Goals and Objectives

The purpose of the program is the preparation of competent physical therapists who, by virtue of their graduate education, can enter the health care arena primarily as clinicians, with beginning skills in research, administration and education.

Students come into the program with a strong foundation in the liberal arts, including the humanities and sciences. Professional education builds on and refines this knowledge base and develops skills in the learner in concept formation, analysis, synthesis, problem-solving and evidence-based practice.

The specific goals and objectives of the program are:

1. Development of a curriculum that will ground students in the scientific foundations, clinical sciences, critical exploration, professional issues, health systems management and clinical practice necessary for entry-level practice in physical therapy.

In keeping with the expectations of physical therapist education and the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), the faculty has rooted its DPT curriculum in the following domains:

Scientific Foundations
Clinical Sciences
Critical Exploration including a Capstone Project
Professional Issues
Health Care Systems Management
Electives
Clinical Experiences

The comprehensive curriculum integrates the above curricular components, sequentially building upon knowledge and skills mastered in the previous semester. The student is initially grounded in Scientific Foundations, which provides fundamental knowledge in the science of physical therapy. Clinical Sciences, comprising the majority of content, facilitates the progressive acquisition of clinical skills and prepares students for clinical practice. Critical Exploration begins early in the academic program, as the faculty understands the necessity for clinicians to develop competency in evidence-based physical therapy practice. Professional Issues introduces students to the roles and responsibilities of the physical therapist and members of the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team. It increases awareness of the ethical and legal standards that exist in health care and fosters clinical reasoning skills. As the students mature in their education, Health Care Systems and Management introduces students to the organization of health care systems, health care financing, policy issues and the role of public, private and governmental agencies in service delivery. Electives, which are taken as students advance into the second and third year of the academic program, augment the clinical sciences and focus on developing skills in a variety of practice specialties and subspecialties. Clinical Experiences are strategically placed within the program. A primary goal of these experiences is to integrate knowledge and skills learned in the classroom into the clinical environment and to develop entry-level clinical competence in a direct patient care setting. The culmination of this component of the program is the clinical internship.

2. Enable students to meet the needs of patients in all areas of physical therapy service and be capable of functioning competently in the health care environment.

The hallmark of the DPT program is the development of clinical expertise enabling students to provide quality patient care in a wide spectrum of clinical practice settings. The clinical education program mandates that all students gain experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Relying heavily on content in the Clinical Sciences, the curriculum emphasizes patient examination, intervention, problem-solving and clinical decision-making.The Clinical Mentorship which occurs in the fall semester of the second year of study, gives students the opportunity to practice clinical skills in a variety of direct patient environments under the supervision of licensed physical therapists and was designed as a precursor to two, full-time clinical affiliations in the second year. The 18-week Clinical Internship is the pinnacle of the clinical experience progression and gives each student the opportunity to hone advanced clinical practice skills, in a specialty area, under the tutelage of a seasoned clinician. A primary goal of the internship is to expose students to the continuum of care in a chosen specialty track. The sequence of clinical experiences was designed to facilitate students’ development from novice to entry-level practitioner.

3. Provide students with critical analysis and decision-making skills and the ability to integrate academic course work and clinical experience within an evidence-based framework.

The curriculum includes a Clinical Case Management series of courses, which focus on critical analysis and the facilitation of clinical decision making skills through case studies. The cases are drawn from the full spectrum of diagnostic categories across the life span. In each case, students make clinical judgments based on data from history, systems review and tests and measures. As part of the examination process, students are asked to select appropriate tools to gather data, synthesize the evaluative data and develop a diagnosis, prognosis and individualized plan of care. Students then select evidence-based interventions to improve patient/client function and diminish or eliminate impairment(s). The evidence-based framework inherent in the Clinical Case Management series requires each student to integrate material from various sources in the curriculum to support clinical decisions.

4. Provide students with life long learning skills necessary to anticipate future changes in the provision of physical therapy in response to societal needs.

The curriculum gives students many opportunities for independent learning and guided self-teaching, e.g. Clinical Sciences, Clinical Case Management series, Health Care Systems and Management and Advanced Topic courses. By doing so, the program promotes the development of a pattern of independent information acquisition necessary for life long learning. Courses such as Psychosocial Adaptation to Illness and Disability, Ethical and Legal Issues in Health Care, Health Education and Promotion in PT Practice and Issues and Approaches in Health Policy teach students about socially responsible physical therapy care and ways to maximize efficacy in an ever-changing health care system.

Self-evaluation is stressed throughout the curriculum and is an important part of the clinical education program. In each clinical affiliation, students complete self-evaluations at midterm and final reviews. These self-evaluations are discussed with the clinical instructor and help facilitate an important exchange of feedback. The faculty believes that self-evaluation is critical for professional growth and a catalyst for life long learning.

Autonomous learning is further facilitated through the Capstone Project, in which the student completes an independent project in research, clinical practice, administration or education. Through these experiences and faculty guidance, students internalize the need to pursue and develop knowledge and skills to meet patient care needs now and in the future.

5. Provide students with the clinical skills necessary to practice effectively in a variety of settings and the ability to continually refine their skills, post-graduation, through continuing professional education and integration of new scientific information.

