Physical Therapy: Accreditation Preparedness, Surveys and Curriculum Mapping

Dr. Danielle Parker (Director of Clinical Education, Marquette University) and David Stalker (Project Manager, Exxat) presented this webinar, covering how Exxat Prism supports physical therapy programs throughout the CAPTE accreditation and re-accreditation process.

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5 key takeaways

Set up forms once, then let the data accumulate for reporting. The front-end effort of configuring forms like CI Details and student evaluations pays off later — once faculty and clinical instructors consistently complete them, generating CAPTE evidence becomes a matter of clicking a button rather than manually compiling data at the last minute.

Core clinical education forms directly support key CAPTE standards. The CI Details form documents clinical instructor qualifications (Standard 4P), the PTSD-1 form (student evaluation of site) supports evidence of breadth across the lifespan and continuum of care, and the PTSD-2 form (student evaluation of clinical instructor) feeds the CI teaching effectiveness report — all reducing the manual work previously required to compile this evidence.

Curriculum mapping works best as a faculty-wide effort, introduced step by step. Marquette's approach involved training faculty in stages — course objectives first, then learning activities, then mapping to standards — using short instructional videos ahead of each meeting. This made the process manageable rather than overwhelming for faculty with varying levels of technical comfort.

AI-assisted mapping with Leo is a starting point, not a substitute for faculty judgment. Programs are encouraged to complete manual mapping first, since faculty already understand their course content, and then use Leo to catch anything that may have been missed — striking a balance between efficiency and mapping accuracy.

Placement and contract reports should be reviewed proactively, not just for accreditation. Reports like the placement clearance dashboard and comprehensive placement report should be checked two to six months before each rotation to confirm contract validity and student compliance — this reporting is required annually for CAPTE's Annual Accreditation Report, not just during a full re-accreditation cycle.