A Description of Professional Pediatric Physical Therapy Education

Abstract

These results describe current pediatric professional education and provide numerous opportunities and challenges for the development of optimal professional pediatric education.

Experiential Learning With Children

“…In addition, about 30% of programs reported that the amount of time in the curriculum devoted to pediatrics was inadequate, and in these programs the amount of laboratory and child contact hours was significantly less than those programs reporting that the number of hours was adequate. 4 To support our recommendation for the inclusion of EL activities with children, including those with participation restrictions, we have described 6 program exemplars. These exemplars were selected to capture the range of academic settings and program characteristics of professional physical therapist educational programs in the United States, and therefore intentionally include rural and urban settings, public and private universities; large and small programs, research and liberal arts institutions, and programs with standalone pediatric courses and programs with pediatric content delivered in an integrated curriculum.…”

“…4 The median contact hours with children was 10, and the range was 0 to 70. In addition, about 30% of programs reported that the amount of time in the curriculum devoted to pediatrics was inadequate, and in these programs the amount of laboratory and child contact hours was significantly less than those programs reporting that the number of hours was adequate.…”

“…Because most students will not have pediatric clinical education experiences, we argue that EL opportunities with children, including children with participation restrictions, be included as a component of didactic coursework. 4 A number of logistical challenges to creating these EL opportunities must be considered. For example, programs located in more rural areas, and those with larger class sizes, may have difficulty accessing adequate numbers of children with participation restrictions who can come to campus or be seen in schools or community settings during the day.…”

“…32 Other authors have recommended that physical therapist students would benefit from about 10 hours of hands-on interaction with children, including children with participation restrictions. 4 Pediatric physical therapists must possess adequate clinical reasoning and psychomotor skills to effectively and efficiently meet the dynamic health needs of children. To attain these skills, students must practice and interact with children during the professional education program.…”

Long-Term Athletic Development, Part 2

“…Such a certification process should become accepted practice, not just within sporting administrations but also in the education and health care sectors, especially in light of recent trends in MVPA and the increasing prevalence of sport-and physical activity-related injuries in youth. The concept of an internationally recognized certification is particularly important given the existing knowledge and awareness of current guidelines for youth-specific exercise prescription within the sport, education, and health care systems (32,39,111). Irrespective of whether practitioners are working with youth in competitive sports, recreational activity, daily physical education classes or organized health-based interventions, an internationally recognized certification is deemed as an important developmental step to ensure that philosophies and practices of long-term athletic development are geared towards ensuring the holistic development of all youth.…”