Erosion of Professional Behaviors in Physical Therapist Students

Beginning of article

Developing professionalism in students is an important goal of all physical therapist education programs. We assert that, in some students, consumerism undermines the development of professionalism. A commonality among all health care professions in defining professionalism is human respect. We cite examples of how student respect for faculty is ailing. We expose this concern because we believe that awareness of the problem is an important step in correcting it, and we claim that students, faculty, the profession, and patients all stand to gain.

Key Words: Consumerism, Physical therapist education, Professional behaviors, Student.

INTRODUCTION

Graduate professional …