3.4.2 The crucial component of teamwork as a physical therapist (prospectus)

For my final research essay, I will continue to look at my major of Physical Therapy and discuss how the elements in the world of literacy can be translated into a specific career field. There are so many skills used in Physical Therapy that do not just pertain to it specifically, but also skills that are practical in every professional setting. This is what makes this career so unique that you must be a well-rounded individual in general. One of the most significant aspects of this particular career choice is that you have to work really well in a team dynamic. This could be with other Physical Therapists or even different health professionals depending on what setting of practice you are in. In order to work well with other people in your team, not only do you need to understand your job, but you also need to understand what other people’s jobs and roles are. This creates a more cohesive team between the group and translates to more efficiency. This understanding of each other’s roles within a team is called Interprofessional Education (IPE). My final research essay will take a closer look at how IPE is involved in the health field but also looking specifically at how physical therapists are involved within different health settings in the context of IPE. 

I will have many questions that I will present in the beginning of my essay that will set up the multiple ideas that I will go over. My questions that I will discuss in my essay are “How is literacy involved in Physical Therapy and writing evaluation notes and progress reports?”. A lot of writing goes into being a physical therapist because it is their responsibility to make evaluations on the patient and to do that you must be able to correctly write reports. Another question that will be asked is “How does communication between Physical Therapists and Doctors or other medical professionals affect how work is done in practice?”. This goes along with the other question “How is IPE involved with everyday practice for Physical Therapists and for the education of DPT students?”. These both revolve around the idea on how Physical therapists are involved in the health care setting in the context of IPE. My other questions are “How much does communication between the Physical Therapist and the patient affect the relationship between them?”, “Are discourse different in each specific area of practice in Physical Therapy? If so, how are they different?”,  “How does the education in DPT (Doctor Physical Therapy) prepare Physical Therapists for the practice environment?”. These questions will act as a back bone for my essay overall and will lead me to a conclusion.  

There are many academic fields that could be interested regarding the topic of IPE. The most prominent and obvious field would be the medical field simply because it pertains their professional setting. It is pretty important for science fields in general to be good at working as a team because being able to do that is the factor that can lead to new discovery. Another academic field that would be interested in this topic would be sociology. This field would definitely be interested in the dynamic of different health professionals and how they work as a group to provide a patient care. Other fields that could be interested in this topic could really be any professional business setting. Even though Interprofessional Education is highly focused on in the medical field, it still can be translated into other places of business where people work as a team. 

I will begin my essay by introducing my topic and starting with something that will relate my audience to what I am talking about. This will draw the reader in and make them more interested on the topic. I will also relate this topic to myself and how it involves what I am majoring in. I will then introduce and explain what Interprofessional Education is and how it pertains to the medical field. This will then allow to present my main idea about how physical therapy is involved with IPE in different settings but I will not try to give away too much of my thesis right away. The goal is to slowly introduce points into my essay instead of giving away what I am going to write about in the beginning. I want the audience to be able to reflect on each point that I make in the essay and allow them to gain new perspectives as it goes on.  

For the organization of my essay, I would like to start out by answering the smaller questions that I have presented for my research topics and then gradually move into my larger topic which is Interprofessional Education (IPE) involved with Physical Therapists. This will allow the reader to have more context and information on how being a Physical Therapist is and what the job entails. This will allow them to understand the role more when talking about other health professions and how they work with them to provide patient care.  

I will first discuss how writing is a major component of being a Physical Therapist. I will explain that there are certain ways that a PT must write progress reports and evaluation notes and that there is a certain amount of literacy involved when evaluating a patient’s status. I will use the source, “Physical Therapy Assessment Documentation: 3 Tips & Examples”. This article gives a good, detailed description on how to write the notes and represents the amount understanding a Physical Therapist needs to know when it comes to organizing these reports. 

I will next discuss the different discourses involved in literacy. There are many different settings that you can be involved in and it is important for the audience to understand the full scope of the profession. Presenting these different settings will show that there are different specialized areas and along with that, multiple discourses involved with the field depending on which one they are in. I will use the source “6 Different Types of Physical Therapy”. This presents the main fields of Physical Therapy and what each specialization does daily. I will be able to build off this source and explain the different areas in Physical Therapy that can require diverse ways of thinking and communicating depending on the context of the situation. 

