"An Exploratory Study of Clinical Reasoning in Physical Therapist Students"

Sarah Gilliland, Ph.D. student
Combined Sections Meeting of the American Physical Therapy Association
February 10, 2012
Chicago, Illinois

Poster Abstract

Clinical reasoning is a complex cognitive process necessary for medical decision-making, accurate diagnosis, and treatment planning. This qualitative study explored how first-year and third-year physical therapist students approached and carried out clinical reasoning while completing an assessment of a simulated patient case. Third-year students demonstrated more specific and focused work than the first-year students in the examination and treatment processes. Third-year students demonstrated some reasoning patterns characteristic of novice physical therapists while first-year students demonstrated patterns of faulty reasoning not yet described in the literature. The findings of this study provide a framework for describing the development of the novice physical therapist.