Department Philosophy

The Curriculum

The foundation of the curriculum of the physical therapy educational program is a balance of coursework in social sciences, humanities, and natural and health sciences. The curriculum incorporates strong basic, clinical, and applied sciences that contribute to the unique body of knowledge in physical therapy and rests on four fundamental concepts.

1. Problem solving: To assist students in developing life-long learning and critical inquiry skills, the curriculum fosters a problem-solving approach to instruction by using strategies that include student-centered, case-based instruction. Problem solving is viewed in a context of a closed loop in which the evaluation of an intervention serves as the basis for further decisions.
2. Scientific basis for practice: The curriculum emphasizes infusion of best practice and empirically tested knowledge from clinical research. Skills that are necessary to engage in critical thinking and communication, and to apply new scientific knowledge in clinical decisions, will be emphasized in all courses. These include, but are not limited to, the ability to: evaluate relative strengths of the various sources of knowledge use in physical therapist practices, education and research; identify knowledge gaps; engage in the peer review process of scientific inquiry; interpret research results; address the role of uncertainty in science; and manage the decisions made. Special courses will offer students opportunities to participate in processes of scientific inquiry.
3. Guide to Physical Therapist Practice¹:The curriculum is organized around the five essential elements of patient/client management encompassing a continuum of care across delivery systems and lifespan as described in the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice. Students are taught to serve the public through consultation, prevention and wellness, and examination and intervention. They are taught using case-based teaching to promote health, wellness and fitness as well as to rehabilitate patients with impairments and disabilities. The physical therapist practice patterns offer a framework for the coursework throughout the curriculum.
   
   The five elements of patient/client management are:
   1. Examination
   2. Evaluation
   3. Diagnosis
   4. Prognosis and plan of care
   5. Intervention
   The four physical therapist practice patterns are:
   1. Musculoskeletal
   2. Neuromuscular
   3. Cardiovascular/pulmonary
   4. Integumentary
4. Framework of function, health, the individual and environment: The curricular framework, within which physical therapist practice is taught, is based on the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) model. The model classifies disablement and function in terms of impairment of body structures and function, activity, and participation. Students are responsible for addressing the concerns of their clients in any of these categories and collaborating in developing a plan of action. The ICF model is used to assist students in understanding the pivotal relationship between the individual or population and the physical, social, and attitudinal environments. Knowing how the environment can facilitate or hinder functioning or disability can have significant affect on the assessment and subsequent intervention necessary for the participation and health and well being of an individual or group of individuals.²
5. Conceptual Framework for Clinical Decision Making Individual-Centered Approach: The core faculty are committed to a unifying conceptual framework for clinical decision making to serve as a model for all clinically-based courses. The Conceptual Framework for Clinical Decision Making Individual-Centered Approach was developed in a collaborative effort between students and faculty, and integrates five key models that guide contemporary physical therapist practice: the patient/client management model, Nagi, ICF, HOAC II, and dynamic systems model of motor control. It serves as a useful tool for teaching and learning clinical reasoning across the curriculum by providing a consistent, logical and organized context in which students learn to gather, interpret, plan and act when making clinical decisions. The clinical reasoning process illustrated in this Framework is presented repeatedly throughout the curriculum using patient case examples to help students develop an efficient and effective method of practice and achieve the program's educational objectives.

Faculty present courses in these areas in sufficient depth and breadth to develop students' ability to think independently, to weigh values, to understand fundamental theory, and to develop skills for clinical practice, including critical thinking and communication.³

¹ Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, 2nd Ed. (2003). American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA. ² World Health Organization. (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Geneva, Switzerland: Author. ³ CAPTE Accreditation Handbook, PT Criteria, Appendix B, (2004). American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA.