Katie de Luca1, Marcus McDonald2, Laura Montgomery3, Stephen Sharp3, Anika Young3, Simon Vella3, Michelle M Holmes4, Sasha Aspinall5, Danica Brousseau6, Chris Burrell3, David Byfield7, Dawn Dane8, Philip Dewhurst4, Aron Downie3, Roger Engel3, Brian Gleberzon9, Dana Hollandsworth10, Anne Molgaard Nielsen11, Laura O'Connor12, David Starmer9, Michael Tunning13, Paul Wanlass14, Simon D French3. 1. Department of Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. katie.deluca@mq.edu.au. 2. Discipline of Chiropractic, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. 3. Department of Chiropractic, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. 4. School of Chiropractic, AECC University College, Bournemouth, UK. 5. College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. 6. Department of Chiropractic, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivieres, Trois-Rivières, Canada. 7. Welsh Institute of Chiropractic, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, UK. 8. Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Australia. 9. Undergraduate Education, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Canada. 10. Department of Chiropractic Sciences, Parker University, Dallas, USA. 11. Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. 12. Department of Chiropracti, Durban University of Technology, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. 13. Associate Dean of Clinical Sciences, Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, USA. 14. Interim Chair, Principles and Practice Department, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Los Angeles College of Chiropractic, Los Angeles, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Manual therapy is a cornerstone of chiropractic education, whereby students work towards a level of skill and expertise that is regarded as competent to work within the field of chiropractic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, chiropractic programs in every region around the world had to make rapid changes to the delivery of manual therapy technique education, however what those changes looked like was unknown. AIMS: The aims of this study were to describe the immediate actions made by chiropractic programs to deliver education for manual therapy techniques and to summarise the experience of academics who teach manual therapy techniques during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive approach was used to describe the immediate actions made by chiropractic programs to deliver manual therapy technique education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chiropractic programs were identified from the webpages of the Councils on Chiropractic Education International and the Council on Chiropractic Education - USA. Between May and June 2020, a convenience sample of academics who lead or teach in manual therapy technique in those programs were invited via email to participate in an online survey with open-ended questions. Responses were entered into the NVivo software program and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis by a qualitative researcher independent to the data collection. RESULTS: Data from 16 academics in 13 separate chiropractic programs revealed five, interconnected themes: Immediate response; Move to online delivery; Impact on learning and teaching; Additional challenges faced by educators; and Ongoing challenges post lockdown. CONCLUSION: This study used a qualitative descriptive approach to describe how some chiropractic programs immediately responded to the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in their teaching of manual therapy techniques. Chiropractic programs around the world provided their students with rapid, innovative learning strategies, in an attempt to maintain high standards of chiropractic education; however, challenges included maintaining student engagement in an online teaching environment, psychomotor skills acquisition and staff workload.
BACKGROUND: Manual therapy is a cornerstone of chiropractic education, whereby students work towards a level of skill and expertise that is regarded as competent to work within the field of chiropractic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, chiropractic programs in every region around the world had to make rapid changes to the delivery of manual therapy technique education, however what those changes looked like was unknown. AIMS: The aims of this study were to describe the immediate actions made by chiropractic programs to deliver education for manual therapy techniques and to summarise the experience of academics who teach manual therapy techniques during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A qualitative descriptive approach was used to describe the immediate actions made by chiropractic programs to deliver manual therapy technique education during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chiropractic programs were identified from the webpages of the Councils on Chiropractic Education International and the Council on Chiropractic Education - USA. Between May and June 2020, a convenience sample of academics who lead or teach in manual therapy technique in those programs were invited via email to participate in an online survey with open-ended questions. Responses were entered into the NVivo software program and analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis by a qualitative researcher independent to the data collection. RESULTS: Data from 16 academics in 13 separate chiropractic programs revealed five, interconnected themes: Immediate response; Move to online delivery; Impact on learning and teaching; Additional challenges faced by educators; and Ongoing challenges post lockdown. CONCLUSION: This study used a qualitative descriptive approach to describe how some chiropractic programs immediately responded to the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in their teaching of manual therapy techniques. Chiropractic programs around the world provided their students with rapid, innovative learning strategies, in an attempt to maintain high standards of chiropractic education; however, challenges included maintaining student engagement in an online teaching environment, psychomotor skills acquisition and staff workload.
Authors: Miranda J Rogers; Michelle Zeidan; Zachary S Flinders; Angela P Presson; Robert Burks Journal: J Am Acad Orthop Surg Glob Res Rev Date: 2019-04-30