Expertise in Physical Therapy Practice

This comprehensive text examines what it takes to progress toward - and ultimately become - an expert in physical therapy. It explores multiple dimensions of expertise: how expert practitioners develop, what knowledge they use, where they acquire that knowledge, how they think and reason, how they make decisions, and how they perform in practice to demonstrate what it takes to progress and ultimately become an expert in physical therapy.

• Introduces the four core concepts that comprise the model of expertise: Knowledge, Clinical Reasoning, Movement, and Virtue
• A Data Collection Tools Appendix provides a step-by-step description of the process that the authors used to select, interview, and collect data from the experts in each case study to demonstrates the use of critical thinking and research-based analysis

• Contributed chapters on Expert Practice and Clinical Outcomes, Clinical Reasoning and Expert Practice, and Implications for Practice
• Implications for Practice chapter covers the implementation and results of this model of expertise in a staff development program
• A Postscript "The Voices of our Experts 10 Years Later" where clinicians share the evolution of their expertise
• Two chapters on Inquiry into Expertise and Implications for Doctoral Level Education in Physical Therapy provide insights into the practical application of the core concepts of the physical therapy model of expertise and facilitate the continued development of expertise in physical therapy.

Provides the first in-depth understanding of expert physical therapy practice in print. Through their research, Jensen, Gwyer, Hack, and Shepard have compiled the first comprehensive description of expert clinical practice in physical therapy. How do the experts work and learn? How do they reason and make clinical decisions? How do they evaluate and treat their patients and interact with colleagues? How do they handle their mistakes? By taking an in-depth look at the principles and beliefs that guide the work of expert physical therapists, you will learn the answers to these questions.

Through case studies depicting expert physical therapy practice in four clinical areas-geriatrics, neurology, pediatrics, and orthopedics-discover the attitudes, thinking processes, types of knowledge and hands-on skills that need to be acquired to develop clinical expertise.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Steven Hoffman, PT,ATC,SCS(North Hills Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy)
Description:This is the first book of its type to objectify expertise in physical therapy practice. The authors describe research methods used in assessing expertise, provide portraits of various experts in clinical practice, and bridge the concepts of clinical practice and research together to describe the evolution of the "clinical expert.
Purpose:The purpose is to bring together education and practice and establish objectivity in the realm of clinical physical therapy. The authors spend a significant amount of their efforts describing research methodologies in clinical practice, and uniquely "interview" individuals who engage in the practice of physical therapy in specific areas (i.e., pediatrics, neurology, and orthopedics). These therapists are asked to delineate their understanding of the role that they play in providing clinical services. Each is able to incorporate his/her integration of didactic, practical/clinical, and research knowledge into the development of a clinical expert. The authors' objectives are met in so far as they are able to give the reader a great appreciation of the integration and synthesis of "book knowledge," clinical research, scientific validation, and clinical "gut" experience. For clinicians to be considered expert, they must have years of practical experience as well as the ability to utilize results of controlled scientific experiments. The authors do a wonderful job of pulling these concepts together.
Audience:The target audience is the physical therapist and the physical therapist assistant. I believe that it would be appropriate for the entry level and graduate student who is just "starting out" in clinical physical therapy. It is also quite refreshing for the experienced practitioner who at times "forgets" what it takes to integrate all of the didactic and clinical experiences, which ultimately results in expertise. The authors are renowned in the area of clinical education and classroom study.
Features:The book has three major sections -- the study of expertise, portraits of expertise in physical therapy, and linking the worlds of education and practice. A number of contributing authors discuss the theories of expertise, specific applications in the areas of practice (i.e., neurologic, pediatric, geriatric, orthopedic), and clinical case chapters to reinforce the theories presented and the link to the clinical setting. The book is well organized and reads nicely. I did not feel that the didactic information superceded the relevance to the realities of practice.
Assessment:The practical application of classroom study and research into clinical relevance is what most clinicians strive to achieve. The authors present this concept in a lucid and thoughtful manner. They are well respected in the field and in my opinion shed light on an area that clinicians oftentime take for granted. I highly recommend that students and clinicians alike purchase this book and digest the information contained within.