Physical Therapist Clinical Instructor Perceived Benefits and Reservations of the Clinical Instructor Role

During clinical internships, physical therapy students must be supervised by clinical instructors (CIs) who are practicing physical therapists (PTs). The willingness of CIs to take on student PTs is imperative, as approximately one third of the physical therapy curriculum is clinic based, and CIs are not reimbursed for their time. The purpose of this study was to update the body of knowledge regarding these instructors' perceived benefits of being a CI, as well as identifying reservations that would discourage them from serving as a CI.Surveys were sent to 288 Center Coordinators of Clinical Education (CCCEs) within the Wichita State University's (WSU) physical therapy education database. Eighty six CIs responded who met all the inclusion criteria. The survey used a Likert-like scale to measure the benefits and reservations of being a CI and included a demographic section. Significant differences (p< 0.017) were found in three of the benefits questions based on practice setting and with 11 of the responses to the 17 statements taken from Gwyer et al. Overall, the perceived benefits were ranked higher than the perceived reservations.