Attributes, Attitudes, and Motivations of Personnel Involved with Sports Physical Therapy Residency Training

Abstract

Background Post-professional residency training in sports physical therapy has undergone rapid growth since its inception over 20 years ago with 58 programs currently accredited. Purpose The purpose of this survey was to describe and contrast the demographics, motivations, and selection influences from the perspective of both potential training applicants and program faculty. Study Design Cross-sectional descriptive survey Methods 156 physical therapists identified as stakeholders in sports residency and fellowship training were invited to participate in a 115-item survey. Descriptive measures of central tendencies to describe the data and Mann Whitney Rank Sum tests were used to detect differences between the perspectives of applicants and faculty. Results 50 program faculty and 57 applicants responded to the survey for a 69% response rate. Motivations for post-professional training categorized as extremely important were largely intrinsic behavioral modifiers centering on improved knowledge, skills, and outcomes while satisfying a passion for sports specialty training and enhancing job opportunities in the field. 7 of the 10 highest rated application motivations were rated as significantly more important by applicants than faculty members ( p <0.05). The two most highly rated influences for choosing to apply to a specific residency site were the perception for subsequent job opportunities and perceived relationship and qualifications with the residency director and staff. The importance of job opportunities in sports PT was rated much higher by the applicant than the faculty ( p =0.003). Conclusions While the motivations for residency training may be slightly different between groups the importance of information acquisition and methods for residency selection criteria seem more congruent. Residency faculty may underestimate the importance of some of the most important motivations that prompt interest in residency training. Recognition of these factors may alter the presentation and content design of residency curriculums.

The effectiveness of post‐professional physical therapist training in the treatment of chronic low back pain using a propensity score approach with machine learning

“…There are other known non‐clinical benefits of post‐professional training that should not be dismissed by the results of this study. Residency graduates have reported that they have greater ability to logically reason, improved clinical reasoning skills, feel increased commitment to lifelong learning, better ability to accurately perform examination skills, treat effectively and efficiently, have an increased ability to use best available evidence in treatment strategies, and come to an accurate diagnosis (Mulligan, 2021; Osborne et al., 2020; Smith et al., 1999). Other reported benefits include enhanced ability to conduct and interpret research, contribution to the evolution of the PT profession, enhanced leadership opportunities, and improve employability (Mulligan, 2021; Osborne et al., 2020).…”