An observational study exploring academic mentorship in physical therapy

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Academic Development
• Faculty Mentorship

Background:

• Health professions faculty often lack formal pedagogical training.
• New faculty face challenges balancing teaching, research, and service.
• Mentorship is proposed to support novice faculty, but PT faculty mentorship is understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence and extent of mentoring among new full-time physical therapy (PT) faculty in entry-level education.
• To identify current mentorship practices within PT academic programs.

Main Methods:

• An exploratory, cross-sectional survey research design was employed.
• The Health Sciences Faculty Mentoring Survey was utilized to collect data.
• Descriptive data on faculty mentoring in PT education were gathered.

Main Results:

• Only 15 out of 66 respondents (22.7%) reported having a faculty mentor.
• Of those with mentors, only 10 received mentorship from within their own PT department.
• The data offer specific insights into current mentorship practices in the PT academic community.

Conclusions:

• Academic mentorship for physical therapy faculty is notably limited.
• The study provides insights into PT faculty perceptions of mentorship.
• Frameworks for developing and supporting novice PT faculty in their academic roles are discussed.