Opinions on Doctoral Research/Projects in PT School?

[kcdptboi]

Hello!! I am deciding (mostly) between 2 PT schools and was wondering what current/former PT school students had to say about conducting research while in school.

One of the schools you are required to do research starting spring of the 2nd year and then continue that project into the full 3rd year while conducting your full-time clinical rotation. The other school does not have any research mandatory while in school, but has plenty of opportunities to participate and conduct research for elective units or volunteering.

I do think research would be super valuable and I would love to be a part, I just worry it can take away from your core classes especially if its required as part of the curriculum. Especially if you are doing it while also away on your clinical. Lastly, if your clinicals are during your 3rd year that you would get burned out doing both full-time clinical plus research.

So anyone with any perspective on this subject would be super appreciated...
1. Is/Was research a super valuable piece of PT school for you?
2. Is doing research while at clinicals not a hindrance?
3. Did employers ask/want to see research done while in school?

Thank you!!!

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[wiseOldPT]

As a disclaimer- I do more research currently than patient care, so obviously find it important.

I think research is valuable because as a DPT, you should be a lifelong consumer of evidence. You get a much better appreciation for reading the evidence by being involved in doing research. Another great perk can be it gives you a strong relationship with a faculty mentor, which can help in future networking, and can also give additional hands on experience working with a patient group. For example, if you are doing a spinal cord injury research project, in addition to the research itself, you'll get more hands on experience with the participants who have spinal cord injuries.

However, not all research projects in DPT programs are the same, so I think gathering information is warranted. Things you should know are;
1) Do you have choice in the project you will get?
2) Team based or individual?
3) Will you be collecting data or do meta-analyses. I do not consider meta-analyses to really be a research experience.
4) Will you have the opportunity to present at CSM (conference)? Will your trip be paid for if you do? Any chance of publication?
5) What is the time commitment? This is especially key if during a clinical. My guess is that might be more of a meta-analysis type of project, because I'm not sure how you will be collecting data if scattered at clinicals. I do not think that is the best option, but don't have experience with this.

In terms of employers asking- they might. It won't make a huge difference in you getting a job, but possibly if you are at a more academic medical center. I do know a lot of students I have supervised in research projects presented on them as their required inservice during a clinical and got very good feedback for that.

 

[kcdptboi]

Thanks for the feedback! I totally agree that that would be super beneficial. Unfortunately, their resources online and by email are a bit limited with the questions that you're posing.
1. It looks like you would be contributing to the research labs already set up on their campus. So it appears to be limited or no choice.
2. Individual from what I'm reading.
3. Not sure.
4. Not sure.
5. The curriculum states that there's 2 credits of research work done while 10 units are dedicated to the clinical (each semester). So its not a lot, but its interesting that it isn't a choice during your program.

Typically, what does a professor require of a student when volunteering or working for credit in the lab? Anything else that you can summize from what I've told you?

 

[ya1]

1. Is/Was research a super valuable piece of PT school for you?
Absolutely not. Most people just wrote whatever to pass it.

2. Is doing research while at clinicals not a hindrance?
Depends on the deadlines the schools sets for you. You will be in clinic/hospital 8-9h a day (including lunch break) + traveling time + you may want to work out or do something else in the evening + weekly write-ups for school about your clinical experience. So writing a research paper at the same time will not make your life easier. To me, it would make more sense to spend that extra 1-2h on starting to study for NPTE (but that is just personal preference) that you will definitely need unlike research.
My school asked to do research paper about a case/patient we had during the clinicals, so that may be the reason one of your schools is asking you to write it as you are treating the patient, not sure. Anyway, the research is not a real research. We just picked a case (let's say ACL tear), listed interventions we did with patient, and outcomes. That is a very short part of your paper (a couple of pages). Then you look for all kind of literature to explain why it worked or did not work. So your "research" is basically literature review and has nothing to do with you personally doing the research, collecting data, etc.

3. Did employers ask/want to see research done while in school?
Not PT clinics/hospitals. May matter if you want to go to teaching. Your research paper can also be published which again matters only if you want to teach.

If you are planning to work as a PT (not as a teaching instructor), the school that does not require research would be an easier option for you for sure.

 

[kcdptboi]

1. Is/Was research a super valuable piece of PT school for you?
Absolutely not. Most people just wrote whatever to pass it.

2. Is doing research while at clinicals not a hindrance?
Depends on the deadlines the schools sets for you. You will be in clinic/hospital 8-9h a day (including lunch break) + traveling time + you may want to work out or do something else in the evening + weekly write-ups for school about your clinical experience. So writing a research paper at the same time will not make your life easier. To me, it would make more sense to spend that extra 1-2h on starting to study for NPTE (but that is just personal preference) that you will definitely need unlike research.
My school asked to do research paper about a case/patient we had during the clinicals, so that may be the reason one of your schools is asking you to write it as you are treating the patient, not sure. Anyway, the research is not a real research. We just picked a case (let's say ACL tear), listed interventions we did with patient, and outcomes. That is a very short part of your paper (a couple of pages). Then you look for all kind of literature to explain why it worked or did not work. So your "research" is basically literature review and has nothing to do with you personally doing the research, collecting data, etc.

3. Did employers ask/want to see research done while in school?
Not PT clinics/hospitals. May matter if you want to go to teaching. Your research paper can also be published which again matters only if you want to teach.

If you are planning to work as a PT (not as a teaching instructor), the school that does not require research would be an easier option for you for sure.

Thank you, that's super helpful. It appears that it might be a separate "doctoral research project" but its hard to know for sure. The admissions people aren't being timely with their emails . But you're probably right, its probably just a literature review like you're saying. Thanks!!