Dr. Hilliard and Dr. Wilkinson present at the Northwest Intermountain Consortium Annual Conference

This year, the Northwest Intermountain Consortium (NIC) – Annual Conference was hosted by Pacific University and George Fox University at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland.  The theme this year was “Mentorship Through Partnership.”  The NIC represents the clinical education component of 17 physical therapy programs across nine states.  Attendees included clinical instructors, site coordinators for clinical education, practice administrators and owners, members of clinical education teams, and students.  As representatives from one of the programs in the host state, Dr. Hilliard, our Director of Clinical Education, and Ms. Alice Johnson, our Administrative Coordinator of Clinical Education, helped to organize the two-day peer-reviewed conference. 

Dr. Hilliard '08 and Paul Shew '81, PT '09, the Director of Clinical Education at George Fox University, co-presented on “Spanning the gap without burning the bridge: Having difficult conversations during the clinical experience.”  Objectives of their presentation included: 1) Recognizing the importance of promoting professional behaviors in the clinic, 2) Identifying potential behavioral issues early, 3) Creating a safe environment for the exchange of discussing sensitive topics, and 4) Applying a framework for the successful discussion of sensitive topics.  Their presentation also included an interactive role-playing component in which members of the audience formed student and clinical instructor teams, worked through different scenarios, and practiced having difficult conversations. 

Dr. Wilkinson, our Associated Director of Clinical Education, presented “From emerging to experienced: A panel discussion issuing perspectives on revitalized feedback dynamics.”  This presentation also included a discussion panel consisting of a recent alumna and current physical therapy students: Dr. Elaina Gayles (’18), Tabitha Galindo (’19), and Lindsay Springer (’20).  Learning objectives included: 1) Identifying effective methods for issuing feedback from an experienced student, recent graduate and faculty perspective, 2) Distinguishing characteristics that promote a collaborative learning experience between a student and their clinical instructor(s) across a variety of perspectives, and 3) Illustrating how feedback distribution can be impacted through addressing varied teaching and learning styles. Through six different rounds of content, Dr. Wilkinson presented evidence and experience on feedback, guiding questions for the panel of speakers, and opportunities for discussion with the audience. 

Next year, the NIC Annual Conference will take a brief hiatus since the American Physical Therapy Association - Education Leadership Conference will be held in Bellevue, WA, with plans to resume in 2020.

Pictures from left to right: Dr. Elaina Gayles (’18), Tabitha Galindo (’19), Lindsay Springer (’20), and Dr. Wilkinson.

Pictured from left to right: Dr. Elaina Gayles '18, Tabitha Galindo '19, Lindsay Springer '20, and Dr. Wilkinson.

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018