Imaging in Clinical Education and Diagnostic Reasoning After Post-professional Training: Two Cross-sectional Surveys

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who supervise or mentor learners, who serve as clinical instructors, who manage clinics that host students, or who are weighing residency, fellowship or board certification. Physical therapist assistants may take this course; the assistant’s contribution to student and colleague learning is described as work carried out under the direction and supervision of the physical therapist.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient orthopedic, hospital-based and academic settings, including clinical instructors, site coordinators of clinical education, residency and fellowship mentors, and clinic managers planning staff development.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Hazle CR Jr, Boissonnault WG, Keeton J, Benson C, Taylor N. Investigating the Integration of Diagnostic and Procedural Imaging Into DPT Clinical Education Experiences. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(3):289-296. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0207

Schumacher MR, Piwowski R, Meyrick TA, Mischel KA, Kisse JM. Exploring the Impact of Post-professional Training on Diagnostic Clinical Reasoning Using the Script Concordance Test for Cervical Spine Disorders: A Cross-sectional Survey. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(2):239-246. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0200

What these two papers are

Both are cross-sectional surveys of clinicians and clinical instructors. Neither measured patient outcomes, and neither tested a treatment. They describe education practice, beliefs and reasoning performance on written cases, and they are presented here on those terms only.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe what the clinical instructor survey reported about how often diagnostic and procedural imaging was discussed with Doctor of Physical Therapy students during terminal clinical education experiences, and what instructors named as barriers.
2. Distinguish the diagnostic reasoning scores reported for fellowship-trained physical therapists, board-certified orthopedic clinical specialists, and physical therapists with no post-professional training on the Script Concordance Test cervical spine cases.
3. Explain what the two surveys together do and do not establish about how clinical education and post-professional training shape diagnostic reasoning, including the use of imaging, and where the two reports point in different directions.

1. Start Here: How to Take This Course
2. Part One: Diagnostic and Procedural Imaging in Physical Therapist Clinical Education
3. Who Answered the Imaging Survey and Where They Practiced
4. How the Imaging Survey Was Built and Distributed
5. What Clinical Instructors Reported About Imaging With Students
6. Barriers, Blind Spots and the Limits of a Survey of Instructors
7. Part Two: Post-professional Training and Diagnostic Reasoning in Cervical Spine Cases
8. Who Took the Script Concordance Test Survey
9. How the Cervical Spine Vignettes and Scoring Worked
10. What the Reasoning Scores Showed Across Training Levels
11. Guideline Familiarity, Teaching Roles and What the Authors Could Not Conclude
12. Bringing It Together
13. Where the Two Surveys Agree About Education and Reasoning
14. Where They Point in Different Directions
15. Planning Education, Mentoring and Supervision With What Is Known
16. What These Surveys Leave Unanswered
17. Key Takeaways
18. Post-test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 1.0 contact hour (60 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Schumacher MR, Piwowski R, Meyrick TA, Mischel KA, Kisse JM. Exploring the Impact of Post-professional Training on Diagnostic Clinical Reasoning Using the Script Concordance Test for Cervical Spine Disorders: A Cross-sectional Survey. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(2):239-246. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0200
2. Hazle CR Jr, Boissonnault WG, Keeton J, Benson C, Taylor N. Investigating the Integration of Diagnostic and Procedural Imaging Into DPT Clinical Education Experiences. JOSPT Open. 2026;4(3):289-296. doi:10.2519/josptopen.2026.0207