My next research topic that I will get into is how education in Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs (DPT) prepare students for the practice setting. I will express to the audience how rigorous these DPT programs are and how important it is for these students to have clinical experience before graduating. The source that I will use for this section of the essay will be, “Changes in perceived self-efficacy of physical therapist students following a pediatric experiential learning opportunity”. This article discusses the positive effects of having a DPT student do work in the clinical setting and obtain more experience. 

These research topics are very related to each other in many ways so the way I want to format it is where I can transition from each of the topics by relating them to each other. This will allow me to be able to connect all of them as I go along and help the reader be able to come to their own conclusions.  

The next topic that I will cover will be communication between the Physical Therapist and the patient. I will emphasize that this is the most crucial part about being a PT and is especially important to develop those skills while you are training to become one. The sources that I will use are, “The Added Value of Therapist Communication on the Effect of Physical Therapy Treatment in Older Adults; a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”, “Communication Is Currency”, and “Physical Therapist Management of Patients with or Recovering From COVID-19″. These sources will overall show the significance of having a good relationship witht the patient and being able to communicate with them. I will also talk briefly about the pandemic and how this affects the relationship between patients and the PT. 

I will move into my last topic which will discuss Interprofessional Education (IPE). I will quickly remind the reader of what IPE is and in the context of health professions. The sources I will use are, “Student experiences of interprofessional simulation: findings from a qualitative study”, “Students’ motivation for interprofessional collaboration after their experience on an IPE ward: A qualitative analysis framed by self-determination theory.”, “Does Mode Matter? Perception of Student Competence Following an IPE Communication Experience.”, and “How PT, OT Work Together to Help Memorial Regional Health Patients Heal”. I will present these sources so that I first discuss what IPE is like in a practice setting. I will then present my research so that I then move into how DPT students experience IPE while in school. This will show the importance of IPE and how it can make a difference for not only PTs but also other health professionals while they are in training to have a better understanding of their roles and identity in the field. 

I will give my conclusion by discussing the diverse types of literacy involved in Physical Therapy by briefly summarizing my points. I will then emphasize the importance of IPE and how beneficial it is for the healthcare field. This will allow me to give my thesis at the end of the essay, so I do not give the reader a mindset going into reading it. It will allow opportunities for the audience to reflect on the points brought and draw their own conclusion by the end of it. 

Annotated bibliography 

 Costello, Margaret, et al. “Student experiences of interprofessional simulation: findings from a qualitative study.” Journal of Interprofessional Care 32.1 (2018): 95-97.   

This study provides evidence that IPE (Interprofessional education) between different health professional students gives them a better understanding of patient care and how to communicate between each other. The author wanted to show that IPE in Health profession education is vital for students before they go into practice. This source is useful because it discusses communication between Physical Therapists and other health professionals. This strengthens the idea that Interprofessional Education is important for all health professionals and the quality of patient care. I can use this source by including it into areas where I want to talk about professional programs. 

Visser, Cora LF, et al. “Students’ motivation for interprofessional collaboration after their experience on an IPE ward: A qualitative analysis framed by self-determination theory.” Medical teacher 41.1 (2019): 44-52. 

 This Study looked at how collaboration between different health professionals is  Especially important in the health field. The study observed the activities of different health professional students and how they interacted in a ward where they would deal with real patients. This strengthens the idea even more that many health professionals do not know much about Physical Therapists and their profession and that they can provide valuable knowledge to other health professionals on aspects of the patient’s care. This source can help provide information on how Physical Therapists communicate with other professionals in the context of Interprofessional Education. This source can also be included when talking about how education in DPT programs translates into everyday practice. 

Wolden, Mitch, Brittany Anderson, and Chris Ray. “Changes in perceived self-efficacy of physical therapist students following a pediatric experiential learning opportunity.” Pediatric Physical Therapy 31.1 (2019): 115-120. 

This study looks at the idea of how doing actual work in practices as a Physical Therapy student can increase confidence in the individual. It gives the conclusion that there should be more experiential opportunities for Physical therapy students. This is relevant to how Physical therapy students are prepared in the professional program to be in practice. This source could also touch on how significant the relationship and communication between the Physical therapist and the patient really is and how it affects the quality of care. This source is useful and can be applied to different research questions asked for the essay. 

Lakke, Sandra, et al. “The Added Value of Therapist Communication on the Effect of Physical Therapy Treatment in Older Adults; a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Patient Education and Counseling, Jan. 2018. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.pec.2018.09.020. 

