PT 650 - Scientific Inquiry I

Prerequisite, enrolled in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. This course is the first step in making students critical consumers of the scientific literature related to the practice of healthcare, specifically physical therapy. Basic research approaches with application to physical therapy are reviewed in a lecture and seminar format. These research approaches include descriptive research, grounded theory research to experimental designs and others with an emphasis on clinical applications. The concepts associated with Evidence Based Medicine will be introduced. This course also introduces basic understanding of the use of the power, effect size, descriptive and inferential statistics in validating research designs, through lecture, review of current literature, and application of computer programs/platforms to ask clinically applicable questions. This course is taught as a hybrid course. Letter grade. (Offered as needed.) 2½ credits