To this end, clinical experiences are interspersed throughout the curriculum to facilitate integration of academic information into clinical practice. The goal is to develop a practitioner capable of responding to patients’ needs and the challenges of contemporary health care. The clinical education program exposes students to a broad base of clinical experiences, allowing them to acquire entry-level skills within a supportive but challenging environment. In year two, during the first half of the fall semester, students participate in a full day of structured mentoring with a physical therapist in the clinic. During this time, students practice skills and procedures presented in lecture and laboratory sessions and observe advanced clinical skills. The mentorship prepares the students for the first full-time, 8 week, clinical education experience, which immediately follows during the second half of the fall semester. This affiliation is part of a total of 36 weeks of full-time clinical practice. A second 10-week rotation occurs during the summer of year two and the final experience, an 18-week clinical internship, is sequenced in the spring of the third and final semester of study.

6. Allow students to take an active role in the development of their own critical inquiry, which ultimately facilitates initiating the process of specialization.

Graduates of the program are expected to become scientific practitioners who effectively integrate and apply current knowledge to patient care and management. Required and elective courses and experiences threaded throughout the curriculum emphasize critical inquiry and evidenced-based clinical practice. Students also work under the direct supervision of a faculty advisor to design a course of independent exploration into a specific area of research, clinical, administrative or educational aspect of physical therapy, culminating in the capstone project.

7. Prepare students to assume roles as leaders in the science of physical therapy.

To this end, students’ complete didactic courses and clinical experiences that follow the guidelines set forth in the Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education. The foundational sciences are emphasized in the beginning of the curriculum and set the basis for all subsequent course work. Courses in the clinical sciences and critical inquiry are begun early and comprise the bulk of the academic program. Courses in physical therapy management in the second and third years incorporate the principles of evidenced-based clinical decision-making and critical reasoning skills, preparing graduates of the program to provide the highest quality of patient care.

8. Provide students with faculty members who are integrally involved in the process of critical inquiry and who serve as role models in all aspects of the profession of physical therapy.

The core faculty is comprised of highly experienced individuals whose primary professional commitment is to Columbia University’s Physical Therapy program and whose collective expertise is wide-ranging and impressive in scope.

9. Affirm four broad performance outcomes

Conceptual Competence: understanding the theoretical foundations of the profession.
Technical Competence: ability to perform skills required for the profession.
Integrative Competence: ability to merge theory and skills in the practice setting.
Career Marketability: ability to become marketable due to the acquired education and training.

Outcomes

From the above goals and objectives, the DPT curriculum has been designed to progress from simple knowledge to complex integration and application. The course objectives illustrate a hierarchy of learning within each of the academic semesters and throughout the curriculum. The methods of instruction include strategies from both receptive (instructor-directed activities) and discovery learning (student-directed activities). The DPT curriculum acknowledges the academic abilities of students, as evidenced by expected outcomes, especially the demonstration of educational principles that emphasize adult learning, critical thinking, problem-solving, clinical decision-making and evidence-based practice. The expected student outcomes are reflected in the DPT program’s goals and course objectives. The faculty believes the following outcomes are indicative of expected student performance at the clinical doctorate level.

Program students will acquire the knowledge, reasoning, and skills to enter the profession of physical therapy enabling them to:

1. Manifest competence as a practitioner by:

Evaluating physical therapy needs of patients with disease and disability, and making sound clinical judgments concerning intervention and continuity of care, so those patients reach their maximal potential functional level.

Designing interventions that balance resources and needs while providing quality management and quality patient care.

Assessing outcomes of treatment and management, and developing mechanisms for determining client satisfaction with outcome.

Creating new treatment and management approaches to address changing demographic and socioeconomic conditions, different disease and disability trends, and future technological advancements in health.

Linking cultural, ethical and socioeconomic factors into the delivery of physical therapy services.

Integrating the professional roles of patient care, teaching, research and other scholarly activities.

2. Demonstrate evidence-based practice by:

Assessing contemporary information concerning efficacy of treatment methods and differentiating scientific efficacy from opinion.

Selecting a clinical area of specialization and beginning to contribute to the body of evidence as a bases of support for physical therapy examination procedures and interventions.

Integrating concepts, models and theories of practice through the application of theoretical knowledge.

3. Demonstrate educational leadership by:

Designing programs to educate patients, families, health care professionals and communities in ways to prevent or minimize illness, injury and disability, improve quality of life and promote health and wellness.

Appraising the economic, political, legal and social influences upon health care planning/delivery systems and influencing these processes for public benefit.

Seeking to empower independence and responsibility in patients/families by involving them in plan of care decision-making and by linking them with appropriate resources.

Creating opportunities that promote positive changes in organizational structure, health policy, practice regulations and standards of care.

Influencing the quality of physical therapy services by being a consultant to health care organizations, government agencies and other consumer groups.

Serving as an advocate for patients, families and communities in obtaining necessary services and equipment, regardless of ability to pay.

4. Display effective communication skills by:

Valuing the need to collaborate effectively with other health professionals in identifying patient, family and community needs and implementing interventions to meet those needs.

Displaying cultural competence in interactions with colleagues, the public, patients and families.

Seeking to collaborate and negotiate with payor groups to influence provision of rehabilitation services to minimize the burden of physical disability to patients, clients and communities.

5. Develop a professional self- identity by:

Internalizing professional values and ethical decision-making in physical therapy practice.

Displaying a commitment to lifelong learning to validate continued competence in clinical practice of physical therapy.

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