What clinical instructors want: perspectives on a new assessment tool for students in the clinical environment

Many Canadian physical therapy education programs use the 1997 version of the Physical Therapist Clinical Performance Instrument (PT-CPI) to evaluate students in their clinical placements. Recent evidence that clinical instructors (CIs) are unsatisfied with the PT-CPI, however, suggests a need to develop a new assessment tool. The purpose of this study was to gather Canadian CIs' perspectives on rating scales, preferred training methods, and format for future tool development.

This qualitative descriptive study involved five focus groups from across Canada. English-speaking CIs who had supervised at least one Canadian student in clinical practice were eligible for the study.

Participants identified concerns with the PT-CPI and indicated a preference for (1) more objective rating scales with clearly defined anchors, (2) both in-person and online training methods for CIs, and (3) a tool that could be completed and reviewed on paper or online.

CIs affirmed the need to develop a new assessment tool. RESULTS of the study will be used to inform the development of a new assessment tool to better evaluate Canadian physical therapy students' performance in the clinical setting.