Vision Statement

The Indiana University Department of Physical Therapy will excel as an internationally recognized leader in education, research and civic engagement.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Physical Therapy at Indiana University is to demonstrate scholastic excellence in teaching and learning, discover and apply knowledge in research and creative activity, and demonstrate compassionate service in civic engagement. The Department is dedicated to preparing culturally competent autonomous Doctors of Physical Therapy who by their commitment to advance the health and quality of life for all humanity are recognized as leaders among health professionals and the community.

Departmental Philosophy

The following description of the Department of Physical Therapy's Philosophy relates to its tri-fold mission of excellence in teaching and learning, to discover and apply knowledge in research and creative activity, and to demonstrate compassionate service in civic engagement.

The faculty believes that the nature of physical therapy practice and contemporary educational theories requires an interdisciplinary approach. Existing demands of health care and service delivery also call for efficient educational programs of sufficient breadth and depth at a level that fosters autonomous practice. To this end, the faculty believe that a strong academic background following a liberal arts tradition, a robust scientific curriculum, personal resources that foster learning, adaptation and skilled performance, and a physical, social and cultural environment that fosters students' professional development, both explicitly and implicitly, are critical. We believe that commitment and collaboration of students and faculty in a process that integrates contemporary educational methods and didactic and experiential learning, self-reflection, and clinical reasoning using the best evidence available prepares students for autonomous practice.

Core Professional Values

The faculty of the Department of Physical Therapy embraces the seven core professional values as stated by the American Physical Therapy Association. The values are recognized as tenants of a doctoring profession. The faculty models the values and integrates them into the curriculum, encouraging the students to do the same. The core values are integrated and synthesized through case-based learning and service learning opportunities. The seven core professional values are:

accountability
altruism
compassion/caring
excellence
integrity
professional duty
social responsibility

Faculty Commitments

The faculty of the Department of Physical Therapy enacts the philosophy by:

participating in this collaborative model of education and creating a learning atmosphere typified by unity in diversity. Faculty model professional identities from both a discipline-specific and an interdisciplinary perspective, and engage in multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teaching, scholarship and clinical professional service, resulting in education that is more visionary than if undertaken separately.
constructing learning environments that are secure and open, and in which students and faculty share responsibility for meeting educational goals.
serving as guides and facilitators who inspire and challenge students to become competent professionals with a life-long commitment to sound clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice.
conducting and reporting research affecting the depth and breadth of physical therapist practice.
contributing to the development of health care policy as it relates to physical therapist practice at the state and national levels.
providing a professional program of excellence.

Student Commitments

Students will achieve the academic and clinical standards of the Department of Physical Therapy by mastering the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values of their profession. Each student also contributes critical personal resources that include:

foundation knowledge from pre-requisite courses.
written and oral communication skills.
self-reflection and self-learning
questioning of presented concepts.
respect for others.
principles of ethical behavior.
ability to adapt to change and appreciate diverse life experiences.
problem-solving skills.
patient-centered focus.
maintaining an open mind in considering new information.

Students will recognize that learning is a life-long process that begins with the entry-level, generalist-prepared professional and advances to post-professional continuing education, independent study, and advanced degree programs of study.

The Curriculum

The foundation of the curriculum of the physical therapy educational program is a balance of coursework in social sciences, humanities, and natural and health sciences. The curriculum incorporates strong basic, clinical, and applied sciences that contribute to the unique body of knowledge in physical therapy and rests on four fundamental concepts.

Problem solving: To assist students in developing life-long learning and critical inquiry skills, the curriculum fosters a problem-solving approach to instruction by using strategies that include student-centered, case-based instruction. Problem solving is viewed in a context of a closed loop in which the evaluation of an intervention serves as the basis for further decisions.
Scientific basis for practice: The curriculum emphasizes infusion of best practice and empirically tested knowledge from clinical research. Skills that are necessary to engage in critical thinking and communication, and to apply new scientific knowledge in clinical decisions, will be emphasized in all courses. These include, but are not limited to, the ability to: evaluate relative strengths of the various sources of knowledge use in physical therapist practices, education and research; identify knowledge gaps; engage in the peer review process of scientific inquiry; interpret research results; address the role of uncertainty in science; and manage the decisions made. Special courses will offer students opportunities to participate in processes of scientific inquiry.
Guide to Physical Therapist Practice: The curriculum is organized around the five essential elements of patient/client management encompassing a continuum of care across delivery systems and lifespan as described in the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice.¹ Students are taught to serve the public through consultation, prevention and wellness, and examination and intervention. They are taught using case-based teaching to promote health, wellness and fitness as well as to rehabilitate patients with impairments and disabilities. The physical therapist practice patterns offer a framework for the coursework throughout the curriculum.

