Students from URM backgrounds reported different critical decision ages, as well as different use of or preference for resources to learn about the PT career and to prepare for application to DPT programs. Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American therapy professionals are especially underrepresented in our industry. It affects how we think, feel, act, handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. As a hispanic individual who is seeking to apply for physical therapy this year. This warrants further investigation. Interestingly, nonwhite students identified greater use of a DPT Program for their questions than all other groups, despite all respondents indicating low referral to a DPT education program for guidance with pre-PT academic planning (Table 5). In fact, it will only make us better. These shortcuts rely on intuition and generalizations, and they often bypass objectivity. Im going to say this outright: diversifying the therapist pool and making an active effort to combat our biases will not hurt us. EIM Classroom is where your courses actually take place. Some of that information is relevant, but often, it is not, and our brains have learned how to use shortcuts to filter, sort, and use that information the split second after we take it in. This outcome is arguably confounded by the extreme lack of minority faculty in DPT programs. Physical Therapy After COVID (and Telehealth Adoption) Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth uptake in physical therapy practices continues to increase. Most high school studentsand especially BIPOC studentsare not introduced to the profession unless they or a family member have received treatment. According to the latest Census, 20% of Canadians identify themselves as a minority or foreign born [].Minority groups are expected to constitute the majority of the United States population by 2044 [].Given North America's increasingly diverse population, cultural competence in rehabilitation services is a major concern [3,4,5].While the need for rehabilitation services has an important . Please try again soon. After all, of the approximately 10 million Americans attending outpatient physical therapy or occupational therapy visits per year, the majority are white, insured, educated, and middle- or high-income. Read our, Racial Differences in Physical Therapy Outcomes. This is just another reason to engage in legislative advocacy, or even to donate to the PT-PAC. Privacy Policy. 9) Both nonwhite and disadvantaged students were influenced by values and interests, the patienttherapist relationship, and by inclusion and diversity; inclusion and diversity, in contrast, was barely identified by white students. Several people argued that diversity efforts would diminish the integrity of our profession. All groups of students identified PTs and the PTCAS website as the resources most frequently used for questions about the career field, educational program application, and admission process (Table 4). The authors also noted lower follow-up FIM ratings. Please address all correspondence to Victoria Moerchen. Some of the empirical data shows attendees of remedial training are disproportionally PTs and PTAs educated outside of the United States, often because they have some trouble adapting to a different health care environment. Educationally disadvantaged background was reported by 34% of the total sample. Hispanic and Black Americans have reduced odds of a therapy visit, while PT services in an outpatient setting seem to be attended mostly by whites. PhD, MPH, delivered the third Lynda D. Woodruff Lecture on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Physical Therapy on June 16, 2022. But it is not enough. 2008;63(8):860-866. doi:10.1093/gerona/63.8.860, Leukhardt WH, Golob JF, McCoy AM, Fadlalla AMA, Malangoni MA, Claridge JA. In determining the most significant challenges facing professional PT education relative to URM student recruitment and retention, the DTF conducted and reported on a survey of program directors of professional PT education programs.5 Forty-five programs responded to the online survey representing 21.02% of the professional PT education community at the time. 7. The opposite of exclusion is intentional inclusion, not the absence of something intended to exclude. Bottlenecks Toward Diversity. To date, this has not been achieved, and the diversity gap in professional PT education is widening. Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox. Minority applicants to physical therapist education programs 20102012. Survey responses were downloaded and, where possible, quantitatively summarized. At the basic, fundamental level, we are talking about human interactions and relationships. However, this courage is necessary. Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. Diversity Among Survey Respondents Compared to 20162017 CAPTE, Survey Respondents Report of Disadvantaged Background by Race, Age at Which DPT Students During 2015 Decided to Pursue PT as a Career Option, Sources of Support Used While Exploring Physical Therapy as a Career Option, Presented in Relative Order of Most Used to Least Used Based on the Data Collapsed Across All Respondents, Referral to DPT Program for Academic Planning by Race, Role of Minority Faculty in Decision to Apply to and/or Attend a DPT Program, Coding Schema that Emerged From Examining the Open-Ended Responses to the Question Please Describe Any Other Factors Affecting Your Decision to Pursue a Physical Therapist Career, Frequency of Axial Codes by Groups Within Selective Code Categories: (A) Experience and Influence, (B) Values and Fit. Heidi Jannenga, PT, DPT, ATC, is the co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer of WebPT, the leading practice management solution for physical, occupational, and speech therapists. People may want to include someone, but they may also be hesitant to ask about various potentially sensitive categories someone might belong to. Data is temporarily unavailable. This definition was subsequently adopted by ACAPT in October 2013 and in June 2014 the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) House of Delegates adopted an amended definition of URM that is specific only to physical