Friday July 28, 2017

Course Description

“Ethical PT treatment from ethical PT research” is a continuing education course for licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. The course focuses on defining moral, ethical, and legal issues concerning physical therapy research. The information presented includes discussions on the theoretical basis for ethical decision-making in the Physical Therapy Research setting, informed consent for research participants, conflict of interest, and hypothetical case studies.

Course Rationale

This course is presented to fulfill the Ethics & Jurisprudence CE requirements of PT 9.03 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, Board of Physical Therapy Rules. Its purpose is to educate, promote and facilitate ethical and legal behavior by Wisconsin licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.

Course Goals and Objectives

At the end of this course, the participants will be able to:

1. define the meaning of Ethics of research and explain the various theories that promote ethical behavior in research
2. identify the major historical cases that have led to federal regulation of biomedical research
3. recognize the responsibilities of the physical therapy researcher regarding subject recruitment
4. recognize the rights of the research subject before, during, and after a study
5. analyze and interpret clinical research situations to determine appropriate professional ethical behavior
6. define the parameters of informed consent of the research subject
7. identify the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) regarding the protection of human subjects
8. identify the various forms of coercion that may be present and may unknowingly influence a potential research subject
9. recognize the relationship between ethical, evidence-based treatment and the ethical research required to gain an evidence base.

Contact hours

4.0 – submitted to CE Locker for WPTA CEU approval

Course Schedule

8:00 – 8:15 Our responsibility to provide ethical treatment
8:15 – 8:30 Ethical treatment stems from ethical research
8:30 – 9:00 “Where are the holes in PT research”
9:00 – 9:15 Considerations for planning and conducting clinic based research in physical therapy including ethical considerations.
9:15 – 9:30 Small group work where you construct a study that might be appropriate in your clinical setting
9:30 – 9:45 Discussion of possible ethical issues of these studies
9:45 – 10:00 Current topics in PT research ethics: Genetic testing, placebo groups.
10:00 –11:00 break – reunion luncheon, MUPT program update
11:00 – 11:30 Ethics of recruitment, what do patients expect when they enroll in a research study
11:30-12:00 Ethical protections of clinical research; history of ethical issues in clinical research; the role of the institutional review board
12:00 – 12:20 Publication bias, external funding and the ethical implications on PT research
12:20 – 12:40 Mock institutional review board will examine the studies that have been created.
12:40 – 1:00 wrap up, Q and A

Speaker Biography

Andrew Starsky BSEE, MPT, PhD is a clinical associate professor in the department of Physical Therapy at Marquette University. He has taught in the PT department since 2005. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering in 1992, Masters in Physical Therapy in 1998, and PhD in Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Starsky has served on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Marquette University, which reviews all human subjects research, since 2010. He has served as the chair of the IRB since 2014, overseeing more than 400 protocols.