Physical Therapy
Clinical Education
The University of Central Florida is committed to the ideal that professional education requires a sound academic preparation that is enhanced and enriched by strong clinical experience. To this end, the clinical education program seeks to provide for its students those clinical experiences that offer a stimulating environment to further augment their professional development.
The primary focus of the clinical education program is to provide the entry-level physical therapy student an atmosphere that promotes the health and function of the patient/client(s). The maximum level of function will be advanced through scientific principles and treatment rationales. While problem solving often follows logical predetermined steps, students must learn that many solutions are created by innovative, abstract thought processes. The excitement of research and discovery will be nurtured.
The students’ goal in clinical education must be the achievement of the highest level of competency in all areas of patient care and related areas of physical therapy. The students are expected to actively participate, question, explore, teach, and motivate during their interaction with the clinical community to reinforce their learning experiences and thereby enhance their education.
The clinical environments will stimulate the student to look beyond the information learned in the classroom to discover new meanings and relationships within the profession. The clinical centers must also create learning situations that guide students to expand their knowledge, attitudes, and skills. The clinical centers will provide the students an awareness of personal responsibility as it impacts their clients and institutions. The clinical experience will include exposure to realistic environments that allow practice in interdisciplinary communication, documentation, problem solving, and medical and legal aspects of patient care with a variety of disabilities and ages.
The clinical education program at UCF consists of 30 weeks of full time clinical internships. We have over 600 affiliated clinical education facilities throughout the United States in various practice settings including acute care hospitals, sports medicine facilities, pediatric facilities, neurologic rehabilitation units, and veteran / military hospitals. UCF’s program in physical therapy has great pride not only in the diversity of clinical experiences it can offer both in practice setting and geographic location, but also the training and expertise of the clinical instructors of affiliated institutions. Clinical instructors are encouraged and driven to pursue careers of lifelong learning both in clinical education instruction, and in advanced education in their specific practice areas.
Newsletter Archive
Clinical Education Newsletter 2011
Clinical Education Newsletter 2010
