Handbook of Teaching for Physical Therapists.

Handbook of Teaching Physical Therapists

Shepard KF, Jensen GM, eds. Newton, MA 02158-1626, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1997, paperback, 406 pp, illus, $37.50.

This is the first book to address the teaching and learning issues specific to physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. The book's purpose is to present theoretical concepts and relate these concepts to practical situations. The book is written as a teaching reference for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants to use in various academic, clinical, and community settings and with patients and their families.

The first 6 chapters focus on teaching in academic and clinical settings. Chapters 1 through 3 focus on issues in the academic setting such as curriculum design, preparation for teaching, and teaching techniques. The authors emphasize the links between the mission of an institution, the mission of a program, and the philosophy guiding a curriculum. They then provide a model for linking philosophy, program goals, program objectives, course content, learning experiences, and evaluation. A teaching grid is provided to help readers consider an array of issues concerning the actual learning experience. The grid emphasizes the need to be clear about the theoretical underpinnings of one's teaching before deciding on the details of teaching.

Chapters 4 through 6 focus on clinical teaching. Gandy's comparison of practitioner and clinical instructor roles is noteworthy. Paschal provides numerous examples of dialogue between clinical instructors and students that readers will find both interesting and useful. These mini-vignettes are very effective in bringing clinical exchanges to life. Tichenor and Davidson provide a historical overview of postprofessional clinical residency education. They include specific teaching strategies and models used m facilitate clinical reasoning.

The last half of the book, chapters 7 through 11, focuses on teaching for various other audiences. Chapter 7 reports on a study of physical therapist perceptions toward patient education. Although the study is of interest, this chapter does not seem to flow with the rest of the book in terms of content or format. Chapter 8 vividly illustrates patient-centered communication to promote patient adherence to and cooperation with home exercise programs. The patient-practitioner collaborative model is particularly useful in linking the therapeutic process with the systems and influences that have an impact on the therapeutic relationship. Nicholson provides a good summary of motor-learning theories and strategies for promoting motor skill acquisition. Unfortunately, the chapter does not relate motor learning with Bloom's taxonomy or other teaching frameworks included in earlier chapters. Nemshick provides a comprehensive description of patient and family education from a holistic perspective. It builds on the prior discussions of goal setting, relevance, and domains of learning. Lorish offers an overview of conceptual models used in community health. The closing chapter by Johnson is an inspiring essay, but not consistent with a handbook format.

In addition to the strengths of individual chapters, each chapter includes an introductory vignette grounded in a real-life situation, a listing of chapter objectives, succinct summaries, extensive reference lists, and annotated bibliographies. It would help, however, if this book provided an overarching conceptual model of the principles of teaching and learning, and if these chapters consistently reinforced elements of teaching common to various settings and audiences.

Overall, the book achieves its purpose of bridging theory and practice. It is an excellent reference well suited for new faculty and clinical instructors.

Beverly J Schmoll, PhD, PT, FAPTA University of Michigan-Flint Flint, Mich

Dr Schmoll is Professor of Physical Therapy and Dean of Graduate Programs and Research. She teaches the foundations of teaching and learning to physical therapist students and clinical education instructors.