What is Physical Therapy? A Pre and Post Test to Determine Doctor of Osteopathy Students’ Knowledge

OBJECTIVE. To determine the knowledge of 1st and 2nd year NSU Doctor of Osteopathic students about physical therapy before and after an educational session. BACKGROUND. Interprofessional health care dictates all team members are knowledgeable about each profession. As physicians are most often responsible for directing patient care, it is important they are familiar with PT referral and PT skills. METHODS. Ninety-three NSU Doctor of Osteopathic 1st and 2nd year students participated. Subjects completed a demographic questionnaire and a yes/no test. The pre-test was followed by a short presentation about physical therapist scope of practice. A post-test was administered to determine if knowledge changed. RESULTS. Post-test results showed a 40% increase in correct responses for appropriate referrals in some examinations, interventions and interpretation. The median score improved by 17% after the education session. CONCLUSIONS. According to the literature, medical students have insufficient knowledge about physical therapy. Based on results of the study, there was a statistically significant increase in NSU DO students’ knowledge about PT following the presentation. The implication is that regular curricular inclusion about PT and other health care professions may result in better DO knowledge about the interprofessional team and ultimately better patient referral. GRANTS. No funding was used in the completion of this study.