Meeting the Health Needs of Society Through Curricular Innovation in Physical Therapist Education: Examples From 3 Entry-Level Programs.

Background And Purpose: Entry-level physical therapist (PT) education programs play a critical role in inspiring future leaders to become moral change agents, capable of understanding and addressing evolving societal health needs. Social reconstructionism represents an educational philosophy focused on alleviating pervasive inequities and improving the health of society; however, its application in PT education is not well understood. The purpose of this article is to describe the approach 3 entry-level PT programs used to manifest social reconstructionism within their curricula to foster social consciousness and strengthen moral agency.

A geographical workforce analysis of hand therapy services in relation to US population characteristics.

Introduction: A paucity of work force planning literature exists for hand therapy services.

Purpose: This descriptive study aimed to map the geographical distribution of US Certified Hand Therapists (CHTs) and describe characteristics of US populations living in respective CHT workplace Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs).

Methods: A de-identified Zip Code list of all active CHTs through April 2016 from the Hand Therapy Certification Commission, included 5572 CHTs with US ZCTAs.