Hall M, Bowling, L, McArdle, K, Calvert, D; Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO. mhallpt@excite.com.

PURPOSE: The purposes of this qualitative research study were twofold: 1) to describe physical therapy students’ reactions to the generic abilities assessment process used in the curriculum at Rockhurst University and 2) to determine if the goals of the program are being met from the student perspective. SUBJECTS: Twenty-nine physical therapy students currently enrolled at Rockhurst University (ten 1^st year students, five 2^nd year students, and fourteen 3^rd year students) were randomly selected for the study. The study was approved by the Human Subjects Committee at the university. METHODS: Seven interview questions were formulated to discern student attitudes. All information was gathered through either personal interviews (n = 27) or phone interviews (n = 2) and tape recorded. All tapes were transcribed verbatim. ANALYSIS: A content analysis was performed on the transcripts to determine common themes, similarities, and differences between the three cohort groups. Chi Square analyses was used for the three closed-ended questions to determine any similarities among the three classes. RESULTS: 6% of students accurately identified and 93% partially accurately identified the purpose of the program. 82% of students reported that their attributes were accurately represented by the faculty’s evaluation. 62% of students took action to change identified behaviors. Four common themes were discovered: 1) students acquired foresight about the importance of professional attribute development for their future, 2) students became aware of areas of needed improvement and strengths, 3) students were receptive to the feedback from professors, 4) students were more stringent in their self-assessment than the professors. Information obtained from the Chi Square analyses was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: These findings determined that the goals of the generic abilities program at Rockhurst University are being met from the student perspective. FUNDING SOURCE: None.

Copyright 2004 by the American Physical Therapy Association

Reprint Information
Requests for reprints should be directed to the corresponding author of the article. Students and other academic customers may receive permission to reprint copyrighted material from Physical Therapy by contacting the Copyright Clearance Center Inc, 222 Rosewood Dr, Danvers, MA 01923. Similar inquiries by all others should be made to the APTA Editorial Office, Attn: Physical Therapy.