A comparison of the ideal role of the physical therapist as perceived by clinicians and academicians

Physical therapy education has been influenced by social and economic pressures over the years. A major influence currently being felt comes from the 1980 Resolutions Committee 14-79 of the American Physical Therapy Association. This resolution mandates that all physical therapy educational programs be at the postbaccalaureate degree level by 1990. Although a great deal of literature has been written about the various tasks of the physical therapist, no research has been identified which describes the ideal role. Educators have the dual task of preparing the student for current professional practice and assisting the student in preparing for the ideal, future status of the profession. To develop an appropriate curriculum, the current professional status and the ideal status must be identified. A Likert-type questionnaire, developed by the researcher, was used to compare physical therapy clinicians and academicians perceptions of the ideal role of the physical therapist. The reliability coefficient for the questionnaire was .92. The questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 405 clinicians who were members of the California chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association. Sixty academicians in the eight educational programs were asked to complete the mailed guestionnaire. The total returns on the 430 questionnaires that were delivered were 88.4[percent]. All these questionnaires were used in the analysis of the data. Data collected were analyzed using chi-square and analysis of variance. The major findings of this research identified, described, and compared the ideal role of the physical therapist as perceived by clinicians and academicians. The perceived ideal role of the physical therapist is multifaceted. Eleven of the 14 facets included in the questionnaire that were agreed upon by both the clinicians and academicians were: (1) researcher, (2) diagnostician, (3) independent practitioner, (4) consultant, (5) provider of patient care services, (6) educator, (7) administrator, (8) communicator, (9) political activist, (10) professional characteristics, and (11) personal characteristics. In general, academicians were in stronger agreement on all facets that were accepted as a part of the ideal role of the physical therapist than were clinicians. One new facet, preventive care in physical therapy, was suggested as a part of the ideal role of the physical therapist. The three facets which were not statistically significant were: (1) problem solver, (2) clinical specialist, and (3) public relations function.