Embracing Change in the Pursuit of Excellence: Transitioning to the Clinical Internship Evaluation Tool for Student Clinical Performance Assessment

Background and Purpose. The assessment of physical therapist student competence in the clinical learning environment is valuable and necessary. However, educators and clinicians are becoming increasingly disenchanted with their chosen assessment tools and delivery platforms. The profession recently called for a pursuit of excellence that includes an analysis of performance evaluation practices and consideration of assessment tools. In line with this call, the purpose of this report was to disseminate one academic institution's exploration, implementation, and early outcomes of the transition from the Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) to the Clinical Internship Evaluation Tool (CIET) for full-time student clinical performance assessment.

Case Description. After identification of key stakeholders, the authors completed an initial exploration and comparison of CPI versus CIET, executed a pilot trial of CIET use, and implemented a transition from CPI to CIET for all full-time clinical experiences.

Outcomes. This report presents the outcomes of the initial exploration and comparison of assessment tools, the CIET pilot, the academic processes in transitioning to the CIET, and the post-implementation evaluation results, each with consideration of unique stakeholder perspectives.

Discussion and Conclusion. The transition from CPI to CIET for full-time student clinical performance assessment was successful in meeting the needs of key stakeholders. This report presents the first known addition to the literature regarding CIET implementation since the original institution's publications. Ongoing use and evaluation of the CIET and other alternative tools for student performance assessment, both within and across institutions, is necessary to address the profession's pursuit of excellence and to better meet the demand for contemporary educational practices in the clinical learning environment.