Stickley, Lois

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Tx

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors affecting membership in the APTA by clinical instructors (CIs) and center coordinators of clinical education (CCCEs), including perception of the value of membership, methods employed to encourage student participation, and level of involvement by the CI and CCCE in their professional association.

CIs and CCCEs (n=190) that supervise Texas PT and PTA students.

An online survey on the factors affecting membership in the APTA was created using SurveyMonkey.com. The survey consisted of multiple choice questions and written-response items. The survey was piloted by 6 PT CIs in Texas to solicit feedback prior to disseminating the survey. Subjects were recruited by email invitation through the PT and PTA programs and a general announcement in the Synerg-E-Mail, an electronic newsletter of the TPTA.

The SurveyMonkey filters were used to categorize responses and Chi-square analysis was used to determine significant differences (p<0.05).

A total of 190 (114 CIs, 60 CCCEs, 3 not involved, and 13 other) PTs (172) and PTAs (18) participated in the survey with 173 (91.1%) being from the state of Texas. 123 (64.4%) subjects reported having a certification or being a credentialed CI from the TX Consortium for Physical Therapy Clinical Education (71), the APTA (39), or other (13). The majority (174, 91.6%) reported working full-time and had less than 20 years of practice (119, 63%). The majority were Caucasian (85.7%) with participants of both Hispanic (8.5%) and Asian (5.3%) ethnicity. A majority of participants (131 or 68.9%) reported being members of APTA and most were section members (104, 80% of members). The top three reasons given for being a member are: 1) Interest in the profession, 2) Professional duty, and 3) Access to journals and publications. The top 3 reasons why respondents were not a member were: 1) Cost of national dues are too expensive, 2) Cost of chapter dues are too expensive, and 3) Benefits are not important enough to spend the money. Only 44 (23.4%) have served in a leadership role in their district, state, or national level. Participants encouraged student participation in APTA, Chapter, and District activities in a variety of ways, most commonly by being a role model and mentor. A significant difference (p<.0001) was found between the responses of members and nonmembers when asked “How important is it for a CI/CCCE to be a member of the APTA?” and “How important is it for PT and PTA programs to only select sites where the CCCE and CI's are members of the APTA?” The responses were on a 1-7 Likert scale. The most common response to the importance of CI membership was 7: Very Important, (mean of 4.95) from members, and from nonmembers the most common answer was 1: Not at all Important, (mean 1.92). On the importance of programs selecting sites where the professionals are members, members chose 5 (mean 3.53) and nonmembers chose 1 (mean 1.03).

Having a role model or mentor has been shown to be important in professional development and socialization. CIs and CCCEs are viewed as mentors by students and can influence the amount of value that new professionals will place on association membership. CI and CCCE members of the association felt membership was a valuable criterion for serving as a CI or CCCE and for site selection, while non-members did not identify membership as a valuable criterion. To increase the percentage of CIs and CCCEs who are association members, efforts should be made to improve their cost-benefit perceptions of the association.