How education research strengthens physical therapy at Creighton
Physical therapists do more than apply clinical knowledge. They need to understand their patients, communicate effectively and adapt care to individual needs.
For Gail Jensen, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FNAP, vice provost for Learning and Assessment, dean emerita and professor of physical therapy at Creighton University, teaching is fundamental to that work.
“Physical therapists have to be exquisite teachers,” Jensen says. “That’s at the heart of what we do.”
That belief has shaped Jensen’s work in physical therapy education research and reflects a larger area of scholarship at Creighton. Faculty are studying physical therapy education while contributing to national conversations about how future physical therapists are educated and prepared for practice.
How research informs physical therapy education
Creighton has developed a national reputation for areas of physical therapy education research, including clinical reasoning and residency education.
Jensen points to the work of Creighton faculty including Jen Furze, PT, DPT, FAPTA, PCS, and Julie Peterson, PT, DPT’01, EdD’22, as well as professor emerita Lisa Black, PT, DPT, as examples of the different streams of education research that have contributed to that reputation.
The work also extends to developing physical therapy education researchers. Jensen has helped create a national grant-writing institute and learning labs designed to support the next generation of researchers, including a learning lab at Creighton.
For Jensen, Creighton offers an environment particularly suited to bringing research and education together.
“We can do good research, really excellent research and scholarship,” Jensen says. “But we care deeply about teaching and education.”
She says Creighton’s size also makes it possible to build relationships across the University and adapt in ways that support creative work.
Preparing physical therapists for practice
Jensen’s research has examined expert practice in physical therapy, including the ways clinicians reason with patients and approach their professional responsibilities.
Expert physical therapists, she says, engage in collaborative reasoning with patients and bring a strong moral foundation to their work.
That makes professional formation another important part of physical therapy education.
“I think Creighton does a very good job in our professional formation,” Jensen says. “I think where you go to school makes a difference in your professional career. It gets baked into you.”
Advancing physical therapy education nationally
Creighton’s leadership in physical therapy education research was recently on display during the inaugural Summit to Advance Education Research in Physical Therapy.
The three-day event brought 45 physical therapist education researchers from more than 25 institutions and organizations across the United States to the CL and Rachel Werner Center for Health Sciences Education.
Jensen led the summit’s planning team and says she was “inspired by a vision to create a ‘Gordon Conference-like’ experience for education researchers,” where researchers could engage in focused discussion, collaboration and the exchange of emerging ideas.
Participants explored the future of physical therapy education and laid the groundwork for research that could shape how future physical therapists are educated and prepared for practice.
Creighton also announced the Jensen-Gale Physical Therapy Education Research Symposium Fund, supported by Jensen and Judy Gale, DPT, associate professor emerita of physical therapy at Creighton. The fund will support continued work in physical therapy education research.
For Jensen, building a stronger community of education researchers ultimately comes back to strengthening the profession.
“I want to see my colleagues supported,” she says. “I believe in the importance of education research in our profession.”
