Search

Objective The purpose of this study was to describe common perspectives important to achieving excellence and success in physical therapist residency education programs. Methods Individuals with direct responsibility for creating and revising physical therapist residency program goals participated in a mixed-methods study using Q-methodology. They sorted 31 goal topics based on the level of importance for achieving excellence and success in physical therapist residency education. By-participant factor analysis identified dominant perspectives, which were interpreted based on emergent themes from the topics identified as the most important. Participants' rationale for selecting goal topics as the most important were extracted from the post-survey. Results Seventy-three individuals responded, representing 9 of the 11 clinical residency areas of practice. Three main perspectives emerged: resident behaviors, resident achievements, and program attributes. One shared perspective emerged across all 3 factors that emphasized the residents' ability to become self-regulated, lifelong learners who integrate learning into practice: preparation for future learning. Conclusions Variability in weighting the importance of program goals associated with each perspective may include a program's organization and mission, individual beliefs and experiences related to program leadership, and resource availability. Although respondent emphasis placed importance of some items over others, the findings do not suggest that items ranked lower were unnecessary or unimportant in achieving program excellence. The relative importance of items was weighted differently based on the perspective of program leadership and the individual completing the sorting activity. Impact The results of this study suggest that physical therapist residency programs should have at least 1 or 2 goals in each of the 3 distinct perspectives, as well as the 1 shared perspective identified in our findings. Some consistency in program goals based on the perspectives identified here may enable further research exploring excellence, value, and outcomes in physical therapist residency education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Understanding how educational pathways may influence clinical competence and work responsibilities is important in providing guidance to academic and clinic stakeholders and physical therapists (PTs) on PT career development. The purpose of this paper was to compare perceived clinical competency and job duties between PTs with formal mentored postprofessional clinical education with PTs without formal postprofessional clinical education. Review of Literature. The understanding of self-perceived clinical competence of PTs overall in the United States is limited, especially as related to the impact of postprofessional education. Furthermore, there is limited understanding of the career pathways and development of job duties of PTs in the United States. Subjects. Two thousand three hundred thirty-four PTs in the United States. Methods. An online survey was sent to licensed PTs. This survey included items measuring self-perceived clinical competency and questions related to weekly job responsibilities. Participants were categorized as residency trained, fellowship trained, or non–residency/fellowship trained. Frequency analyses and Kruskal–Wallis tests with pairwise post hoc tests were performed comparing the 3 groups. Results. Residency-trained (P < .007) and fellowship-trained (P < .001) groups demonstrated elements of higher self-perceived clinical competency compared with the non–residency-/fellowship-trained group. Both the residency- and fellowship-trained groups spent less time with patient care and more time with other responsibilities (e.g., teaching, mentoring, and research) (P < .02) during an average workweek. Fellowship-trained PTs (P < .001) spent more time with administrative duties compared with the non–residency-/fellowship-trained group. Discussion and Conclusion. Results from this paper demonstrate that residency- and fellowship-trained PTs have elements of higher self-perceived clinical competency and spend more of their job duties outside of direct patient care compared with PTs who were not residency or fellowship trained. These results may help guide PTs, academic institutions, and employers in planning and achieving specific career paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Introduction.: Mentoring and professional development opportunities influence job and career satisfaction. Review of the Literature.: Job and career satisfaction are multifactorial. The purpose of this study was to compare job and career satisfaction between physical therapists (PTs) who were residency trained and PTs who were neither residency nor fellowship trained and between PTs who were fellowship trained and PTs who were neither residency nor fellowship trained. Subjects.: Licensed PTs in the United States. Methods.: An online survey was distributed asking questions regarding job satisfaction and career satisfaction. Respondents were categorized as completing a residency, fellowship, both, or neither. Responses were respectively summed, then compared between groups: residency versus nonresidency/nonfellowship and fellowship versus nonresidency/nonfellowship. Frequency analyses and Mann–Whitney U tests were performed. Results.: A total of 3,080 survey responses were analyzed. Residency-trained PTs had an overall higher job satisfaction score (P =.03) and higher career satisfaction score (P =.05) when compared with non–residency-trained or non–fellowship-trained PTs. Fellowship-trained PTs reported higher job satisfaction (P <.001) and career satisfaction (P =.001) compared with non–residency-trained or non–fellowship-trained PTs. Residency-trained PTs rated the importance of their work being interesting and learning/improving in their work of greater importance to their job satisfaction compared with non–residency-trained or non–fellowship-trained PTs (P <.05). Whereas, fellowship-trained PTs rated factors such as their jobs being positively challenging, fulfilling, and interesting, having sufficient independence, and were learning/improving in their work of greater importance than non–residency-trained and non–fellowship-trained PTs (P ≤.004). Discussion and Conclusion.: Results from the study support previous evidence that PTs overall have high job/career satisfaction and residency/fellowship training may further enhance job and career satisfaction. Findings provide valuable insight and are relevant to all PTs as well as stakeholders involved in professional and postprofessional physical therapy education and those making hiring decisions and potential employment opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]