DPT Student Perceptions of the Physical Therapist Assistant's Role: Effect of Collaborative Case-Based Learning Compared to Traditional Content Delivery and Clinical Experience.

INTRODUCTION: Doctor of physical therapy (DPT) student learning about role delineation of physical therapist assistants (PTAs) is essential to ethical and legal practice.

METHODS: Survey assessment of three DPT student cohorts compared collaborative interprofessional case-based learning with PTA students to traditional curriculum delivery strategies. Control cohorts were assessed one time. The intervention group was assessed pre-intervention, immediately post-intervention, and after completing a full-time clinical experience. The case-based learning covered 46% of survey content, allowing for the assessment of content-specific material and potential learning through collaboration.

RESULTS: Following the educational intervention, the intervention group improved significantly in areas inside and outside the case-based study content, outscoring both control groups on 25-34% of the survey items. Following the clinical experience, the intervention group declined answer accuracy for patient evaluation and treatment implementation, suggesting unlearning. Improvement in the administrative section was observed after the clinical experience. Perceptions of the tasks within the PTA role were diminished while tasks outside the scope of practice appeared clarified following the clinical experience.

CONCLUSION: While case-based collaborative intraprofessional learning proves effective in student learning about the PTA role, changes following the clinical experience raise questions about the influence of the clinical environment on learning and the practical application of recently learned knowledge.