Strategic Compass

Department of Physical Therapy Strategic Themes

With an overarching focus of creating a diverse and inclusive environment, elevate the Department (and the profession) through 4 Strategic Themes: develop and strengthen teaching, foster partnerships, enhance research and knowledge translation/implementation.

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Strategic theme 1: Focus on people, creating an inclusive community

Success evidenced by:

• Attraction of a diverse group of highly qualified MScPT students
• Graduate a diverse and inclusive group of work- ready, safe, effective, evidence-informed Physical Therapy practitioners
• Strengthen existing teaching-intensive Explore opportunities to broaden and enhance capacity, prioritizing succession planning for anticipated retirements
• Attract and develop 1-2 tenure track faculty who contribute to physical therapy and rehabilitation science, as part of succession plan for anticipated retirements
• Increase number of graduate students supervised by Physical Therapy faculty
• Mentorship of new and existing teaching intensive and tenure track faculty

Roadmap to Success:

• Review admissions policies/procedures to align with best practices
• Increase enrollment of self-identified Indigenous students to 6% (7 students) of student cohort by 2025
• Explore admissions processes to increase diversity in student cohort:
  • Demographics
  • Academic backgrounds
  • Students with disabilities
• Evaluate Student and Graduate performance:
  • Student performance in clinical education, and national exams
  • Student satisfaction with teaching and learning in the MScPT Program
  • Student success in combined Programs (MScPT/PhD and MBA)
• Focus recruitment efforts on attracting and supporting staff and faculty from diverse communities:
  • Tap into existing faculty/other on-campus networks to mentor new faculty/staff, supporting growth, building community and contributing to their success
• Increase PT supervised graduate students:
  • Through new and existing partnerships
  • Devote time for students to build networks
  • Market the combined MScPT/PhD Program
• Establish formal mentorship programs in teaching and research for existing and new Department members

Strategic theme 2: Teaching for the 21st century

Success evidenced by:

• Alignment between student learning needs, best practices in education and faculty teaching practices
• Participation in the creation and implementation of a professional development program in teaching for Physical Therapy faculty
• Teaching excellence reflected in maintenance of high student performance ratings and metrics of student satisfaction
• Physical therapy graduates with the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of evolving practice environments (primary care)

Roadmap to success:

• Define what works well and what hinders student learning (where we are at)
• Define the learning needs of our future students (where we need to be)
• Explore alternative content delivery models, optimize the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning
• Further development of teaching infrastructure (i.e. define a standard of teaching quality for our Department, define a process to assess teaching quality, PD program and mentorship for faculty)
• A forward-looking curriculum responsive to future needs in practice and an evolving healthcare environment
• Explore online and flexible learning opportunities (models for distanced cohorts/ evenings and weekends)

Strategic theme 3: Partnerships

Success evidenced by:

• Multiple Department members participate actively (bringing solutions) on:
  • Different decision-making bodies—provincially, federally
  • At community levels (e.g. long term care centres)
  • With funding agencies, Strategic Clinical Networks, Patient Care Networks, Boards and Clinical Working groups
• Presence on decision-making bodies that are interdisciplinary and collaborative with a greater awareness of physical therapy at a community level

Roadmap to success:

• Inventory existing partnerships and focus on areas that advance our strategic goals - refocus our energies to areas that benefit our profession
• Community Partnerships:
  • Strengthen links with Development Office to identify donors (Individuals, Government and Industry) to support Department specific initiatives
  • Increased community partnerships with diverse mandates
• Clinical Partnerships:
  • Advance practice through clinical placements in niche and strategic areas of practice
  • AHS (facilitate research)
• Build research capacity and partnerships through adjunct appointments with high profile local, national and global collaborators
• Cultivate international partnership, formal and informal, to encourage a Physical Therapy Fellowship program where participants come with funding
• Collaborate with Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine alumni engagement efforts to identify and foster activities that meet their ongoing life-long learning goals:
  • Survey Market – needs analysis on what to develop – target recent grads, clinicians, alumni
  • Support CME Accredited Post-Grad courses/lectures/online

Strategic theme 4: Research and technology

Success evidenced by:

• Leadership in national/international rehabilitation research and technology efforts (measured by funds awarded, dissemination of research findings, international recognition, and leadership roles in local, national and international organizations)
• Integration of novel rehabilitation technologies and approaches into the community, clinical practice, and entry-level education

Roadmap to success:

• Engage community partners to develop capacity and expertise of students/staff
• Expanded research focus, building on existing expertise, to bridge gap from lab to community
• Establish a Department Research and Technology Working Group (measured by creation)
• Research focusing on assessment of impact of technology on health
• Align efforts with already existing artificial intelligence (AI) capacity on campus to expand reach of research (e.g. big data sets)