Clinical Education

At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people. These principles apply to students in both the didactic and clinical education components of the Program’s curriculum, making clinical affiliates and Clinical Instructors (CIs) a fundamental component of student education. We believe that clinical exposure will provide impactful learning experiences for our students to prepare them to be experts in the art and science of physical therapy. When in the clinic, students will apply their didactic knowledge, refine their professional behaviors, cultivate evidence-based clinical decision-making, practice their hands-on skills, and most importantly, appreciate that each individual patient and client present uniquely and are partners in the recovery or prevention process.

Clinical Education Goals

At the completion of clinical education, our DPT students will be trained as generalists able to practice in a variety of settings and with a variety of patient populations throughout the lifespan.  Students/graduates will be able to:

• Find, critically evaluate, and apply best evidence and innovation when solving clinical questions in order to maximize patient outcomes.
• Apply movement analysis as part of evaluation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of patients and clients.
• Safely address local (impairment), regional (functional), and global (ability) needs of patients and clients through interventions, especially manual therapy, exercise prescription, and building self-efficacy.
• Function in a highly professional, ethical, legal, and culturally-competent manner and demonstrate commitment to society and the profession.
• Communicate and educate the individual, family, community, and other professionals about rehabilitation, positive health, prevention, and wellness.
• Value and respect each healthcare professions’ unique skills and expertise in working collaboratively to provide care that is effective, and of high quality for individual patients, communities, and populations.

Please email our centralized account if you have any questions: dptclined@highpoint.edu.

Dr. Devon J. Werner, PT, DPT, NCS
Director of Clinical Education

Dr. Melissa Burgemeister, PT, DPT, LAT, ATC
Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of Clinical Education

Clinical affiliates and Clinical Instructors (CIs) are a fundamental component of student education. We believe that clinical exposure will provide impactful learning experiences for our students to prepare them to be experts in the art and science of physical therapy.  CIs are encouraged to question and challenge students to promote collaboration and discussion between students which often provides effective learning by requiring self-guided solutions for problems.  It is important that the clinical education relationship be a partnership between the Program and the clinical affiliates that is mutually beneficial and receives ongoing review and development. The Clinical Education Team will be diligent in providing necessary information for each clinical course in advance of the students’ arrival and will be responsible for assessing and responding to the needs and desires of the Program’s clinical affiliates.

Clinical Education Affiliate Privileges

The Program is proud of its clinical education curriculum and is indebted to clinical affiliates who consistently mentor students. We believe student education can enhance the quality of care and environment of the facility, but we also believe that SCCE’s and CI’s should be rewarded for their time, work, and support of our students. Each active SCCE and CI is entitled to:

• Be treated with respect, dignity, and without discrimination by all parties affiliated with the Program.
• Opportunity to join the Clinical Education Advisory Group.
• Clinical teaching resources, including individual mentorship and access to continuing education on student clinical teaching.
• Opportunities to participate in no or low-cost continuing education.
• Access to scientific literature, when requested.
• Admission to select HPU events.
• Educational, clinical, and research collaboration opportunities.

Clinical Education Management

We are now using the EXXAT platform for clinical education to manage clinical experiences and facilitate student placements. Clinical Instructors and Site Coordinators can view student profiles, complete evaluations and receive student placement requests through EXXAT.

Additional Resources

Clinical Education Handbook 2020

PT Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI)

Instructions for Clinician CPI Training

How to be an Efficient and Effective Preceptor

The clinical education curriculum includes five dedicated clinical courses for a total of 36 weeks of full-time clinical education and three courses of integrated clinical experiences. Local Clinical Experiences are three weeks in duration and occur in semesters three and five.  The third year DPT curriculum is comprised on one, 6-week long Intermediate Clinical Experience and two, 12-week long Terminal Clinical Experiences that are complimentary in structure and design.  Over the course of the last three clinical experiences, the students are required to successfully complete experiences with two distinct patient populations.

Local Clinical Experience I & II (PT 7050 and 7550) – During the spring semester of the first year and the fall semester of the second year students participate in Local Clinical Experiences of three-weeks in length.

Intermediate Clinical Experience (PT 8050) – During the summer semester of the third year, students will participate in a six-week clinical experience.

Terminal Clinical Experience I & II (PT 8900 and 8910) – Students will complete two, twelve-week clinical experiences during the fall and spring of the third year of the curriculum.  We currently offer international terminal clinical experiences through partnerships in New Zealand and Spain.

Please click on the map below to view our current clinical affiliates across the world.