This study focused on how the communication between the Physical Therapist and the patient, specifically the older adult, can have an effect on promoting exercise. The conclusion that they came to is that it can have an effect on how aware they are about their body during exercise but not necessarily increasing the actual activity they are doing. This source is relevant to the topic of communication between the Physical therapist and the patient and how important it is when working in the field.  

Maria Olenick, et al. “Positive and Negative Factors That Influence Health Care Faculty Intent to Engage in Interprofessional Education (IPE).” Healthcare, vol. 7, no. 1, Feb. 2019, p. 29. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/healthcare7010029. 

This study looked at Healthcare professionals’ opinions on IPE and if there are good things and bad things about it. They ran a survey that would go to multiple different types of healthcare positions to get their opinions. They found that there still negative factors still within the field regarding IPE. This study is relevant to the questions about IPE in general. It can look at the questions in the aspect of what health professionals actually thing about it and extending the argument off of those opinions. 

Sherman, Erica, et al. “Does Mode Matter? Perception of Student Competence Following an IPE Communication Experience.” Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, vol. 21, Dec. 2020. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.xjep.2020.100363. 

The purpose of this study was to look at how the ways communication during an Interprofessional education activity can have an effect on the experience of the students. They found that the students found that their experience improved when they were able to use the video and audio modes. This study is relevant to the topic of how prepared students feel when they enter the practice setting. This is also relevant to the general topic of Interprofessional Education. 

Fraticelli, Tim. “Physical Therapy Assessment Documentation: 3 Tips & Examples”, PTProgress, https://www.ptprogress.com/therapy-assessment-documentation/ 

This non-scholarly article discusses how to write progress reports and evaluation notes as a Physical therapist. It sets up the format you should go by so your writing is clear and what you should emphasize when you are writing them. This is relevant to the question of how writing is involved with being a Physical Therapist and how much it plays into the job itself. It also presents the literacy involved with understanding how to communicate through that style of writing. 

Mckay, Jimmy. “Communication Is Currency”,  Fox Rehabilitation, https://www.foxrehab.org/communicate-medical-care-effectively-article/ 

This non-scholarly article talks about how important it is to communicate with your patient and build trust with them to be able to build a relationship. The biggest takeaway from the article is that Physical therapists really need to adapt to the patients personality and really take the time to listen to them. This is relevant to my research topic of how significant the communication between the Physical Therapist and the patient really is and how it is crucial to build trust. 

“6 Different Types of Physical Therapy”, Movement for Life Physical Therapy, https://www.movementforlife.com/blog/6-different-types-of-physical-therapy.php 

This non-scholarly article discusses the different types of settings that a Physical Therapist can work in while in the field. They also discuss what types of specific areas of rehabilitation are involved within each subfield. This article is relevant to the question of what specific discourses are involved with Physical Therapy. This can give an overview of what you specifically need to specialize in and know when you are in each field regarding the Physical Therapy career. 

“How PT, OT Work Together to Help Memorial Regional Health Patients Heal”, memorial regional health, https://memorialregionalhealth.com/health-topics/primary-care-general-health/pt-ot-work-together-help-memorial-regional-health-patients-heal/ 

This non-scholarly article discusses the relationship between Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists and how they work together to provide patients with the right care. Although this article discusses this in the context of their hospital, it still is a good example of the communication involved between Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. This is relevant to the topic of Interprofessional Education between Physical Therapists and other health professionals. This also shows the similarities between the two professions as well. 

“Physical Therapy”, National Academies of Practice, https://www.napractice.org/physical-therapy 

This article discusses the basic overall job of a physical therapist. It gives the job in the context and perspective of the healthcare field as a whole and what their role or identity is within it. This is relevant to the research topic of Interprofessional Education and how Physical Therapists are involved in that process. It also gives a good idea of what specifically a Physical Therapist does and how it creates their personal identity in the context of the field.  

“Physical Therapist Management of Patients With or Recovering From COVID-19″, American Physical Therapy Association, https://www.apta.org/patient-care/public-health-population-care/coronavirus/management-of-patients 

This article discusses how the relationship between a Physical Therapist and the patient has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. It talks about what steps should be taken with the patient to make sure that it is a safe experience for both the patient and the professional. It also discusses the steps that should be taken if a patient is recovering from the virus and how those stages of recovery work. This is relevant to the topic of the relationship between the patient and the Physical Therapist. This gives a component of that research topic in a more relevant context and can be added on to the other information presented.