SYNAPSE Spring 2009 - acpin

Through a glass darkly:
the role of the reflective practitioner in the clinic and in research
Dr Sarah Blanton Assistant Professor, Emory University School of Medicine
ACPIN NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2009
While exploring the characteristics of expert
practice in physical therapy, the role of the
reflective practitioner will be discussed, in both
the clinic and in research.
A special focus will be placed upon the clinician’s role in evidenced
based practice, including our ethical responsibility to be aware of
current research, our clinical responsibility to effectively critique
research as it may apply to our individual patients and fostering a sense
of empowerment to play a part in developing research questions and
helping to truly define ‘what it is that we do’ in physical therapy.
REFERENCES
Branch WT Jr (2005) Use of critical
incident reports in medical
education. A perspective Journal
General Internal Medicine 20 (11) pp1063-
1067.
Jensen GM, J Gwyer et al (2000) Expert
practice in physical therapy Physical
Therapy 80 (1) pp28-43; discussion pp44-52.
Resnik L and Jensen GM (2003) Using
clinical outcomes to explore the
theory of expert practice in physical
therapy Physical Therapy 83 (12) pp1090-
1106.
Taylor R (2008) The Intentional
Relationship: Occupational Therapy
and Use of Self Chicago, FA Davis.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr Sarah Blanton is an assistant professor
of rehabilitation medicine at Emory
University School of Medicine, Division of
Physical Therapy and the manager of the
Emory Constraint Induced Therapy clinic. She
has been a project coordinator for two multisite,
NIH-funded national clinical trials – the
EXCITE (Extremity Constraint Induced Therapy
Evaluation) RCT and currently the ICARE
(Interdisciplinary Collaborative Arm
Rehabilitation Evaluation) RCT. She
graduated from the University of Virginia in
1987 with a BA degree in biology, from
Emory University in 1992 with her masters in
physical therapy and received her clinical
doctorate in physical therapy in 2003. She
has a specialty certification in neurology
through the American Board of Physical
Therapy. She spent nine years working as a
staff physical therapist at the Emory Center
for Rehabilitation Medicine, primarily in the
inpatient neurology unit. Currently she is the
principal investigator of the Family Centered
Care of Stroke Survivors and Caregivers to
Facilitate Health Related Quality of Life
Assessment and Treatment Study. She is
author of several peer-reviewed articles, coauthor
of two book chapters and serves as
manuscript reviewer for Stroke, Physical
Therapy, Journal of Neurological Physical
Therapy and Archives of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation.
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