Consensus on Methods to Foster Physical Therapy Professional Behaviors

Background. An increased awareness of pro-fessionalism and professional behaviors is occurring in many health care disciplines. Key physical therapy professional behaviors have been developed. It is now essential to develop methods to foster professional behaviors within physical therapy students and educators. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to achieve a consensus on methods to foster pro-fessional behaviors among key stakeholders in the School of Physical Therapy at The University of Western Ontario. Method. The Nominal Group Technique and Delphi process were used to develop strategies and methods to foster pro-fessionalbehaviors among students (n=4), clinical instructors (CIs, n=5), and faculty (n=2) using a developmental framework. Results. The key methods identified to foster professional behaviors were: lead by example, explicit teaching, mentoring, reflective imaging, and wider context education. Conclusions and Educational Implications. The resulting techniques and methods to foster professional behaviors provide a common frameivork upon which students, CIs, and faculty might reflect, discuss, and then use to develop professional behaviors. The strategies provide choices to students, Cls, and faculty according to variations in learning environments, learning styles, stages of development of professional behaviors, and individual goals.