The Department of Physical Therapy administers two major exams throughout the curriculum - a first semester integrated exam and a  comprehensive exam.  The following policies describe the examination policies and procedures.

Comprehensive Examination Committee Policies and Procedures

POLICIES

The Comprehensive Examination Committee of the Department of Physical Therapy will develop and revise on a regular basis comprehensive examinations that require the student to demonstrate competency in all instructional / content areas included in the Physical Therapy curriculum.  These examinations are:

• First Semester Integrated Examination
•  Comprehensive Examination

PROCEDURES

First Semester Integrated Examination
The first semester integrated examination serves several purposes.  First, it is designed to consolidate the final examination.  In addition, the test is designed to challenge students to integrate information from multiple courses. Finally, the examination is designed to prepare students to take tests that mimic the environment of the national licensure examination.

I. The committee

• Will develop and implement a comprehensive examination reflective of the first semester of coursework.
• Will decide upon and communicate with the faculty regarding a time frame in which to obtain items for test construction.
• Will analyze test results following the scoring guidelines.
  

II. Eligibility
Students enrolled in the first semester course eligible to take the first semester integrated examination.

III. The Examination
The integrated exam will reflect the content of the first semester curriculum of the Texas State PT Program.Refer to curriculum content table for coursework in each content area. Students are required to pass each course section with a minimum score of 70%, unless otherwise specified by course instructor. Please refer to each course syllabus for individual course requirements. An overall test grade is not calculated, therefore a grade of 70% is not required for the first semester comprehensive examination. This exam may be given in lieu of a final exam for any given course, at the discretion of the individual instructor (e.g. instructors may choose to give an additional exam, or to weight the final exam in any fashion deemed appropriate).The approximate weight distribution of each content area will be identified prior to the examination.

IV. Examination Date
The exam will be administered on the scheduled final examination date for Summer II from 8AM-noon.

V. Retake Examinations
The instructor of record for that course will determine ramifications for failure to pass any individual section of the exam.


Comprehensive Examination
I. The committee

• Will develop and implement the final comprehensive examination reflective of the entire curriculum at Texas State Physical Therapy Program.
• Will decide upon and communicate with the faculty regarding a time frame in which to obtain items for test construction.
• Will analyze test results following the scoring guidelines.

II. Eligibility
Students who have successfully completed all course work including clinical affiliations, projects and theses are eligible to sit for the exam. Students on altered schedules are required to contact the chairperson of the comprehensive examination committee to determine their eligibility to take the second year comprehensive examination.

III. The Examination
The examination will reflect the content of the entire curriculum of the Texas State Physical Therapy Program.Refer to curriculum content table for coursework in each content area.The student is required to demonstrate competency by achieving a minimum overall score of 70% on the comprehensive exam.The approximate weight distribution of each content area will be identified prior to the examination.

IV. Examination Date
The examination will be administered on the Saturday in January prior to starting clinical assignments.

V. Retake Examinations
The final comprehensive exam retest will be offered once per calendar year. The student that needs a retest must schedule with the exam committee.  The student is not eligible for graduation until passing performance on the retest exam has been achieved. The student will have a maximum of one calendar year in which to meet the requirements. The student may take the exam a maximum of 3 times. Failure to pass the examination after the third attempt will require remediation as outlined by the faculty.

General Information
Test Analysis/Scoring Guidelines
The number of items upon which the final score will be calculated will be determined after test and item analysis, with dismissal of items in which a) < 25% of students answer correctly, and/or b) if a negative point biserial is meaningful. Content Areas

Core	Body Systems I and II Patient Examination and Patient Management, Physical Agents
Neurological	Neuroscience I, II, III
Orthopedic	Spine, Lower Extremity, Upper Extremity
Professional Issues / Research	Professional Issues, Management, Special Topics, Research I, II, Project / Thesis

Feedback
For feedback on exam results, the student may meet with his / her advisor to review the student's performance.  The student is not permitted access to the exam directly, but the advisor (or item writer, when necessary) may give verbal feedback on item / content performance.