Effects of Student Physical Therapists on Clinical Instructor Productivity Across Settings in an Academic Medical Center

Abstract

Abstract Background Clinical education is an integral component of physical therapy education. Both benefits and barriers exist in clinical education, but 1 commonly stated barrier includes the perception that students have a negative impact on clinical instructor (CI) productivity. Objective The purposes of this study were to evaluate the productivity of physical therapist CIs in an academic medical center before, during, and after clinical education experiences (CEEs), determine if there are differences in productivity during CEEs across settings, and compare CI productivity to that of therapists who did not have a student during the same time frames. Design A retrospective design examined productivity across 3 years in acute care (AC), inpatient rehabilitation (IPR), outpatient orthopedics (OPO), and outpatient neurology (OPN). Mean daily productivity was computed, normalized to an 8-hour day, and averaged for each week of the year. Data was analyzed using a repeated-measures ANOVA. Post-hoc comparisons were made within each setting to compare therapists with a student to those without. The Bonferonni-correction was used to control for multiple comparisons. Results CI productivity was significantly increased in OPO and IPR, approached significance in OPN, but was not significant in AC. The presence of a student made CIs more productive, but had no effect on the productivity of other therapists in that setting during the same time frame. Limitations We studied only 1 academic medical center and could not account for CI factors such as years of experience or student factors such as year in their program. Conclusions Our results indicate that having a student increases productivity of therapists in various settings. Future studies should examine the impact of CI experience, student characteristics, and should expand to other settings.