Practice style traits of student occupational therapists and physical therapists

Intensive efforts are aimed at understanding student attributes in anticipation that this will lead to effective knowledge translation (KT) strategies. One attribute of interest is practice style trait: four have been identified ranging from the seeker, who is driven by scientific evidence, to the pragmatist, who is driven by practicality.

To identify the prevalence of the four traits among student clinicians and explore associations between these traits, clinician characteristics and practice behaviours.

Ninety-two occupational therapy and 86 physical therapy students completed a survey that elicited information on traits, clinician characteristics, and practice behaviours.

The most prevalent trait was pragmatic, the least, seeker at <1%. The most prevalent reason for choosing an intervention was "it was used by my clinical supervisor".

Educators should carefully reconsider the implication of using KT strategies that cater primarily to seekers. Research is warranted to explore the impact of matching educational strategies to traits.