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A grassroots committee of faculty and administrators from eight academic and student service units at the George Washington University used a five-phase process to identify the ePortfolio needs of its diverse community; select appropriate technologies to support the breadth of functions required; perform usability studies; pilot test the platform; and evaluate the outcomes of this process. The ad hoc committee identified a wide range of unique uses of ePortfolios, including: facilitating reflection and critical thinking; documenting student learning and program outcomes for accreditation purposes; facilitating advisement; and highlighting student skills and accomplishments for potential employers and graduate schools. As a result of these grassroots efforts, the Office of the Provost funded a pilot test for 1000 participants to use the selected ePortfolio solution. Key outcomes of the process include assessing the feasibility of a unified, university-wide ePortfolio platform; creating a structure for a centralized approach to faculty and student development; and obtaining data to support future decision-making regarding long-term adoption of the ePortfolio platform. Further, the work of the committee led to the development of a learning community comprised of ePortfolio champions and early adopters, which will be critical to the potential long-term, university-wide adoption of ePortfolios.

Time and space constraints, large class sizes, competition for clinical internships, and geographic separation between classroom and clinical rotations for student interaction with peers and faculty pose challenges for health professions educational programs. This article presents a model for effectively incorporating technology to overcome these challenges and enhance student engagement and interaction in traditionally face-to-face (FTF) health professions (physical therapy and physician assistant) curricula across learning environments (classroom to clinic). Four faculty members interested in redesigning a course or course unit(s) met with the IMPACT (Instructional Media and Programming to Advance Collaboration and Teaching) Initiative instructional design team. Instructional designers provided education, training, and support to faculty for increased use of technology within courses. Four exemplars using Blackboard™, videos, VoiceThread®, and Twitter® are described. Themes and "lessons learned" were developed from each of the exemplars. A model emerged for integrating technology into health professions curricula with an emphasis on engaging students in active, realistic, and social learning environments. This model demonstrates how technology can be integrated successfully into traditionally FTF health professions curricula to support learning outcomes essential for practice.

Human nature is a very complex phenomenon. In physical therapy this complexity is enhanced by the need to understand the intersection between the art and science of human behavior and patient care. A paradigm is a set of basic beliefs that represent a worldview, defines the nature of the world and the individual's place in it, and helps to determine criteria used to select and define research inquiry. A paradigm guides scientific inquiry, not only in the manner in which an investigation is performed, but also in how the investigator defines truth and reality and how the investigator comes to know truth or reality. A paradigm guides the types of research questions that will be posed, the methodological approach to the inquiry, and criteria for assessing the trustworthiness of the inquiry. Research plays an important role in enabling physical therapists to fully embrace the values of the profession, including evidence-based practice and client-centered care, in making informed clinical decisions. However, to do so, the research provided must include not only the views of the researchers, but also the lived experiences of the clients as well. This paper provides the reader with a solid foundation in the positivist/post-positivist, constructivist, and critical theorist research paradigms and how they apply in physical therapy practice. Research perspectives in physical therapy are explored, as are implications for future practice in physical therapy.

