Advancing Interpersonal, Interprofessional, and Clinical Skills: Teamwork Through Training Collegiate Athletes

The purpose was to examine student performance in a clinical setting after an extra-curricular student experiential learning experience.

Ten Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) Doctor of Physical Therapy students participated in performing strength and conditioning services during the second year of the professional education program. Clinical instructor comments were evaluated from the midterm assessment. Data were collected over 3 years for this study.

The main themes that emerged from clinical instructors' comments were that students demonstrated good communication skills, including managing challenging conversations with colleagues, patients, and other professionals; effective interprofessional interactions and teamwork; attention to movement analysis; and empathy when working with a diverse group of patients. The majority of clinical instructors reported that students exceeded expectations for performance.

The experiential learning opportunity of performing strength and conditioning training may foster the development of professional and clinical skills, such as interprofessional collaborations and managing challenging conversations with a broad range of individuals, as is required in clinical practice.