Professional Development I

Catalog description

This course is the first of the Professional Development sequence, the bridge between academics and the clinical experience. The sequence serves to advance the physical therapy students’ growth in communication, cultural competence, professionalism, ethics and professional development. In addition, emphasis is placed on facilitating student recognition of and professional development in the responsibilities of a DPT, including staying current on emerging issues in health care. In Professional Development I, we will initiate this process with focus placed on students learning about themselves. The design of the Professional Development I course is aimed at introducing physical therapy students to the essential aspects of their role as healthcare practitioners and guiding students to explore and define the unique physical therapist that they hope to become. Some areas included are professional roles and professional practice expectations, communication and interaction, patient/client rights, ethics, culture, the healthcare system, physical therapy practice settings, legal issues in physical therapy, the APTA, the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Function and Disease (ICF), and evidence–based practice.