The five elements of patient/client management are:
1. examination,
2. evaluation,
3. diagnosis,
4. prognosis and plan of care, and
5. intervention.
The four physical therapist practice patterns are:
1. musculoskeletal,
2. neuromuscular,
3. cardiovascular/pulmonary, and
4. integumentary.
Framework of function, health, the individual and environment: The curricular framework, within which physical therapist practice is taught, is based on the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) model. The model classifies disablement and function in terms of impairment of body structures and function, activity, and participation. Students are responsible for addressing the concerns of their clients in any of these categories and collaborating in developing a plan of action. The ICF model is used to assist students in understanding the pivotal relationship between the individual or population and the physical, social, and attitudinal environments. Knowing how the environment can facilitate or hinder functioning or disability can have significant affect on the assessment and subsequent intervention necessary for the participation and health and well being of an individual or group of individuals.²
Conceptual Framework for Clinical Decision Making Individual-Centered Approach: The core faculty are committed to a unifying conceptual framework for clinical decision making to serve as a model for all clinically-based courses. The Conceptual Framework for Clinical Decision Making Individual-Centered Approach was developed in a collaborative effort between students and faculty, and integrates five key models that guide contemporary physical therapist practice: the patient/client management model, Nagi, ICF, HOAC II, and dynamic systems model of motor control. It serves as a useful tool for teaching and learning clinical reasoning across the curriculum by providing a consistent, logical and organized context in which students learn to gather, interpret, plan and act when making clinical decisions. The clinical reasoning process illustrated in this Framework is presented repeatedly throughout the curriculum using patient case examples to help students develop an efficient and effective method of practice and achieve the program's educational objectives.

Faculty present courses in these areas in sufficient depth and breadth to develop students' ability to think independently, to weigh values, to understand fundamental theory, and to develop skills for clinical practice, including critical thinking and communication.³

¹ Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, 2^nd Ed. (2003). American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA.
² World Health Organization. (2001). International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Geneva, Switzerland: Author.
³ CAPTE Accreditation Handbook, PT Criteria, Appendix B, (2004). American Physical Therapy Association, Alexandria, VA.

Department Educational Objectives

A major mission of the Department of Physical Therapy is to prepare autonomous Doctors of Physical Therapy who by their commitment to advance the health and quality of life for all humanity are recognized as leaders among health professionals and the community.

Graduates of the educational program will enter the profession as physical therapist practitioners who are prepared to:

Practice as autonomous point-of-entry providers of physical habilitation and rehabilitation services in adherence to ethical, professional and legal standards within a variety of clinical and non-traditional community settings;
Communicate orally and in writing with patients and their families, colleagues, other health care professionals, legislators, third-party payors and other constituents;
Demonstrate sensitivity to individual and cultural diversities;
Demonstrate clinical decision-making skills including clinical reasoning, clinical judgment and reflective practice;
Screen patients/clients to determine the need for further examination or consultation by a physical therapist or referral to another health care professional;
Examine and re-examine a patient;
Synthesize examination data to complete the physical therapy evaluation;
Establish and communicate a physical therapy diagnosis for patients across the life span;
Determine patient prognosis based upon evaluation of results of examinations and medical and psychosocial information;
Collaborate with patients and their families, care team members, and others to develop, monitor, and adjust a safe, compassionate, effective, realistic, fiscally responsible plan of care with time specific goals and outcomes which comply with the policies of the practice setting;
Assume responsibility for the efficient, coordinated management of care (primary, secondary, or tertiary) based on the patient's/client's goals and expected functional outcomes;
Facilitate expected patient outcomes through providing safe, effective physical therapy interventions within a variety of care delivery settings and evaluating outcomes;
Provide effective education for patients, caregivers, students, health care professionals and the general public;
Contribute to the advancement of physical therapy practice through critical evaluation of published studies, informed application of the findings of studies and participation in collaborative research;
Use evidence as a basis for critical thinking, decision-making and independent practice;
Complete thorough, accurate, analytically sound, concise, timely and legible documentation that follows guidelines and specific documentation formats required by the practice setting;
Participate in the administration of physical therapy services including delegation and supervision of support personnel, management planning, marketing, budgeting and reimbursement activities;
Provide consultation services to individuals and groups;
Individually demonstrate healthy life style practices and promote these practices in others (patients, groups, and communities) by providing wellness and health promotion programs appropriate to physical therapy;
Formulate and implement a plan for personal and professional development and life-long learning based on self-assessment, reflection and feedback from others;
Demonstrate social and professional responsibility through mentoring and participation in professional and community organizations and activities.