Impact of a Leadership Development Program for Students in a Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

Physical therapists are needed in leadership roles to enhance participation in primary care delivery models. This study's purpose was to investigate the impact of a leadership development course in a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curriculum on student physical therapist leadership practices. It was anticipated that students who completed a structured leadership development course would have a greater increase of leadership practices as measured by the Leadership Practices Inventory-Self (LPI-Self).

Published articles on DPT student leadership offer foundational insight into mechanisms for enhancing leadership development. Little evidence exists in understanding how student physical therapists develop leadership practices.

Ten DPT students participated in an elective leadership development pro¬gram; 22 classmates served as controls.

This was a pretest/posttest quasi-experimental design. The LPI-Self and a demographic survey were completed prior to and immediately after a leadership development course.

A significant increase (p=0.030) was found in total change score of the LPI-Self pre- to post-test in the experimental group compared to the control group.

DPT students who participated in the leadership development program had significant increase in LPI-Self scores. These findings suggest that intentional leadership development implemented in DPT curriculum can increase leadership practices.