I have taken CAP students for 5 years now and it’s one of the best things we can do as Physical Therapists! Having a CAP student allows me to stay on my “clinical toes” and helps prevent me from falling into a rut.  As a CD, I want my entire staff to be full of people excited to learn and grow and having a CAP student helps to create a culture of learning in the clinic. I also strongly believe that one of the most important things we can do as physical therapists is give forward to the newer therapists to help influence the direction of our profession and influence patient care.

All too often I hear about students with terrible PT experiences. My last student came to us in a panic – their final affil CI was leaving them with an ATC 3 days a week, unsupervised and never checking in. Her first affil CI “didn’t believe the lumbar spine needs to rotate” and that “therapeutic exercise doesn’t work” so they just never performed either. The student had barely any manual skills, had only done TWO EVALS in her ENTIRE SPT CAREER, and none of this was her fault. She was eager to learn, happy to help around the clinic, extremely affable, loved by our patients and a quick study. As CIs and/or CDs it’s our responsibility to take on cases like this. If we want to better the field, we need to share our knowledge and continue creating more hands-on PTs. I never want to hear from another patient “I didn’t know PTs put their hands on patients.” By the time her affiliation with Professional ended, she was an excellent SPT who we in turn offered a job. Success stories like this make the long days worth it.

Having a CAP student is something I love as a part of my job. Being a teacher/educator for the younger therapists entering the workforce is something I’ve always valued doing. Being able to bridge the gap between academic learning and clinical learning is important. Seeing students take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to real life situations is a very fun and rewarding experience.

Having a student in the clinic working with our patients helps the patient understand that this is a teaching environment as well. It helps as a CI to have a conversation with both patient and student about examination findings and treatment options. I think this educational factor is an important part of the patient experience and working with a student helps to elevate that experience.

I really enjoy having a student with me in the clinic. I appreciate the opportunity to teach and further their education, and they often add to the clinic by providing a new perspective and ideas for patient care. Patients are excited to teach the students about their own PT experience and how they’ve improved since beginning PT. I received excellent mentorship when I was a student that I felt shaped my growth as a clinician, and I’m eager to pass this on to the next students to facilitate improved overall patient care.

I enjoy taking students because I love to teach.

It helps with testing my own knowledge by asking me questions that I might not think to ask.

I might also need to explain something in a different way to teach the student which helps me when I have a question that comes up from a patient and I need to teach in a different way to the patient.

Not only does it help with my learning but builds my caseload because I can see more patients while the student works with the patients, they are comfortable with.

In my opinion, it’s about giving back. I had 5 Cis that went out of their way to help groom me into a novice clinician and to help me pass my boards. So, with that in mind, I pay it forward, giving back to the profession. Plus, one day, these students will be taking care of a friend or family member and you want to make sure they are treating them exactly as you would want them to.

An extra hand and extra brain to assist you through the shift makes the day a lot easier and teaching the importance of documentation and authorization is very beneficial.

It does take work at the beginning of the affiliation to teach the student how to treat, but after that work is done  on the front end, it eases the burden at the end of the affiliation when a student can assist in carrying the caseload.