A Look Back.

As Editor Jules Rothstein prepares to present the Thirty-Second Mary McMillan Lecture at Physical Therapy 2001: Annual Conference and Exposition of APTA, the Journal will publish "A Look Back" and Editor's Notes by invited guests. Dr Rothstein will resume his Editor's Notes in the September issue. This month: the Journal looks back at issues surrounding physical therapist education degrees.

"The College Degree in Physical Therapy"

The physical therapist trained in a well-considered educational program which the four-year degree course ought to provide should have the advantage of having acquired insight, perspective, and appreciation which should greatly enhance his value to the physician and to the patient, as well as his own personal gratification in the profession.

Hutchinson WG, 1953, Vol. 33, No. 4, pages 166-167.

"The Physical Therapy Student--His Selection and Education"

The problem, then, is to design a program of education for the well selected student which will give him the preparation for working at the staff level and a foundation on which he can build toward other objectives. Because of the great need for physical therapists in all categories of employment, the training of the student as a technician who can serve only in a limited capacity is short-sighted.

Worthingham C, 1957, Vol. 37, No. 1, pages 21-27

"What It Means to Be an Educated Professional Person"

... Out of the quality of education the professional person receives, he must develop basic intellectual and moral integrity, sound habits of mental and physical health, emotional stability and maturity, spiritual harmony, and a persistent dedication to helping build a better life for human beings. The professional person stands as an example for others to follow. If he symbolizes the best in intellectual development, moral and spiritual commitments, personal adjustment, and citizenship habits he becomes a powerful influence for good in his community.

Stiles LJ, 1958, Vol. 38, No. 4, pages 225-227

"What Is the Future of Physical Therapy Education?"

The future of physical therapy education will be related of necessity to the role its educators and practitioners elect to play in the development of physical therapy as a profession. At the present time the desire for professional recognition is great, but many fail to see that merely to call themselves professional does not entitle them to such designation. A few regretfully would appear to be content to accept a role, described in a recent Pennsylvania study of the attitudes of medical practitioners toward nursing as, "not of a cooperating brain but of a doctor-directed but self-propelled hand."

Worthingham C, 1963, Vol. 43, No. 9, pages 645-649.

"The Unbent Twigs"

`Tis education forms the common mind: Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.

The new students in our educational programs across the country are seeking to apply themselves with diligence toward the end of becoming compleat clinicians in physical therapy. They struggle to understand their role in a profession which is not all pragmatic but not quite scholarly; not all art but not quite scientific.

Hislop HJ, 1968, Vol. 48, No. 10, page 1082

"The Doctorate in Physical Therapy"

One now begins to hear discussion, pro and con, regarding the development of doctoral programs in physical therapy. Thirty years ago, the Ph.D. in a "service" profession was unthinkable. Today doctoral degrees are found in such allied health fields as speech pathology, nursing, and rehabilitation counseling. The academic barriers are down and the precedent is set for the inauguration of this degree in physical therapy. The larger question then lies not in the validity of such a degree, but rather, in the state of readiness for it in physical therapy.

Hislop HJ, 1968, Vol. 48, No. 10, pages 1325-1326

"What Direction Should Physical Therapy Education Take in Adequately Preparing Future Physical Therapists?"

A basic concern of physical therapists is the future of the physical therapy department. The various physical therapy programs seem to produce graduates with differing abilities.... Perhaps the direction physical therapy education should take would be to offer specialization within itself. The professional degree course could be split into two sections [one management oriented and the other practice oriented] with emphasis determined by the student according to his desires.

Cammack JM, 1972, Vol. 52, No. 4, pages 447-451

"Letters to the Editor: Whose Responsibility Is It?"

... The suggestion that a basic master's in physical therapy would end all need for further "short-term courses, or further graduate education" is a bold assertion indeed. It takes times to learn the clinical competencies and skills which make us physical therapists and, no matter where in the academic hierarchy those basic competencies and skills are placed, it is going to take more time afterwards to master the equally complex competencies and skills of administration, supervision, education, consultation, and clinical research, not to mention the possibility of advanced clinical specialization, which is beginning to make itself felt within the profession. And that is a trend which may increase the demands for all kinds of continuing education for physical therapists in the future, on the job, in short-term courses, and in formal graduate work.

Payton OD, 1974, Vol. 54, No. 11, page 1214

"Entry Level Education: Concerns About the Proposed Change"

... I believe the current, flexible, multiple entry level professional education in physical therapy should be maintained until valid data are presented demonstrating that a single entry level degree at the postbaccaluareate level is beneficial to the profession. Anticipated declining enrollments in higher education, changing composition of the student body, crises in institutional finances, decreasing health care funding, and insufficient information about the effect on health care, on health care costs, and on the distribution of manpower--in the face of no data on professional role difference related to educational level--necessitate further study and discussion before implementation of the APTA proposal.

Caston JM, 1982, Vol. 62, No. 1, pages 40-45

"The Clinical Doctorate: A Framework for Analysis in Physical Therapist Education"

The DPT [doctorate in physical therapy] degree provides a very clear indication of professional identity that is consistent with other health care professionals and would assist with the public recognition of physical therapists as professionals. Professional preparation that emphasizes the social, moral, and scholarly responsibilities expected of doctoral graduates is consistent with the DPT degree. Finally, an educational environment where inquiry and scholarship are fundamental values of the work environment, role modeled by faculty, and cultivated within students provides an essential foundation for the preparation of the next generation of professionals. We argue that DPT programs are well-positioned to provide this kind of academic environment.

Threlkeld AJ, 1999, Vol. 79, No. 6, pages 567-581