Introduction.: Doctor of physical therapy (PT) (DPT) programs are rigorous, and students report facing overwhelming challenges. Faculty may not be cognizant of the extent of these challenges and miss opportunities to support student learning. The purpose of this article is to describe factors affecting student coping abilities and the lessons they learned from managing their self-identified challenges. Review of Literature.: Given the growing body of evidence surrounding mental health issues in DPT students, educators are exploring ways to support student well-being and promote their professional development. Subjects.: This study is a component of a larger multisite study of first-year DPT students from 3 private universities. Methods.: Participants submitted written narratives in response to a critical incident questionnaire designed to better understand first-year challenges. Responses were deidentified, researchers were blinded to participation, and confidentiality was maintained throughout. A consensus-driven interpretivist approach to qualitative data analysis was used. Strategies to ensure trustworthiness included triangulation of researchers, peer review, prolonged engagement, and use of thick rich descriptions. Results.: Seventy responses were analyzed. Two major themes are presented: (1) students described factors internal and external to the learning environment that inhibited and facilitated their ability to cope with challenges and (2) students shared academic successes and lessons learned from overcoming challenges, including the development of new behaviors, enhanced self-awareness, and personal and professional growth. Discussion and Conclusion.: Building on previous work, analysis of the lived experiences of first-year DPT students revealed a process of transformational learning through challenge. This process highlights the importance of recognizing and supporting the significant incidental learning that occurs in our students during their journey through PT school. Faculty focusing solely on content knowledge, skills, and even critical thinking may not recognize and support the incidental learning occurring and may be missing significant transformational learning opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomenon: Systems thinking is the cornerstone of systems-based practice (SBP) and a core competency in medicine and health sciences. Literature regarding how to teach or apply systems thinking in practice is limited. This study aimed to understand how educators in medicine, physical therapy, physician assistant, nursing, and speech-language pathology education programs teach and assess systems thinking and SBP. Approach: Twenty-six educators from seven different degree programs across the five professions were interviewed and program descriptions and relevant course syllabi were reviewed. Qualitative analysis was iterative and incorporated inductive and deductive methods as well as a constant comparison of units of data to identify patterns and themes. Findings: Six themes were identified: 1) participants described systems thinking as ranging across four major levels of healthcare (i.e., patient, care team, organization, and external environment); 2) participants associated systems thinking with a wide range of activities across the curriculum including quality improvement, Inter-professional education (IPE), error mitigation, and advocacy; 3) the need for healthcare professionals to understand systems thinking was primarily externally driven; 4) participants perceived that learning systems thinking occurred mainly informally and experientially rather than through formal didactic instruction; 5) participants characterized systems thinking content as interspersed across the curriculum and described a variety of strategies for teaching and assessing it; 6) participants indicated a structured framework and inter-professional approach may enhance teaching and assessment of systems thinking. Insights: Systems thinking means different things to different health professionals. Teaching and assessing systems thinking across the health professions will require further training and practice. Tools, techniques, taxonomies and expertise outside of healthcare may be used to enhance the teaching, assessment, and application of systems thinking and SBP to clinical practice; however, these would need to be adapted and refined for use in healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the impact leadership development program graduates had on their workgroup, the nature of that impact and how that impact occurred. Design/methodology/approach - This research was conducted at three sites using a qualitative interview methodology with thematic data analysis. Techniques to ensure trustworthiness included purposive sampling, triangulation of researchers, member checks and code checking. Findings - Analysis of the data revealed secondhand learning as specific changes in practices, behaviors and attitudes, transferred by program graduates to their peers and supervisors. The transfer of learning was described as both intentional and informal learning during episodes of varying duration, and occurred through a variety of dyadic and group interactions in a manner generally consistent with the 4I framework of organizational learning. Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to medical educators. Recommendations for supervisors and organizations to maximize training transfer are identified. These suggestions advocate for actively encouraging graduates in departmental leadership and faculty development; focusing transfer on specific practices, behaviors and attitudes; and considering both short- and long-term outcomes. Originality/value - This paper makes an original contribution to the literature by describing the process of secondhand learning from leadership development program graduates. The paper also expands our understanding of the nuances in transfer methods and associated learning episodes in the context of an educational environment. Finally, the research illustrates how qualitative methods can be used to expose secondhand learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a learning partnership among faculty and students to influence reflective practice in a blended course. Faculty redesigned a traditional face-to-face (FTF) introductory physician assistant course into a blended course to promote increased reflection and higher order thinking. Early student reflective writing suggested a need for learner familiarization with levels of learning, types of reflection, and levels of reflective practice and for revision of writing prompts to encourage greater depth and breadth of reflection. This article presents results from an analysis of students' writings prior to and after the learning intervention and revision of writing prompts. Writings from Week 1 and Week 8 of the course were analyzed for level of reflective practice, depth and breadth of reflection, and depth of higher order thinking. Results indicate an increase in level, depth, and breadth of reflection post-intervention. Results also indicate an increase in occurrences in higher order thinking post-intervention. Findings suggest that purposive course design, combined with instruction on reflection and appropriate reflective prompts, can influence breadth and depth of reflection and higher order thinking in a blended course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Congratulates the winners of the 2004 "Journal of Physical Therapy Education" Award Winners. Categories of the awards; Studies about physical therapy published by the winners.

Introduction: Little is known about the nature of standardized patient (SP) identity and its formation. Understanding identity and formation can have important implications for recruiting, working with, and retaining SPs. Social relational theory explains how identity is formed in a social context in relationship with others. In keeping with social relational theory, this study explored SP identity formation through the SP experience with one of the most important elements of their social context-medical students., Methods: Using qualitative methods, we conducted four 1-hour semistructured focus group interviews with SPs (N = 18). Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. We used a constant comparative approach and consensus development to analyze the data and identify codes, categories, and ultimately themes. We used multiple methods to ensure credibility and trustworthiness of the study, as well as transparency of methods and thick rich descriptions to enable readers to judge transferability of the findings and conclusions., Results: We identified 4 major themes. Through their interactions, SPs experienced: (1) identity transformation toward a new professional identity; (2) self-actualization toward their maximum potential; (3) judgmental reactions to medical student behaviors; and (4) simulation-reality interaction between their simulated and real selves., Conclusions: Through their interactions with medical students, SPs experienced a transformation into a complex identity composed of multiple roles. Within this identity, they found purpose, fulfillment, and self-actualization through fostering students', as well as their own, personal, and professional growth and through developing a higher sense of social responsibility. Within this identity, they also encountered the challenges of navigating between judging and supporting medical students, and toggling between their real and simulated selves. Guided by the SPs' perspectives, and in conjunction with professional organizational standards, we provide recommendations for training, recruitment, and retention of SPs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Society for Simulation in Healthcare.)