Role and functions of the academic coordinator of clinical education in physical therapy education: a survey.

The Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education occupies a unique position in physical therapy education, often serving as the link between the didactic and the clinical domains of the program. A wealth of anecdotal information suggests the need for a more systematic study of the role and functions of the ACCE. A survey based on a self-administered questionnaire was sent to the ACCEs at 101 physical therapy education programs in the United States. A usable response rate of 79% was sufficient for the analysis. This study identifies some of the functions of the ACCEs, profiles their demographic characteristics, and describes the educational programs in which they work. The time ACCEs devote to participation in teaching, administrative, scholarly, and service activities is reported. In general, the ACCEs reported that the didactic and clinical curricula of their programs were well integrated.