Patrick and all:

Thanks for your reply. In my experience the title of doctor is what PT's get
most hung up on. Most PTs I have talked with agree with the whole concept of
fully autonomous practice and everything that comes with the definition of
"profession" according to the sociologic literature. (I am speaking for USA
society as that is what I am familiar with) If so, it only follows that
doctor is the title society uses to label such an individual. (in clergy
there are equivalent titles, in law the degree is a doctoral degree)

So what's wrong with the label? I think many PTs have an inferiority complex
about their status in the health care pecking order. They are too timid to
stand up and say physical therapy is a unique profession with a unique body
of knowledge and as the professional of physical therapy my title is
equivalent with the professional title of the other "professions"

So, to paraphrase an old saying if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck,
acts like a duck....

We will continue to self flagellate over this issue for many years. Long
after the rest of society has fully embraced it.

As to clinical education the APTA has developed an objective and validated
tool for clinical education. Most programs are using it. If you take
students from a program that doesn't I would suggest lobbing them to convert
to the CPI.

I also agree the clinical education model used most commonly in the USA is
antiquated. "Clinical instructors" have to be brought more into the fold of
the academic community. Only with strong clinical and academic partnerships
will we have the resources to conduct the research that is needed.

Great discussion. Thanks.

Doug

*******************************************************

Douglas M. White, PT, OCS
Physical Therapist, Consultant
191 Blue Hills Parkway
Milton, MA USA 02186
P: 617.696.1974
[log in to unmask]
http://DouglasWhite.tripod.com


| Doug:
|
| Thank you for clarifying your statement.  Also you might want to clarify
that the total time of clinical rotation is 6 months, not the final clinical
rotation.  The final rotation should be around 6 months though, but there
are problems here too (see below).  I agree that we should raise the bar,
I'm just not sure that a title of "doctor" is needed.  I do understand that
the next level in the heirarchy of education is the doctorate though.  I
hope I'm not coming across as "sour grapes."  I have seen so many students
that just can't think at a level that we should expect from our graduating
class.  Raising the bar in our clinical education should occur.  This
requires several steps.  Why don't we concentrate on this first?  First of
all we need a tool that is more objective in measuring students progress.
We also need clinical instructors who are qualified at teaching and grading
these students.
|
| I think we should even set up specific specialities, GP, Peds, Neuro,
Ortho, etc.. for the entry level.  Not that they would have to earn a
specialty certification but perhaps title themselves as a General Practice
PT, Pediatric PT, Neuro PT, Orthopedic PT, etc..  My reasoning for doing
this is that it would allow the student to train and become more of an
expert if so desired and this could produce a better product.
|
| All in all though progress is going forward on many fronts and that is
great!  Progress is slow as should be expected.  I would just like to see it
thought out well for our future.
|
| Sincerely,
| Patrick Zerr
| www.apluspt.com
|
| - for physiotherapists in education and practice <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
| > Allow me to clarify my earlier posting. I did not mean to imply most PT
| programs offer the DPT. What I was saying was of those that offer the DPT
| most are at entry level.
|
| Currently, according to CAPTE, ~45-50% of US PT programs are offering the
| DPT or converting to the DPT. Many of those programs are offering a tDPT
| (transitional.) Similar to when all other professions transitioned to a
| "doctor" there is a period when you have to bring the rest of the
profession
| up to the same credential. In 10-15 years I think most of the public will
| not be aware that PTs were not DPTs for a long time.
|
| Clinical education is not standardized yet. Most of the programs I am
| familiar with have a minimum of 6 months clinical education. Comparing
| clinical education to MDs is a little apples and oranges. There are many
| "doctors" and many types of practical educational experiences.
|
| Collegially yours,
|
| Douglas M. White, PT, OCS
|
|
| Dave Riddell asked how many hours are required for clinical rotations.
|
| I am not an expert on school accreditation but, I know that most require a
| final rotation of 16 weeks, 40 hours per week.  Often though, these
| rotations are divided into 2 or 3 different settings.  Now if you want to
| compare this to a physicians clinical rotation it is much different.  So,
| that's why I'mnot sure why we are really wanting to call ourselves
"doctors"
| which conotates the same training as physicians.
|
| Also, Douglas White mentioned that most US PT programs are DPT's.  I don't
| think that is the case although several are converting.  Then that raises
| the issue in the public's eye of what is the difference between a Doctor
of
| Physical Therapy and a Physical Therapist.  Atleast when we converted from
| BS to MS degrees for PT's we didn't have this problem.
|
| Sincerely,
| Patrick Zerr
| www.apluspt.com