After testing the prototype on a young research participant, a partial correction of the patient's spinal deviation was noted due to the counterweight of the device. The patient's family also reported improved balance and performance of some bimanual activities after 2 weeks of using the device. Limitations of the design include low grip strength and low durability. Clinical relevance The prosthetic options for higher level amputees are limited and costly. The low-cost three-dimensional printed shoulder prosthesis described in this study can be used as a transitional device in preparation for a more sophisticated shoulder prosthesis.

Physical therapy educators are challenged to emphasize the importance of social responsibility as a vital curricular element of professional development. Through reflection, students are able to identify core values, beliefs, and attitudes as part of the professional development process. The purpose of this study was to explore student perceptions and values of a community engagement experience based upon frequency of participation. This qualitative research report investigated student perceptions of the community experience following participation. Data collection tools included an open-ended questionnaire and focus group interviews. Comparisons were made across data for participants who engaged in the activity one time versus multiple times. Data analysis revealed participation in the community engagement experience had a positive impact on most participants. One time only participants demonstrated increased self-awareness, contemplating change, and capacity to serve while more than one time participants described a deeper understanding of community, impact on others, and professional transformation. Student involvement in community engagement activities combined with structured reflection provided meaningful insight into participants' personal beliefs. The results suggest incorporation of community-based learning experiences into academic curriculum may be beneficial in the students' preliminary understanding of social responsibility.

Objective Academic physical therapy has no universal metrics by which educational programs can measure outcomes, limiting their ability to benchmark to their own historical performance, to peer institutions, or to other healthcare professions. The PT-GQ survey, adapted from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ (AAMC) Graduation Questionnaire, addresses this gap by offering both inter-professional insight and fine-scale assessment of physical therapist education. This study reports the first wave of findings from an ongoing multi-site trial of the PT-GQ among diverse academic physical therapy programs, including: 1) benchmarks for academic physical therapy, and 2) a comparison of the physical therapist student experience to medical education benchmarks. Methods Thirty-four doctor of physical therapy (DPT) programs (13.2% nationwide sample) administered the online survey to DPT graduates during the 2019–2020 academic year. PT-GQ and AAMC data were contrasted via Welch’s unequal-variance t-test and Hedges’ g (effect size). Results A total of 1025 respondents participated in the study (response rate: 63.9%). Average survey duration was 31.8 minutes. Overall educational satisfaction was comparable to medicine, and respondents identified areas of curricular strength (eg, anatomy) and weakness (eg, pharmacology). DPT respondents provided higher ratings of faculty professionalism than medicine, lower rates of student mistreatment, and a lesser impact of within-program diversity upon their training. One-third of respondents were less than “Satisfied” with student mental health services. DPT respondents reported significantly higher Exhaustion but lower Disengagement than medical students, along with lower Tolerance for Ambiguity. Of DPT respondents who reported educational debt, one-third reported debt exceeding $150,000, the threshold above which the DPT degree loses economic power. Conclusions These academic benchmarks, using the PT-GQ, provided insight into physical therapist education and identified differences between physical therapist and medical student perceptions. Impact This ongoing trial will establish a comprehensive set of benchmarks to better understand academic physical therapy outcomes.

Health care professionals have advocated for educating culturally competent practitioners. Immersion in international experiences has an impact on student cultural competency and interprofessional development. The China Honors Interprofessional Program (CHIP) at a university in the Midwest is designed to increase students' cultural competency and interprofessional development. From 2009 to 2013, a total of 25 professional students including twelve occupational therapy students, ten physical therapy students and three nursing students were enrolled in the programme. Using a one group pre and posttest research design, this study evaluated the impact of CHIP on the participating students. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in the study. Findings of the study revealed that CHIP has impact on students' cultural competency and professional development including gaining appreciation and understanding of the contributions of other healthcare professionals and knowledge and skills in team work. The findings of the study suggested that international immersion experience such as CHIP is an important way to increase students' cultural competency and interprofessional knowledge and skills. Limitations of the study included the small sample in the study, indirect outcome measures and the possible celling effect of the instruments of the study. Future research studies should include a larger and more representative sample, direct outcome measures such as behaviour observation and more rigorous design such as prospective experimental comparison group design. Future research should also examine the long-term effects of international experience on the professional development of occupational therapy students. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Summary Rehabilitation has become an important aspect of equine practice. Unfortunately, there is limited knowledge or awareness of the general principles and methods used to develop safe and effective rehabilitation programmes. By following a few basic principles, appropriate rehabilitation programmes can be developed for individual horses with a wide range of injuries and sources of musculoskeletal pain or dysfunction. This article provides an outline of general guidelines to help practitioners interested in developing rehabilitation programmes or working with sports medicine and rehabilitation experts to provide the best possible treatment for individual horses with injuries at different stages of healing.

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