributing to PT attrition.

Method: A pragmatic qualitative approach with individual, semi-structured interviews conducted with PTs who left clinical practice was used. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using deductive thematic analyses.

Discussion: Nineteen US-based PTs who left clinical practice were interviewed. Participants were predominately female (n=15), Doctors of Physical Therapy (n=10), with a median of 6 years working in clinical practice as a PT. Analyses revealed five key themes contributing to leaving clinical practice subdivided into Herzberg's Theory: 1) lack of career advancement opportunities; 2) rising productivity requirements reducing the quality of patient care; 3) financial concerns due to imbalance between cost of PT education and compensation; 4) physical demands either contributing to attrition or seen as a benefit of the profession; and 5) emotional burden contributing to attrition or emotional connection seen as professional value.

Conclusions: Understanding the factors contributing to PT attrition is important to guide future strategies to address these factors. Further research may identify opportunities to address these concerns in entry-level education, workplace environments, and professional continuing education.

Purpose: Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) education continues to progress with contemporary content and innovative teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to examine clinical assessment data from the Physical Therapist Clinical Performance Instrument (PT-CPI) focused on professionalism and safety in an initial clinical experience between an accelerated-hybrid and traditional DPT program.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on mid-term and final Safety, Professional Behavior, and Communication PT-CPI scores of each program's first clinical experience. The traditional program served as a control group. A total 186 students were examined: 100 from the traditional program and 86 from the accelerated-hybrid program.

Results: There was a significant effect of learning environment on final test scores while controlling for midterm scores in Safety (p < 0.001), Professional Behavior (p < 0.001), and Communication (p < 0.001) with students in the accelerated-hybrid program scoring higher. Each program showed improvements from midterm to final PT-CPI, outperforming the set benchmark score with the accelerated-hybrid program showing larger growth in Communication and Safety.

Conclusion: Students in both DPT programs display acceptable levels of professionalism and safety according to program benchmarks and demonstrate growth in these areas throughout the clinical experiences despite differences in program design.

One-year production data for the Journal of Allied Health are tabulated for the period ending each August 31. As reported in the Fall 2023 issue, it required sending an invitation to as many as 18 prospective reviewers before a single recipient accepted it. Once on board, 140 individuals agreed to review one or more papers that year. They made especially valuable contributions to the success of the Journal either by finishing assessments or continuing to work on pending manuscripts awaiting a final decision. Meanwhile, a convenient way of describing their immense value is to note the following comments made in an editorial in the January 2024 issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.

Health professions educators can benefit from continuing education to more effectively facilitate interprofessional education (IPE) in clinical settings. Online learning formats enable broader participation and overcome barriers to in-person events, though few studies describe the most effective platforms and methods of online continuing education for this purpose. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed a 6-week interactive online program implemented via an integrated online educational platform (OEP) to equip participants with knowledge and skills to better facilitate IPE in clinical settings. Program outcomes evaluation involved mixed-methods data analysis from OEP site usage statistics, pre/post-program surveys, pre/post program validated self-assessment surveys, and post-pro¬gram focus group. Twenty-four participants representing 5 professions from inpatient and outpatient clinical settings completed the program. Quantitative findings include statistically significant improvement in all of 11 measures of IPE knowledge and skills developed for this study, 4 of 9 socialization measures, and 7 of 18 facilitation measures. Qualitative findings include participants placing value on multiple modes of instruction, facilitated small group engagement, brief condensed asynchronous content, clear expectations of program time commitment, and detailed understanding of the OEP.