A Mixed Methods Exploratory Study of Availability, Compliance, and Inclusivity of Technical Standards in United States Professional Physical Therapist Education Programs

Clicks: 3
ID: 314656
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Steady

Ranked #42 of 87 articles by views in Physical Therapy

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
IMPORTANCE: The representation of students with disabilities (SWD) in physical therapist education programs is lower than in other health care education programs. Technical standards (TS), the non-academic requirements for admission to health care education programs, may impact access to education for SWD. However, the availability and language of TS has not been comprehensively assessed. OBJECTIVE: Describe the availability and language of TS in physical therapist education programs. DESIGN: This study was conducted as a mixed methods online exploratory study. Phase 1 collected TS and described the availability and ease of locating TS. Phase 2 analyzed TS compliance and inclusivity using a Critical Disability Studies framework. SETTING: The study setting was online, with physical therapist education program websites reviewed as a part of the data collection. PARTICIPANTS: Websites from United States Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy accredited physical therapist education programs as of March 2023 (N = 260) were included in the study. MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S): Phase 1: Analyzed TS for availability and ease of locating. Phase 2: Analyzed available TS for willingness to provide accommodations, nature of compliance with legal obligations and locus of responsibility for providing accommodations. RESULTS: Phase 1: 75% of programs had TS available and 77.9% of TS were easy to locate. Phase 2: 45% of TS were equivocal in willingness to accommodate. Most TS were compliant (83%). No programs identified the student as responsible for providing accommodations and 13 (7.6%) described a shared process between the school and the student. CONCLUSIONS: Findings show some movement towards disability inclusion and offer areas to address TS. More research is needed to understand the impact of TS on SWD applying to physical therapist education programs. RELEVANCE: Including SWD in physical therapist education programs may transform the workforce to meet the need for more physical therapists as well as potentially mitigate health disparities.
Reference Key
openalex_W7162131498 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Amanda Sharp, J Hillis Miller, Benjamin Case, Deana Herrman
Journal Physical Therapy
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/ptj/pzag055
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/ptj/pzag055
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.