Partnerships between Academia and the Clinic (2003)

THIS YEAR has been another very productive one for the Journal. The number of quality manuscripts submitted continues to be high, with many originating from outside the United States. We have further increased the number of peer reviewers, many of whom have written requesting this assignment because of articles they have seen in the Journal. We are also making progress in expanding our influence in Europe by developing a relationship with one of the major allied health organizations there. The Journal also welcomes three new Editorial Board members. These are Dr. Shelly Brundage, of George Washington University; Dr. Lori Stewart Gonzalez, of the University of Kentucky; and Dr. Brenda Wilson, of Eastern Illinois University. I would like to give special thanks to the four individuals who are leaving the Board after serving two terms. We will sorely miss the contributions of Drs. Gerry Gairola, Estela Estape Garrasazu, Joyce Hopp, and Hal Larsen. Finally, the offices of the journal have moved once again. While we are in the same building, all correspondence should now be sent to Suite 720 Edison Building, 130 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Our telephone numbers will stay the same, but there is a new fax number: 215-503-2348. In this issue of the Journal, we bring you the usual variety of topics, although many have a special emphasis on relationships between academic programs and the field. One significant area of interest lately has been on the effect that changes in the health care system have had on practice and education. Glenda Casares and colleagues surveyed 125 fieldwork coordinators and educators in occupational therapy to determine the impact of certain changes on the profession. As a result of a 48-item survey, they report that both groups agreed that such things as productivity expectations, workload, and time spent on documentation has increased, while job security, time for continuing education, and quality of patient care have decreased. The two groups did not agree on one item, however: academic coordinators reported that they believed that declining reimbursement rates were having a negative effect on their ability to find clinical placements for students, whereas fieldwork coordinators did not think that declining rates affected their ability to accept students. Collaboration between faculty and clinicians has received much attention in the literature over the past decade. While much of this research addresses collaboration in fieldwork education and in research, little consideration has been given to collaboration in the development of standardized assessment instruments to meet the requirements of clinicians. Hollins and Townsend claim that thought needs to be paid to the principles of instrument development as well as the principles of collaboration, both of which are complex processes. They describe the development of the Opportunity Model of Collaboration, which emerged through a joint project between Utica College and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The development of clinical reasoning skills in students is one important outcome of a health professions program. Susan Babyar and her team investigated the influence of various methods that have been claimed to facilitate the development of clinical reasoning. They asked a group of physical therapy students about their perceptions regarding the influence of some of these methods on the mastery of clinical reasoning skills. Among their findings were that teaching clinical reasoning varied with preferred learning modes and that, for some students, prior life experiences played a part in the acquisition of these skills. Some of the pedagogical tools that were most effective were case studies and assignments using actual patients or videotapes. They also found that students gained confidence in their clinical reasoning ability while progressing through their clinical educational experiences. Identifying the most appropriate preparation to help students pass licensing examinations is another important consideration for all educational programs. …