Cara Berg-Carramusa

Research/Areas of Interest

My primary research interests focus on physical therapy education and the professional formation process for Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students, specifically in the context of the affective domain of learning for effective clinical practice through mixed methods and qualitative design. The academic preparation of the future of the profession must intentionally reach beyond facilitating learning in the cognitive (knowing) and psychomotor (doing) domains in being a humanitarian profession that serves people, communities, and society at large. My aim, alongside a team of colleagues, is to develop a contemporary understanding of key stakeholder perspectives of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) necessary to adequately equip entry-level practitioners (our DPT learners) to provide quality patient-centered care and to demonstrate sound clinical reasoning and decision making while having the ability to effectively navigate the demands of industry and the profession in meeting the needs of society and the communities we serve and to minimize the gaps that exist between classroom and clinic.

Education research is an area of sparse scholarly inquiry within the field of physical therapy despite the need for this important work. The academic preparation for our profession and for our learners demands a shift in process to adequately equip the future of the profession with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively work within a complex, demanding, and dynamic healthcare environment and across multiple teams of people while mitigating the threats of practitioner burnout and moral injury.

Topics specific to my areas of scholarly interests are: 1) identifying limitations or gaps within academic programs and curricula rooted in stakeholder perspective with professional formation/ professional identity formation necessary for effective clinical practice, especially within the affective domain and values formation; 2) effective educational strategies, modes of delivery, and platforms to comprehensively facilitate learning across a diverse population of learners in an intentional and meaningful way with values formation and professional identity formation; 3) fostering a culture of excellence in physical therapy education embracing constructs of leadership and intentional role modeling by academic and clinical faculty. An additional line to my scholarly inquiry includes a clinical lens in serving older adult populations in fall prevention/ fall risk management and population health initiatives to facilitate staying independent and active aging through interdisciplinary collaboration.