Clinical competencies of physical therapy interns in patients’ management skills

Abstract

Introduction: Graduates of physiotherapy educational and training programs should be expected to work as a competent clinician. Studies carried out in different parts of the world show contradicting results. This study was designed to evaluate the competencies of physical therapy interns in patients' management skills.

Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from July, 2019 to December, 2019 on fifty two physical therapy interns who were working in different clinical settings. The sampling technique used for this survey was purposive sampling. Twenty clinical physical therapists assessed competencies of these interns using the modified version of Clinical Internship Evaluation Tool. SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis.

Results: Clinical physiotherapists who assessed the competencies of the physiotherapy interns stated that the profeciency of all (n = 52, 100) participants in relation to patients management skills was satisfactory for their current educational level. Thirteen (25%) of the respondents had thinking that examination is an area of concern and more than a half (53.8%, n=28) mentioned that examination is an area of strength and 21.2% (n=11) of them gave no response about examination. Questions related to examination revealed that majority (n=45, 86.5%) respondents think that they obtain accurate history. Similarly, majority (n=47, 90.4%) of participants responded that they determine diagnosis for physical therapy management of the patients. On a scale from 0 to 10, the interns were compared to a competent clinician who is able to skillfully manage patients in an efficient manner to achieve effective patient/client outcome. About 44.2% (n=23) of the respondents gave 4 out of 10 rating, 51.9% (n=27) of them gave 5 number and 3.8 (n=2) of them were awarded 6/10 number of clinical competences.

Conclusion: We concluded from the study that almost all the physical therapy interns were competent in regards to in-patients management skills.