Perceptions of physical therapy graduates' readiness for professional activities, by the graduates, their supervisors, and their faculty

grantor: University of TorontoThis study set out to identify strengths and weaknesses of new graduates from Physical Therapy Programs, and to identify differences in the response patterns of respondent groups. A mail survey was conducted of: two cohorts of graduates from four Physical Therapy Programs; their direct supervisors, and physical therapy faculty members at the four universities. Quantitative data were combined into scales, subjected to a Principal Components Analysis and then to an Analysis of Variance. Short answer question data were grouped according to topics; then counts and percentages of the number of times topics were raised were calculated. Three comparisons were made: (1) By respondent group (faculty members, graduates and supervisors); (2) By year of graduation; and (3) By university. While the three respondent groups all differ in their rating of the graduates' strengths, the ranking of top strengths is similar among all the groups. Areas identified as strengths were: Interpersonal and Communication Skills and Rapport, Enthusiasm, Problem-solving Skills, Evidence-based Practice, Knowledge Base, Musculoskeletal Clinical Specialty, and Lifelong Learning. Most weaknesses were listed by few respondents and there was little, agreement among the groups. Two areas stood out as being weaker than optimum in all graduates: Manual Therapy and Business Skills. Graduates consistently rate themselves lower than either faculty members or clinical supervisors do and appear to be "up to speed" after 6-12 months of work. The 1994 graduates listed more weaknesses than the 1992 graduates; however, the differences were generally not significant. Supervisors distinguished between the two cohorts only on the Ethics Scale, where they gave more recent graduates a higher rating. Some differences were noted among groups of graduates from the four different universities: each university had at least one area of greater strength relative to the other programs. The main recommendations are to increase: (1) clinical practice hours; (2) coverage of Manual Therapy Skills; and (3) coverage of Business Skills. Follow-up evaluations are recommended, to see if graduate performance and confidence have changed in the desired direction and to add to the literature on the effect of curriculum changes on long term student outcomes.Ph.D