The importance of clinical education within the physical therapist educational program is espoused by the profession in practice, as well as in professional documents such as the Normative Model for Physical Therapist Education, the Guidelines and Self-Assessments for Clinical Education and in criteria for accreditation of Physical Therapist educational programs from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education. Clinical education is a component of the curriculum that provides opportunities for the student to integrate their didactic knowledge, psychomotor skills, clinical reasoning, time management, team management, and patient education principles within the confines of the current health care system. The health care system today dictates that students are particularly sensitive to the rapidly changing demands on the clinical faculty. Clinical education is a cooperative effort of the students, clinicians, and the academicians. Physical Therapy students participate in clinical experiences in a variety of settings.
Many medical centers provide experience in several settings during one experience.
Geographic location of sites is predominately in South Carolina, the southeastern states, and across the United States. There are three full-time clinical experiences. The first is an eight-week rotation that occurs at the end of the first five semesters of academic courses. The final rotations occur after all academic courses are satisfactorily completed. All settings and geographic locations are appropriate for the final student experiences.