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Faculty Perceptions of Physical Disability and Technical Standards in Physical Therapy Education: A Mixed-Methods
Jessica Marengo1, Eric Folmar, Kyle Covington
1Department of Physical Therapy, Movement and Rehabilitation Sciences, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. j.marengo@northeastern.edu.
Background:
Technical standards are non-academic requirements for admission into and participation in an educational program. Concerns have arisen that technical standards may limit access to health professions education for students with physical disabilities, including physical therapist education programs, where it is estimated that <1% of students have physical disabilities.
Methods:
A convenience sample of physical therapy program faculty was contacted via email in November 2024, using publicly-available program director contact information. The survey was comprised of 20 Likert scale statements and 6 optional free response questions. Data analysis was performed in SPSS (ver. 28.0.0.0). Answers to the free response questions underwent thematic analysis.
Results:
Over 700 faculty members were contacted for survey participation with 137 responses received and 126 included. Multiple statistically significant findings emerged, notably highlighting distinctions between physical therapist and physical therapist assistant programs. 88.9% of respondents agreed that technical standards are required to ensure safe clinical practice, 77% agreed that clinical partnerships pose a challenge to admission of students with physical disabilities, and 80.1% agreed that students with physical disabilities are uniquely positioned to positively contribute to the profession.
Discussion:
Faculty reported that technical standards facilitate conversations about accommodations, convey potential employment requirements, and illustrate core features of professional identity. Despite support for inclusion, concerns exist regarding successful completion of clinical education, including maintaining patient safety.
Conclusion:
Physical therapy education programs must consider revisions to their technical standards to improve inclusion and representation, while simultaneously ensuring adequate programmatic processes to support student success.
