Benefits and Challenges of International Clinical Education from a US‐based Physiotherapist Faculty Perspective

Abstract IntroductionThe influence of internationalization on physiotherapist education in at least North American‐based programmes has become more apparent. Faculty and students have been involved in various international activities. One category of activities includes international clinical education (ICE), where students earn clinical education credit for their learning activities at international sites. Although this educational strategy appears to be increasingly used in at least the United States and Canada, the related literature is limited in scope. The purpose of this portion of the present study was to investigate the benefits and challenges of ICE for US‐based students, US‐based physiotherapy programmes and international partners from the perspective of US‐based faculty sending students for clinical education internationally. MethodsContent analysis was used for this qualitative study. Fifteen US‐based faculty members who had experience in sending physiotherapist students for ICE were recruited. The primary researcher conducted semi‐structured phone interviews, averaging approximately 60 minutes in length. The primary and secondary researchers completed data analysis using NVivo 8 software (QSR International Inc., Cambridge, MA). ResultsBenefits of ICE to the students included exposure to alternate health systems, broadening of student perspectives and clinical competence. Challenges consisted of funding and possible language barrier. Increased visibi...
Source: Physiotherapy Research International - Category: Physiotherapy Authors: Tags: Research Article Source Type: research