An examination of observation hours used as an admission criterion for physical therapist programs in Texas

Journal of Physical Therapy Education, Spring 2003 by Gleeson, Peggy Blake, Utsey, Carolyn

Background and Purpose, The purposes of this study were: (1) to examine the parameters of the observation hours requirement, number of hours, and types of experiences in the admission process of physical therapist programs within the state of Texas; (2) to examine how facilities determine objectives or goals for these hours; and (3) to determine the impact that fulfillment of the observation hours requirement has on the decision-making process of both admission committee members and applicants. Subjects. Survey instruments were completed by 289 first-year students from 9 Texas physical therapist programs, 22 prospective students, 17 center coordinators of clinical education (CCCEs), and 16 admission committee members from the 9 programs. Methods. A survey design was used to gather information from 4 groups. The surveys consisted of close-ended questions for the CCCEs and both open- and close-ended questions for the other 3 groups. Areas addressed related to respondent demographics (all groups), volunteer experiences (both enrolled and prospective student volunteers), and opinions/perceptions regarding various aspects of the volunteer experience (all groups). Results. Of 9 physical therapist programs, the range of volunteer hours required ranged from O (3 programs) to 150 (3 programs). Fifty-five percent of first-year students and 47% of prospective students reported having goals established for their volunteer time. Twenty-five percent of CCCEs reported that goals or objectives were set for these experiences. Volunteer experience was found to play a significant role (P

Key Words: Admission criteria, Observation hours, Physical therapist education.

INTRODUCTION

Many professional physical therapist programs require that applicants spend time in a physical therapy setting prior to admission to the program. Discussions with admission committee members and colleagues have identified several possible purposes of such a requirement. These purposes are to enable applicants to gain knowledge of the scope and practice of the profession, to analyze their own career goals, and, perhaps to obtain letters of recommendation from the supervising physical therapist. Providing aspiring students with this exposure to physical therapy may be placing a burden on clinics and hospitals that are already attempting to provide clinical education experiences to enrolled physical therapist students. There is no published literature that addresses whether or not the assumed purposes of this requirement are actually fulfilled, nor has it been established what weight, if any, this criterion carries in the decision-making process of either the applicant or the admission committees of the programs.

Physical therapist education is not alone in requiring some acquaintance with the discipline prior to admission to a professional preparation program. Scott and colleagues' conducted a survey of several health care professions, including diagnostic medical imaging, health information management, nurse midwifery, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant education. Seventy-nine percent of all programs responding to this survey required some form of health-related work or volunteer experience. Eighty-four percent of the respondents from the physical therapist programs reported requiring volunteer hours, as did 63.6% of respondents from the physician assistant programs and 58% of respondents from the occupational therapy programs. Dietrich and Crowley2 found similar requirements among health care professions that stipulated the applicant should have professionally related work experience. Most medical schools do not appear to weigh prior healthrelated experience very heavily, although some of the more research-oriented schools will note prior research experience.3,4

In 1977, Gartland5 reported that 47% of surveyed physical therapist programs (n=48) identified work experience, either in physical therapy or in a related field, as part of their admission criteria. More recently, we undertook a review of professional physical therapist programs that have Web sites on the Internet to discover how prevalent the "observation hours" are as an admission requirement. There were 119 programs that had created Web sites and included admission criteria within this site. Of these, 66% of programs require observation, volunteer, or work hours in a physical therapy setting, while 34% either did not mention observation time or listed it as a recommendation. Thirty-nine percent of those programs requiring observation hours stipulate that this time be spent in more than one type of practice setting. Twelve percent of these programs require that one of the settings be an acute care hospital. The amount of time required varied from program to program, ranging from 10 to 250 hours. A Normative Model of Physical Therapist Professional Education: Version 1997 (Normative Model)6 suggested that not more than 10 observation hours be required of those seeking admission to a physical therapist program, while Version 2000 of the Normative Model7 does not specify a minimum or maximum number of hours.