Physical Therapy Faculty, Clinical Instructors, and Employer Expectations for New DPT Graduates in the Acute Care Setting

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine how the expectations of new graduate physical therapists held by physical therapy faculty (PTF), clinical instructors (CIs), and employers (PTE) compared in the acute care (AC) setting, and determine if graduates are meeting the entry-level expectations of the three stakeholders in acute care. Methods: This mixed method study used Survey Monkey to gather data from participants. Faculty, CIs and PTEs were recruited from CAPTE accredited DPT programs. The current survey used the top 25 characteristics developed by the Delphi study by Gazsi to determine level of agreement of importance among the three participant groups for entry-level performance in acute care. Results: The study had 399 participants. Of the 25 characteristics, 7 were ranked most important by more than 75% of all participant groups combined. Two characteristics – safe and reliable – were consistently ranked highest by all 3 participant groups. Four significant differences among groups were for the characteristics of recognition of red flags, critical thinker, problem solver, and team player. A majority (82.4%) reported that new graduates were meeting expectations. Conclusions: Although the majority of participants reported that new graduates were meeting expectations, the implication of differences in expectations among some of the participants is that these differences should be considered in curricula development.Key words: DPT education, employer expectations, DPT entry-level expectations