Level Up Your Clinical Teaching: Tools for Clinical Instructors in the School Setting

The Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) requires all DPT students to have exposure to patients and clients across the lifespan. Given the significant variability in pediatric PT education and steady decrease in DPT programs requiring full-time pediatric clinical education (CE) experiences, full-time pediatric CE experiences are important to prepare students to enter the workforce.

Clinical instructors (CI) have a critical role in partnering with academic institutions in fostering excellence in physical therapist and physical therapist assistant students. This authentic training for students is vital to ensure confident therapists are prepared to enter our profession, considering the 7.2 million students ages 3-21 that received special education services in the 2020-2021 school year. Pediatric therapists play a vital role in teaching the next generation, yet are often provided few opportunities to enhance their educator role. Hesitation to teach students includes limited support for the professional development of clinical teaching, heavy caseloads, personal and professional burnout, and dissatisfaction with the Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI). Pediatric CIs need support to ensure competence and effectively educate students in the clinical setting.

This interactive session will provide participants with tools and strategies for clinical teaching and learning activities specific to the school setting. A “toolkit” of educational activities will be discussed, including pre-clinical preparation, weekly planning forms, effectively sharing a student between two therapists, tips for working with students during early CE experiences, considerations for documenting growth on the new CPI, and learning opportunities that reinforce the development of clinical reasoning.