Task Force to Explore Career Pathways for Graduates of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Programs

Purpose

• Identify employment opportunities and career pathways for graduates.
• Engage students to consider opportunities in entrepreneurship.
• Generate questions to engage graduates in reflection for best fit when considering first physical therapist position.
• Identify strategies and resources to encourage graduates to practice in rural areas.
• Identify additional opportunities to clinical practice following the completion of their DPT program.

Objectives

• Engage PT alumni to learn about their experiences after graduation.
• Explore the range of options for applying a career after DPT school and what each of those options may provide graduates.
• Identify graduates who leave the profession or other careers.
• Gain an understanding for why others left the profession after graduation.
• The task force is committed to ensuring that its work will be rooted in principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

By integrating DEI considerations into our work, we aim to address systemic disparities, remove barriers, and foster an environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, have equal access to opportunities and representation within the field of physical therapy.

Outcomes

• Create a downloadable document on possible multiple academic degree options in addition to a DPT.
• Develop an interview template to help students nearing graduation identify best-fit for employment vetting and opportunities for professional development post-graduation. List of available certifications that would be complementary to DPT training and other avenues for professional income.
• Craft a pathway chart that shows career potentials to students.

Composition

The Task Force shall not exceed 10 people.  The Task Force will seek to have:

• Representatives from large and small institutions.
• Representatives from research-intensive institutions.
• Representatives who can show direct experience implementing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
• Representatives of gender diverse groups.
• Equal representation of academicians and clinicians.
• Representation from diverse geographic and practice settings.

The Chair’s primary responsibility will be to ensure the Task Force is meeting its charge as outlined in this document and within the timeline defined.  The Chair will meet quarterly with the Institute Chair and Vice Chair, providing written progress reports on the work of the Task Force.

The Vice Chair’s responsibility will be to serve as the secretary of the Task Force whose responsibilities include polling for meetings, developing the agenda with the Chair, circulating minutes to Task Force members, staff and the Institute Chair and Vice Chair, and delivering all documents and work products to ACAPT for archiving.

• To ensure diverse engagement and equitable opportunities, no person serving on the Task Force may be serving on another of ACAPT’s volunteer leadership groups unless permission is sought and granted in advance by the Board of Directors.
• The Task Forces are accountable to their Institute Chair and Vice Chair, who are accountable to the ACAPT Board of Directors.
• All who are appointed to the Task Force will receive a letter acknowledging their appointment that may support promotion and/or tenure.

Timeline

• Task force members will meet or communicate at least monthly via conference calls and emails to review tasks completed and next steps to meet project milestones.
• Task force members may meet at CSM in person or virtually.  The budget will determine if/what resources are available to support such a meeting.
• The Institute Chair and Vice Chair will conduct a virtual meeting quarterly with all task force chairs and vice chairs within that Institute to evaluate progress on their charge and to address any barriers or potential changes needed to their charge in response to changes in the profession.
• The task force will submit information to the Institute Chair and Vice Chair that may reflect their activity during the year and reported in ACAPT’s annual report, which is created in August and disseminated to members electronically in September.
• Task forces should be prepared to discuss their activity with ACAPT members at the Physical Therapy Education Leadership Conference (ELC) during a networking event created for the Institute.
• Task forces are expected to conclude their work by December of the calendar year in which they were created.
• If a task force needs more time than the calendar year for which they were created, the Chair of the task force will notify the Institute Chair.  Together, they will evaluate what is causing the delay, evaluate if there are new circumstances informing the work not previously identified, and if there are additional resources needed.  If the need for additional time is determined necessary by the Institute Chair, they will submit a request to the Board for an extension, to include how that may impact resources.  The Board will make an assessment based on the charge, needed outcomes, and resources available and either extend the work for a limited time, expand the size of the task force to increase productivity to meet the charge and timeline, or disband the task force.
• The final work product(s) will reside on ACAPT’s website and shall be an ACAPT product.

Members

Chair: TBD

Vice Chair: TBD

• Stacia Troshynski Brown, PT, DPT - University of Kansas Medical Center
• Angie Henning, PT Cert MDT, CCS, CFPS - Lexington VA HealthCare System
• Casey Herrmann, PT, DPT, CCS, CLT - Good Shepherd Penn Partners
• Gregory Edwards, PT, DPT - Select Medical/The Ohio State University
• Christina Myers, PT, DPT, DSc - South College
• Angela Rusher, PT, DPT, PhD - Samuel Merritt University
• Cortney Tanner, PT, DPT - Department of Veteran's Affairs
• Catherine Turner, PT, DPT, PhD - Mary Baldwin University