therapy education, realizing that increased diversity in education will translate to an increase in diversity within the profession.5,6. However, a major drawback of ECT is its cognitive side effects. Although personal experience with physical therapy was the primary influence on white students' decision to pursue a PT career, values and interests were equally impactful on this decision for disadvantaged students. Am J Pharm Educ. Unfortunately, across our committees and member boards, we probably are not as well represented as we should be to reflect who we are and the communities we protect. Ruggie served as Board Vice-chair from 2014 to 2018, and as Board Chair from 2018 to 2019. The quest for diversity in the classroom. Additionally, a third reviewer (J.D. The axial codes were then grouped into core concepts or selective codes to broadly capture the factors that influence students' decisions to pursue a career in physical therapy. Regression is a normal and temporary condition for children, and it can be a coping mechanism for stress and untreated trauma in adults. Over the years, Ive seen my white counterparts not understand, or misinterpret communication from AAs and other minorities because of a lack of cultural understandings. We sit at a critical juncture in the US healthcare system when it comes to embracing diversity, equity, and justice. This would provide an avenue for informal interprofessional education and a place for URM students to belong and learn about health care professions, early and broadly. American Academy of Family Physicians. Board report. Join the EIM Mailing List to receive next level updates on research, news, and educational offerings. 2009;23:29-36. We dont even come remotely close to meeting those numbers. Wise D, Dominguez J, Kapasi Z, et al. Get new journal Tables of Contents sent right to your email inbox, Academy of Physical Therapy Education, APTA, http://www.aacp.org/governance/HOD/Documents/White%20Paper%20on%20Admissions%202015.pdf, http://www.acapt.org/docs/default-source/reports/diversity-task-force-final-report.pdf?sfvrsn=2, http://www.capteonline.org/uploadedFiles/CAPTEorg/About_CAPTE/Resources/Aggregate_Program_Data/AggregateProgramData_PTPrograms.pdf, http://www.ptcas.org/uploadedFiles/PTCASorg/About_PTCAS/PTCASApplicantDataRpt.pdf, http://www.acapt.org/images/AC-1-13_URM_Definition_PASSED.pdf, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/00#headnote-js-a, JOPTE_32_2_2018_03_05_MOERCHEN_JOPTE-D-18-00035_SDC1.pdf; [PDF] (162 KB), Purposeful Recruitment Strategies to Increase Diversity in Physical Therapist Education, Articles in PubMed by Victoria Moerchen, PT, PhD, Articles in Google Scholar by Victoria Moerchen, PT, PhD, Other articles in this journal by Victoria Moerchen, PT, PhD, Privacy Policy (Updated December 15, 2022). 5. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Of course, this lack of care may lead to poorer functional outcomes. Racial diversity in the rehab therapy industry. Earlier this month, WebPT made a lot of people on Facebook very, very angry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, released in December 2015, stated that job openings for physical therapists due to growth and replacement needs would total 128,300 from 2014-2024. There are plenty of resources available to those who wish to learnfrom . to maintaining your privacy and will not share your personal information without Or will we let these noble values simply languish as buzzwords? Acknowledging the critical partnership between boards and executives, and the impact of that partnership on overall organizational success, BoardSource helps nonprofit leaders invest in their leadership partnership by providing research, thought leadership, and practical supports that help transform board structures, dynamics, and perspectives. Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development, Continuing Competence Articles & Resources, ProCert Activities Certified through 2021, Credentialing Organizations for Non-US Candidates, A Collective Approach to Increasing Fairness and Reducing Bias on the NPTE, Model Practice Act: Reviewed, Revised, and Ready for Action, Revised Model Practice Act: Spotlight on Animal Physical Therapy, Enhancing Healthy Practice through Self-Reflection, President's Perspective: The Importance of Understanding the Physical Therapy Workforce, Professional Issues with a PT Practitioner Who May Have a Substance Use Disorder, Exploring the Challenges of Regulating a 'Hands on' Profession in a 'Hands off' Era, Physical Therapy Reaches Across Borders with the PT Compact, Presidents Perspective: The Case for Evidence-Based Regulation, The CBA Forum: Kudos for Bridging the Great Divide. Taken together, these factors severely limit BIPOC patients from accessing the benefits of physical therapy. However, the orchestra still hired men, overwhelmingly so. Sandstrom R, Bruns A. They specifically valued the patienttherapist relationship and inclusion + diversity. Racial minorities face obstacles like limited access to care, lower-quality insurance coverage, and less economic and social flexibility than their white counterparts. If we want to make a serious effort to diversify our profession, one of the most important steps will be making physical therapy education more accessible to more people. Biases arent just limited to race, ethnicity, and gender; they can crop up around religion, age, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic class. It is argued that a lack of ethnic diversity may result in a failure to meet patients' needs. Given that demographic data informed by the recently expanded URM definition (including self-report of disadvantaged background) were available at the time this manuscript was prepared, parallel data from PTCAS, and in some instances from Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), were used to support the representation of the student sample who responded to this survey. This suggests lack of relationships with academic and professional mentors. She also served a five-year term on the APTA Ethics and Judicial Committee and the APTA Reference Committee. 