Residency and Fellowship Program Guidance for Writing and Improving Measurable Program Goals, Outcomes, Key Indicators and Benchmarks

Residency and fellowship education (RFE) programs build on physical therapists’ foundational knowledge and facilitate the development of advanced skills in a defined area of practice. The American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE) grants accreditation to postprofessional physical therapist programs that offer RFE which meet quality standards. Accreditation ensures that programs teach and assess learners according to applicable standards, provide optimal learning environments, and produce professionals who are competent to practice in complex health care systems.

ABPTRFE quality standards provide a framework for programs to demonstrate and communicate a commitment to RFE through the achievement of measurable goals. ABPTRFE recommends goals focus on participant learning, program sustainability, and program effectiveness. Programs establish goals unique to their organization’s mission and the specialty area of physical therapy practice. A recent multi-method, retrospective study examined goals across 26 ABPTRFE-accredited pediatric residency programs and found program goals (PGs) were more dissimilar in structure, expectation, and measurement than expected. This inconsistency limits direct comparison across programs and interferes with defining what constitutes excellence in pediatric residency education. (Rapport et al, CSM 2022)

The Academy of Pediatric PT strives to increase capacity in RFE; however, accreditation documentation continues to present a challenge to new program development and program reaccreditation. This session will focus on: 1. improving the documentation required for the accreditation and reaccreditation process, and 2. developing and writing effective goals and outcomes that utilize both quantitative and qualitative metrics (key indicators) to measure their achievement.