A Study of the Relationship Between Data Obtained by Faculty and Clinician Interviews and Self-Reported Generic Abilities of Applicants to a Graduate Physical Therapy Program

Abstract

The problem. This research examined the relationship of how applicants to a physical therapy program rate themselves on "Generic Abilities" with interview scores given by physical therapy faculty and clinicians. Procedures. Sixty-five applicants to an entry-level masters physical therapy program volunteered for this study. The subjects rated themselves on different behavioral items contained in the Generic Abilities survey form which was developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Spearman rank-order correlation coefficients were done comparing the seven interview criteria with the ten Generic Ability items. A Bon Ferroni correction was then performed to correct for alpha inflation due to the multiple correlations that were run. Findinqs. Six of the initial correlations reached significance at the p 5.05 alpha level. After the Bon Ferroni correction, however, only one comparison, GA-4 (effective use of time and resources) and clinicians question seven (problem-solving), reached significance at p 1.000357. Conclusions and Recommendations. One correlation out of a possible 140 reached significance in this study, This would, therefore, appear to suggest that there is no correlation between how physical therapy faculty and clinicians score program applicants on interview items and how these same applicants rate themselves on ten different professional behaviors. More research needs to be done looking at how applicants are evaluated during the admissions process to ensure that the best candidates are being admitted.