Clinical Instructors can become a Credentialed CI through the APTA by completing the APTA Basic Level I Course. This two day in person course is composed of interactive didactic education sessions followed by an Assessment Center. The course is frequently offered through APTA, CPTA and our Northern California Clinical Education Consortium. California licensed PTs and PTAs who serve as clinical instructors may collect one hour (of the 30 mandatory hours) for each week of any full-time clinical experience for a student from an accredited PT or PTA program. California Code of Regulations
This useful tool contains worksheets to allow facilities, SCCEs, and CIs to assess their skills, identify weaknesses, and better become clinical educators.
The CSIF is a tool designed by the APTA for academic programs to collect information from clinical education sites. On an annual basis, SCCEs should update this information on Exxat.
UCSF/SFSU uses the Physical Therapist Clinical Performance Instrument (PT CPI) to evaluate students in each full-time clinical experience. If a CI has not used this tool before, they MUST complete an online training coursethrough the APTA Learning Center. Once a CI has completed this training, they may access a web version of this tool at: https://cpi2.amsapps.com.
The NCCEC is an organization with representation from all Northern California physical therapist and physical therapists assistant education programs and clinical site representatives from the region.
The CPTA has information regarding continuing education opportunities, legislative updates and CPTA sponsored Clinical Instructor Education and Credentialing Programs.
Each CI must use this tool to evaluate students at the end of each part-time integrated clinical experience (ICE). A signed evaluation must be submitted to the DCE.
This form is completed by students through the Exxat Program and shared with their respective sites and CIs at the
Clinical Education Overview
Clinical education is a vital component of the basic curriculum of the DPT program, as are the basic, medical, and applied sciences. As the goal of the DPT program is to graduate competent generalist practitioners, the goal of the clinical experience is to provide the student with a broad exposure to multiple aspects and settings of physical therapy practice. This spectrum includes the opportunity to experience team care and the interdisciplinary approach to health services. Within the clinical environment, the student is provided the opportunity to learn to apply didactic knowledge, develop professional attitudes, and practice skills. This aspect of the educational experience is essential, as these opportunities are difficult to duplicate within the academic classroom. It is only within the clinical setting that higher levels of integration and application of skills and behaviors may be learned or acquired.
Structure of Program
The DPT program consists of two part-time integrated clinical experiences (ICE) and three full-time clinical experiences spaced throughout the curriculum. The two ICEs occur during the first year. Students spend four full days at multiple local clinical sites. The first full-time clinical experience occurs during the summer of students’ second year for ten (10) weeks, followed by the second full-time clinical experience in the winter of the second year for twelve (12) weeks. In the spring of the third year, students participate in the final twelve (12) week experience. Students are required to complete a clinical experience in at least one inpatient and one outpatient setting. The program expects the first full-time experience to be in an acute or musculoskeletal practice setting, and subsequent experiences will be in a different setting than the first summer.
The DPT program consists of the following experiences:
Patient populations of interest to the program include:
Patients/clients across the lifespan (pediatric, adult, geriatric)
Patients/clients with a variety of diagnoses, including the neuromuscular, cardiovascular/pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and integumentary systems
Goals of Clinical Experiences
Part-time Integrated Clinical Experience
The main purpose of the part-time integrated clinical experiences (ICE) is to introduce students to the clinical environment and to develop clinical and professional skills. Specifically, the goals are to:
Allow students the opportunity to relate academic materials to patients.
Permit students to integrate didactic information in the clinical situation through observing, examining, and treating patients under close supervision of the clinical instructor.
Allow students to develop documentation and clinical skills by beginning the process of patient care through supervised examination and treatment of patients.
Encourage students to develop interpersonal skills with patients, staff, and other members of the health care team.
Facilitate the integration of academic information with the clinical information gained from working with individual patients.
Full-time Experiences
Students submit reflections and case reports, present inservices, and attend clinic inservices.
In a clinical setting, students treat patients and work with experienced clinicians who provide mentoring and consultation for case reviews, physical therapy techniques, and review of specialty.
UCSF-SFSU 2022 Commitment Agreement.pdf