Attitudes and Beliefs of Physical Therapist and Physical Therapist Assistant Program Directors in the United States Towards Interprofessional Education

Purpose: To investigate the attitudes and beliefs of physical therapy (PT) and physical therapist assistant ( PTA) program directors towards interprofessional education (IPE). We hypothesized that Communication and Ethics would be the most important competencies among program directors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey based on previously utilized instruments modified for the profession of PT was sent to PT and PTA program directors. One hundred sixteen responses were analyzed using frequency analysis for demographic data and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U t-test for group differences. Results: While the majority of program directors agree that IPE is important, with Communication as the most important IPE competency, most PTA program directors do not support the importance of accreditation in implementing IPE (p<0.05), unable to accommodate it in their current curricula (p<0.05) and believe lack of support from Administration (p<0.05). Although the majority of PT program directors believe they have the resources to implement IPE (p<0.05), they disagree that IPE better utilizes resources (p<0.05). Conclusion: Program directors agree that IPE is vital to student learning, with Communication as the most important IPE competency. However, specific differences between PT and PTA program directors emerged primarily on IPE implementation, the role of accreditation, resource support, and resource utilization.