The following information details the residency and mentor standards required for this course.

The Residency/Fellowship Site

A clinical residency site is any site where there is quality physical therapy care being delivered in the area in which you wish to specialize. Most residency programs recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) will be acceptable as a residency site. In sports, any program recognized by the Sports Section as providing a Fellowship will be acceptable as a residency site.

The duration of employment at the residency site is to be not less than eleven months. Once the 9 to 12 month timeframe and 200 hours of educational activities have been completed, you will receive 5 credits toward your DPT degree.

The clinical residency site must be able to provide to you a sufficient patient load in the area of specialization being sought. Sufficient is defined as being 80% of the patient load in the area of specialization with a minimum of ten treatment sessions per day.

Characteristics of a quality clinical residency site include:

• An invigorating environment
• Learning objectives targeted to specific needs of the student
• Ethical practices in the clinic
• Congruent patient care philosophy between the site and University
• Administrative support of clinical practice
• Effective staff communications
• Commitment to professional development
• Sufficient support services
• Adequate space and staff for patient load

Residency Standards

The University has adopted the following standards to be met by all residency sites:

• a minimum of 9 months of full time patient care in the area of specialization
• no more than 6 residents to one approved mentor; the mentor may supervise residents at more than one site and may bring the residents together for group activities
• minimum of 440 hours of didactic & clinical activities as follows

• 275 didactic hours instructed by the University and completion of DPT courses
• 130+ clinical hours of 1:1 (one on one) with the mentor, with not less than 75% (i.e. 97.5 hr.) with the mentor observing the resident with the balance being the resident observing the mentor
• 10+ hours of case presentations to the mentor and staff
• 10 articles reviewed (journal club) with mentor
• 50 hours of indirect education activities such as in-services, lab practice, and patient discussions

One (1) credit is awarded for each forty hours of one on one mentor time; case studies and other designated learning activities. If five hours per week were given to such activities, then a total of five credits would be earned in a forty-week period. All educational hours must be documented in the Residency Journal and appropriately signed by the mentor. If the minimum of 5 credits is not achieved within one (1) year, then the residency must be continued until the educational requirements are met.

The Residency Mentor

A physical therapy mentor will have a post-professional degree that specializes in the clinical area being sought by you. A mentor will need to have some or all of the following qualifications:

• At least five years of clinical experience in area of specialization
• APTA Board Specialization or other recognition/certification in area of specialization, preferred
• Teaching experience (academic, continuing education presentations, and/or clinical instructor)
• Actively engaged in patient care
• Able to spend 1:1 clinic time with the resident
• Agrees with and upholds the patient care philosophy of the University

Responsibilities of the Clinical Residency Mentor

The mentoring activity is a significant portion of the residency in terms of your learning. During the clinical residency, the mentor is responsible for facilitating learning for the resident by:

• Assisting the resident in developing residency objectives and goals
• Supervising the resident in direct patient care by instructing
• Refining treatment and evaluation techniques a minimum of three direct hours a week
• Coordinating a weekly meeting of journal club, case presentations and article review
• Providing other mentors to assist the resident in achieving objectives
• Meeting with the resident once each month to review and revise the resident's objectives
• Providing critique and guidance to the resident for the development and submission of case reports and poster/platform presentation
• Conducting a weekly review and signing of the residency journal
• Assisting or providing guidance in the development of effective communication with the physical therapy staff, other health professionals and community at large
• Identifying the resident's success or lack of success in maintaining responsibility of achieving objectives
• Evaluating the resident's skill level and reporting the results to the University at least once per semester

Your Financial Arrangements with the Site

It is the responsibility of the student to seek out and make arrangements with the clinical site and mentor. The University may be of some assistance in providing potential sites/mentor through its network of graduates and clinical education sites. The financial arrangement between you, the residency site, and mentor is, however a matter of agreement between those three entities. The University will not be a party to the negotiation nor will have any financial arrangement with the site or mentor. We hope that the site, which may discount the normal salary exchange for mentoring time, will be generous with their time.

For example, the University's fellowship program in St. Augustine, Florida provides salary at the rate of approximately 25% less than the going rate, plus full benefits, allowance of $3,000 for course tuition and provides the 130 hours of one on one supervision for each resident. This is a model for your site to consider and for you to use as a model when negotiating salary and benefits.

Registering for Clinical Residency

If you are electing to complete a Clinical Residency in lieu of the Capstone Project, it is important to contact the University as soon as possible to plan and discuss your Clinical Residency. The program director will assist you in completing the appropriate forms and planning your educational requirements.

If you would like information about the Clinical Fellowship offered by the University of St. Augustine, please contact Dr. Catherine Patla for further information (cpatla@usa.edu)

For more information or if you have any questions about the program, please email t-dpt@usa.edu or call the Transitional DPT Department at 1-800-241-1027.