4 The cultural stigma surrounding mental illness is partially responsible, according to a 2013 study published in Nursing Research. The educational pipeline model has been leveraged by many undergraduate institutions for successful recruitment, matriculation, and retention of URM students, yet very few PT education programs seem to invest in its proven success.7,15 Dialog within the PT profession about pipeline initiatives should be considered. She was also a member of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI).In 2013, she was instrumental in the development, editing, and the selection of content for the board of nursings quarterly magazine, The Georgian Nurse. Since becoming chief executive in 2013, Anne has overseen a period of growth and change, and significant expansion of BoardSource's leadership on critical sector-wide issues, most notably the board's role in advocacy and public policy, the opportunity for boards to think more proactively about strategic alliances and restructuring, and the urgent need for board action and change as it relates to diversity, inclusion, and equity.Nancy has been a member of the New Jersey Board of Physical Therapy Examiners since 1990 and was chairperson of the board for twelve years. J Phys Ther Educ. The distribution of enrolled students in PT education programs categorized by race and ethnicity has not changed significantly in at least a decade.2 During the 20162017 academic year, only 9.7% of students were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups (Asian students are not considered underrepresented minority [URM] in PT education); an additional 2.7% of students were designated by programs in the two or more races category for a combined total of 12.4% of admitted students.2 Notably, the percentage of African-American students enrolled in PT education programs declined from 4.8% in 20042005 to 3.1% in 20142015 and held constant at 3.0% during 2016-2017.2 Demographic data on applications and admissions to PT programs participating in the PT centralized application service (PTCAS) support that numbers of students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups (19.4% of applicants in 20152016 and 11.8% of accepted applicants in 20162017) remain insufficient to meet the current and projected US demographic.3,4, In response to the stagnant diversity in professional PT education, the American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) established the Diversity Task Force (DTF) in January 2013 and charged it with defining URM in PT education and affirming a rationale for promoting a diverse PT student population and workforce in physical therapy.2(p.1) After reviewing similar academic organizations for other health-related professions, the DTF proposed a definition for URM, as follows: Underrepresented in physical therapy means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the physical therapy profession relative to their numbers in the general population, as well as individuals from geographically underrepresented areas, lower economic strata, and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds. For more information, please refer to our Privacy Policy. However, engaging in this dialogue is vital. Studies addressing these issues report that racial and ethnic disparities persist even when demographic factors, such as socioeconomic status, level of insurance, and comorbidity conditions are controlled. It is important to note that it does not matter that the board is diverse if the other board members do not respect and listen to the diverse voices, even if it is different than what they usually hear. Before we coded, we used a random numbers generator to randomly select 142 responses from both the white and disadvantaged groups, so as to assess 142 open-ended responses for all three groups (ie, 142 was the maximum number in the nonwhite group). Direct URL citations appear in the printed text and are provided in the HTML and PDF versions of this article on the journal's Web site (www.aptaeducation.org). Requiring a cultural competency credit in continuing education credits (as of April 2020), Evaluating licensing criteria for foreign-trained/immigrant populations, Implementing diversity and inclusion training for PT board members to facilitate board awareness and create the proper lens for policymaking, Planning to collaborate with educational communities to ensure a diversified pipeline of professionalsmore specifically, the board is exploring creating outreach programs to middle and high school students, Looking into expanding the diversity of the board via public member appointments to offset the relative lack of diversity in the profession. These are our unconscious biases, and theyre notoriously difficult to identify, let alone mitigate. The rehab therapy industry, as a whole, is not as diverse as the patient population. Research shows that this diversity gap prevents many BIPOC patients from finding providers who they perceive can identify with themand this can lead to differences in treatment outcomes. Seek learning opportunities on the causes and effects of systemic racism in healthcare and the physical therapy community. Additionally, individuals may wonder if the given labels are appropriate for them, so they may opt to just not to share that data instead. Additionally, organizations such as the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and the National Association of Black Physical Therapists (NABPT) regularly host educational courses to share relevant information on topics ranging from DEI initiatives to cultural competency. While there are, indeed, initiatives and programs in place that have a unified focus in diversifying our profession, the lack of minority representation remains evident in the numbers for DPT program enrollment and in licensed physical . 2. The physical therapy profession suffers from a serious lack of diversity, stymying industry growth and innovation and negatively affecting patient care. 11. Each communication included the link to the survey. We argue that this may be critical for efforts to increase recruitment and admission of URM students. Fell N, Mabey R, Mohr T, Ingram D. The preprofessional degree: Is it a P\predictor of success in physical therapy education programs? The racial and ethnic distribution in the rehab therapy industry does not match the wider racial and ethnic distribution across the US. However, a more current study by Splenser and associates 30 showed a positive correlation between minority faculty and minority applicants to physical therapist education programs. One of the best paths to lasting change within the industry involves recruiting more racially diverse students to the physical therapy profession. Additionally, URM students also identified patientPT relationships and inclusion + diversity as important in their decision-making. 