Laura Stephens Profile

People lead and teach in the manner that they were led and taught. Therefore, anyone in a teaching position, whether it be in the clinic or classroom, has a responsibility to facilitate a learning environment. If we want future physical therapists to continue to propel our profession forward, we must foster in them not only a desire for lifelong learning, but also a desire to serve others. Physical therapy at its core is a caring profession; the majority of our Core Values denote a sense of duty to others.

My teaching experiences thus far have been primarily as a clinical instructor and as an assistant for lab courses. I take this role very seriously for how I treat students and what they observe of my clinical practice shapes the type of clinician they will become. I do not want students entrusted to my instruction to become complacent clinicians who fail to think for themselves and never challenge the status quo. I want my students to be constantly challenging themselves to become a better practitioner without losing the reason they chose this profession in the first place.

My approach to clinical instruction is that the educator should be available to the student while letting them practice their skills and apply their knowledge. I do not believe instructors should sit idly by while dictating what students should do with a client. There should be an active exchange of knowledge from the instructor to the student and a transition from instructor to colleague by the end of the student’s rotation. This is the moment I feel that I have been successful as an educator: when a future colleague has both the knowledge and the confidence to actively engage in problem solving in order to deliver better care to their client.