Effectiveness of the clinical instructor. Students' perspective.

I conducted a survey of 102 senior physical therapy students to identify, from the students' perspective, training needs for clinical instructors. The literature identified 43 clinical instructor behaviors in four categories (communication, interpersonal relations, professional skills, and teaching behaviors). Students scored these behaviors, for their importance and frequency. Results demonstrated all behaviors were perceived as somewhat significant and frequent. The students scored communication as most important followed by interpersonal relations, teaching, and professional skills behaviors. Frequency of the 43 behaviors was evenly distributed among the four categories. Correlational analysis of the perceived importance with the frequency of each behavior yielded 9 statistically significant positive correlations, no negative correlations, and 16 near random correlations. Positive correlations were 56 percent professional skills and 44 percent teaching behaviors. Near random correlations were 38 percent communication, 6 percent interpersonal relations, 6 percent professional skills behaviors, and 50 percent teaching. These 16 behaviors are identified as the target for clinical instructor training programs. This method in individual clinical settings is discussed briefly.