Beginning with the End in Mind: A Product Evaluation of Integrated Clinical Education Courses

To describe the product evaluation of a curriculum of integrated clinical education (ICE) implemented into a Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

A novel curriculum incorporating five stand-alone ICE courses was developed and evaluated using the Context, Input, Product, Process program assessment model. Primary outcomes for product evaluation included Clinical Performance Instrument (web-CPI) ratings of student performance, student self-assessment aptitude, student satisfaction, and clinical remediation counts during full-time clinical education experiences (FTCEs).

Outcomes from the first ICE curriculum cohort (n=58) were compared to the prior two traditional curriculum cohorts (n=76). There were no differences in clinical instructors' (CI) final web-CPI assessments during terminal FTCEs. However, ICE students scored higher on initial and intermediate FTCEs and were more satisfied with the clinical education program. Student and CI final web-CPI ratings indicated ICE group's ratings aligned more closely with CI ratings. Remediation was similar between the two curricula, and the majority of CIs felt ICE students were at least as well prepared for FTCEs as students in the traditional curriculum.

The outcomes of our product evaluation suggest that educational strategies such as ICE may be capable of maximizing student potential and reducing clinic and program resources during clinical education.