Village D, Clouten N, Millar AL; Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI. village@andrews.edu

PURPOSE: Service to others is considered an important professional attribute and is incorporated into the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice, as well as into accreditation criteria. However, little is known about the extent of the use of service activities within physical therapist (PT) and physical therapist assistant (PTA) education. The purpose of this study was to determine the use of service-learning (SL), extracurricular volunteer activity (V), and pro bono services (PB) within PT and PTA curriculum and to offer a comparison between the two curricula. SUBJECTS: Accredited physical therapist and physical therapist assistant programs in the United States. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Surveys were sent to all accredited PT programs requesting information about the use of three types of community-based learning (SL, V, PB) experiences within their curriculum. A slightly modified version of this survey was sent to all accredited PTA programs, soliciting similar information. Both surveys requested demographic, as well as activity specific information. ANALYSIS: Responses were tabulated for each group, then combined to compare between groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS version11.0. Comments written on the returned survey questionnaires were recorded and classified according to theme. RESULTS: Response rate was 48% and 47% for the PT and PTA programs, respectively. Within the past 7 years, 77% of the PT and 61% of the PTA programs had used at least one of the three types of service activities. Of the respondents, 50 PT programs, and 38 PTA programs were currently using SL in their curricula. The most common service activity currently being implemented by PT programs was SL while for PTA programs volunteer activity was more common. Of those who did not currently have a service component in their curriculum, approximately 50% indicated that they were planning on implementing some sort of a service activity within the next year. The most frequent goals for incorporating SL were student learning and community benefit for both types of programs. CONCLUSIONS: Half of those responding to this survey incorporate some form of community-based learning within their curriculum and many programs where it is not yet included are planning to add SL. Service-learning and PB services are offered more frequently in PT than in PTA programs. This study suggests that physical therapy education is increasingly incorporating service opportunities. Information from this study may be useful for those considering incorporating service activities, in particular, SL, within their curriculum. FUNDING SOURCE: None.

Copyright 2004 by the American Physical Therapy Association

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