What are best practices to teach “hands-on” skills in a blended environment?

Teaching Online during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study of Physical Therapist Faculty in Brazil, Cyprus, and The United States

“…The transition to remote learning posed additional challenges to health professions programs, including physical therapy (PT). Since PT is a profession that leverages hands-on skills [9], learner development of patient assessment and treatment skills requires a notable amount of training in a face-to-face setting [10][11][12][13]. An additional component of physical therapist education, like many health sciences curricula, includes an apprenticeship in the clinical environment.…”

“…Before the pandemic, the delivery of PT education in the US was evolving to include online, blended, and hybrid learning experiences to minimize barriers to education. Deliberate curricular design, which leverages both online (synchronous and asynchronous) and face-to-face learning strategies to maximize learning in both environments, continues to gain traction in the health professions education, including PT [11][12][13]15]. However, despite the growing research, implementation of fully hybrid or blended PT programs that employ online instruction, followed by intensive onsite coaching in laboratory classes to solidify and assess motor skills, are still scarce within the US, and non-existent in Brazil and Cyprus.…”