3) More URM students reported making their career decisions in the 2126 year age range than non-URM students. J Natl Med Assoc. Educational, socioeconomic, and/or geographic disadvantages were indicated by students from all racial categories. She also served a five-year term on the APTA Ethics and Judicial Committee and the APTA Reference Committee. Diversity in counselling, healthcare, and other key industries . Economically disadvantaged background was reported by 9.6% of the total sample. J Allied Health. Solicitation efforts targeted the more than 25,000 students currently enrolled in DPT programs and included four communications to program directors asking them to encourage student participation and five total communications to enrolled DPT students using Facebook, Twitter, and the Student Pulse. Access EIM Classroom for your coursework, videos, quizzes, and any other course material. Author Michele Wojciechowski reports how several PTs' diverse backgrounds have helped them offer person-centered care that is sensitive to patients' needs and beliefs. 2006;20:14-21. And it does not matter which setting the referral is made to. To achieve this increased representation within the profession, PT education must recruit, admit, and retain a more diverse student body. While numerous studies have investigated the therapeutic effects of ECT and its mechanism, much less research has been conducted regarding the mechanism behind the cognitive side effects . Specifically, nine survey questions were closed-choice, asking students to select one or more responses from a predetermined list of options, and two questions were open-ended. Each axial code could only be counted once per each response although each response could be captured with more than one axial code. Therefore, diversity is critical to a board's mission of public protection. The authors declare no conflict of interests. 1. Within this subgroup, students who identified as racial minorities were 34 times more likely than white students to report having received meals at school during primary education and/or being from a family who received some form of public assistance. Ironically Rush was a leading mental . This article is based on a 2020 Annual Meeting Webinar panel discussion with Anne Wallestad, Ruggie Canizares, Nancy Kirsch, and Adrienne Price. She received the Lucy Blair Service Award and was elected a Catherine Worthingham Fellow from National APTA and received an Outstanding Service Award and the President's Award from the FSBPT. (Learn more here.) 2) Enrolled PT students who identified disadvantaged markers spanned all races and ethnicities, yet disadvantaged backgrounds were more common among students of color. Relatedly, students from disadvantaged backgrounds were more influenced by factors related to Values and Fit than by Experience and Influence. and B.W.Y.) Rehabilitation services use and patient-reported outcomes among older adults in the United States. Another part of the issue is the woeful lack of racial diversity within the physical therapy provider workforce. The orchestra was comprised almost entirely of men, so it kicked off a diversity initiative and began conducting blind auditions. You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. You do not know what you do not know. Since 2013, the program, part of UD's top-ranked physical therapy program, has helped 136 students of color be more . Following the adoption of the URM definition, the DTF undertook the second part of its charge: to affirm a rationale for promoting a diverse PT student population. This paper supports that utilizing information collected directly from students may help us identify promising practices for recruitment of URM students. Make a conscious effort to have these sometimes uncomfortable discussions and find out if people feel they are included. By investing in students, were investing in the future of the physical therapy profession. You may search for similar articles that contain these same keywords or you may Perhaps one of the best ways to help improve the ability of Black Americans to enjoy the benefits PT has to offer is to provide education. What is the health regulatory role in addressing culturally responsive healthcare? White C, Louis B, Persky A, et al. 5. J Phys Ther Educ. She served the New Jersey Chapter as Secretary and President, and as a delegate and chief delegate to the House of Delegates. How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes. She served as an evaluator for FCCPT. It's Not Burnout! Collaborate with them to help proactively promote inclusion. Only 6.5 percent of the U.S. physical therapy workforce identifies as Black or Latinx, while both groups account for more than a quarter of the entire nation.The results of this disparity have been demonstrated in studies, such as the recent rehab therapy industry report that found . To that end and in pursuit of positively impacting the profession that has given so much to me, I created the Rizing Tide Foundation to help nurture a more diverse and inclusive physical therapy workforce. Although the response rate was likely not sufficient to reflect the entire scope of URM recruitment and retention strategies in PT education, the data obtained suggested that recruitment of qualified URM students to professional physical therapy educational programs posed a greater challenge than retention.5 Thus, the DTF adopted a secondary focus on recruitment. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Out of about 35,000 PTA test-takers in a recent five-year span, 66% provided race and ethnicity information at registration: If we compare this to the data of 2019 PTA graduates, with 71% identifying as White, there is a positive trend toward diversity.