Using human simulation to prepare physical therapy students for acute care clinical practice.

Unlabelled: The acute care setting requires a unique skill set for all health care providers, including Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students. This study explores high-fidelity human simulation (HFHS) training in a DPT education program to achieve learning objectives specific to preparation of DPT students for acute care clinical practice.

Methods: Twenty-three DPT students participated in a HFHS acute care experience, provided feedback about the learning experience, and completed a survey regarding preparedness for clinical practice.

Beginning with the end in mind: evaluating outcomes of cultural competence instruction in a doctor of physical therapy programme.

The education of physical therapists must prepare them for autonomous practice providing culturally appropriate care. Models are available to guide curricular changes for cultural competence but little is available on methods to assess the outcomes. This article describes two methods to measure outcomes of cultural competence instruction in physical therapy education.

A model for integrated assessment of clinical competence.

An interdisciplinary group of faculty from medicine, basic sciences, physical therapy, and education developed a performance assessment tool for evaluating clinical competence. This group was assembled following the revision to integrated systems-based curricula in the school of medicine and doctor of physical therapy program. The group was challenged to measure curricular outcomes through student assessment of clinical competence as defined through integration.

Toward validation of an assessment tool designed to measure medical students' integration of scientific knowledge and clinical communication skills.

This article reports on a study undertaken to validate an assessment tool of medical students' ability to integrate clinical skills and scientific knowledge within the patient encounter. One hundred forty first-year medical students at the State University of New York at Buffalo examined a standardized patient with either acute lower back pain or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Forty-eight clinical exams were evaluated by two raters to test the interrater reliability of the instrument.