Enhancing Patient Management Skills of Physical Therapy Interns: An Action Research

Every student success after graduation is an indicator that the vision, mission, goals of the university has been successfully achieved and that the graduate is professionally competent and is ready to be fully integrated to the real work situations.  A higher academic institution that offers physical therapy program in Northern Mindanao is now faced with new and greater educational challenges because of an aggressive implementation of higher education reforms and how to meet with the expectations of the internal and external stakeholders. Thus, the university will take its way in this endeavor to meet the needs of the physical therapy profession and enhance the competency of its graduates.  The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of intervention activities on the level of patient management skills among physical therapy interns. This study was anchored on the comprehensive outcomes-oriented model of patient management. Series of intervention activities were conceptualized using the action research cycle framework.  It utilized a prospective research design within a period of 10 months among 20 physical therapy interns who were undergoing their clinical internship program. The data on patient management skills revealed that there is significant difference in the mean ratings of all variables on patient management skills before and after the intervention program, improving significantly the patient management skills of PT interns.

 

Keywords: Physical Therapy, Patient Management Skills, Clinical Internship Program, Action Research