Supporting a resident is a rewarding experience that many employers and clinics explore. However, they may think the benefits apply only to the resident, who develops clinical reasoning and self-reflection. What they may not realize is the significant impact on the site and mentors. Once they learn about the strong evidence for improved patient outcomes, reduced therapist burnout and turnover, and enhanced recognition and income, they want to know what hosting a resident entails. With EIM, the answer is simple when you understand what it takes to host a resident and achieve these extraordinary benefits.

There are three main components of residency education^1,2. These include an appropriate site and clinical experience, qualified mentor(s), and a thorough, comprehensive didactic experience. These are the key resources an accredited residency must ensure are available for residents to succeed.

Clinical Site / Experience:

Residency education requires a minimum of 1,350 hours of clinical experience in the specialty area. This equates to about 10 months of full-time work but is typically spread over a slightly longer period. The clinic simply needs to agree to support the resident by providing office space, patients, equipment, and other necessary resources. For an orthopaedic residency, this should occur in an outpatient setting with a balanced caseload across genders, ages, and body regions—in other words, a typical caseload. A documentation form is completed to demonstrate this balanced caseload. For a sports residency, 200 of the 1,350 clinical practice hours consist of sports venue coverage at local sporting events, such as races, games, practices, or training-room activities, across a variety of sports (contact, noncontact, and limited-contact). Sports physical therapy residents must complete their clinical hours with a minimum 40% sports caseload and as much diversity in gender, age, and sporting ability as possible. Residents can work and receive mentoring at more than one site during the residency program.

Mentoring:

Residency education requires a minimum of 150 hours of one-on-one mentoring by a qualified mentor. This requires direct supervision, not simply having someone elsewhere in the clinic working with their own patients during the mentoring period. More mentoring is beneficial, but for someone completing a 12-month residency, this amounts to approximately three hours per week. For longer plans of study, the weekly time may be lower, such as approximately two hours per week for an 18-month plan of study. The resident must serve as the primary care provider for at least 100 of those hours. Mentoring can also include other activities, such as observing others treat patients, practicing techniques, discussing patient cases, and participating in journal clubs.

More than one individual can mentor a resident. However, at least one mentor MUST be a specialist in that area (e.g., OCS or SCS). Others may also provide mentoring, including someone who graduated from an accredited residency program or has at least three years of specialty experience (e.g., CHT, GCS, or FAAOMPT), and may contribute hours in their specialty area. Although having the mentor and resident in the same location is ideal, it is not required. We have had many residents travel to a mentor’s clinic, or vice versa. It is ideal to block out mentoring time each week. With one mentor, sites typically reserve a consistent time slot on the same day each week. If there is more than one mentor, the time can be divided in whatever way works best. We have even had a mentor come for a half day every other week to address travel challenges, and up to 50 hours can be completed virtually.

Many sites are concerned about the training, support, and demands placed on the mentor. At EIM, we support mentors in the following ways:

• We provide a short online training course on mentoring (worth 1 CEU).
• Mentors have audit access to any coursework the resident is completing.
• We ask mentors to complete at least three assessments of the resident during the program.
• The OCS or SCS mentor must complete two live patient evaluations of the resident near the end of the program. Sports residents complete four evaluations.
• We ask the mentor to complete a skills checklist after each in-person weekend course. There are four weekend courses for the orthopaedic residency and five for the sports residency.
• Mentoring may qualify for CEUs in some states and counts toward specialist recertification (MOSC) requirements.

Didactic Component:

A residency requires at least 300 educational hours. At EIM, our residency programs offer more than 340 hours. These educational hours must cover content from the discipline’s Description of Residency Practice (DRP). All EIM courses are taught by content experts and updated at least every two years. Our hybrid program delivers almost all coursework asynchronously online through weekly readings, videos, short quizzes, and discussion posts. Residents also attend on-site, hands-on courses—four in the orthopaedic residency program and five in the sports program. In a 12-month plan of study, the resident takes approximately two courses each quarter and completes 5–10 hours of coursework per week. The 18-month plan of study reduces this to one course per quarter, thereby lowering the weekly commitment.

Some employers or sites may consider developing their own accredited residency experience. Keep in mind that this requires ensuring that ALL components are in place. You may be able to provide the site and mentors, but you will also need to train and assess staff annually and dedicate time and personnel to overseeing and directing the program. The didactic component requires development, assessment, implementation, revision, and other ongoing work, which is typically difficult for most sites. In addition, the accreditation process can take well over a year before a program is approved to begin. You must then demonstrate compliance with all accreditation requirements annually and pay applicable fees. This can become quite challenging, especially for smaller organizations with limited personnel and resources.

A final consideration when hosting a resident is the benefit of participating in residency training. The medical literature demonstrates that mentoring can benefit all parties involved^3,4. We know that training and mentoring lead to a variety of positive outcomes for everyone involved.

For residents, literature in our profession supports the following:

• Less burnout⁴
• Improved learning and patient outcomes⁵
• Greater success in becoming a board-certified specialist (a pass rate more than 10 percentage points higher for those in residency training)⁶
• Higher salaries⁷
• Enhanced self-reflection, clinical reasoning, and decision-making⁸

For mentors, the benefits include:

• Higher self-motivation^4,9
• Enhanced engagement in patient care and the learning process⁹
• Lower burnout⁹
• Continued learning and development⁹
• Support for maintaining certification (MOSC)¹⁰

For sites or organizations that support residency training (e.g., clinics), the benefits include:

• Enhanced retention¹¹
• Lower burnout⁴
• Greater long-term financial benefits, even with temporary lost productivity¹¹
• Greater standing in the community and medical profession through involvement in advanced training⁹
• Employees can train at your facility without having to relocate or leave their employment.

Our professional organization, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), identifies four benefits of specialization: 1) elevated competency, 2) career advancement, 3) professional recognition, and 4) leadership within the profession. Thus, employers and organizations are well positioned to support residents, helping to develop stronger practitioners and improve patient outcomes. Working with an accredited residency program such as EIM can bring the clinical, mentoring, and educational components together to advance not only the learner but everyone involved in the process. Hosting a resident is typically a motivating and nurturing experience that can elevate your practice to new heights.

1. Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency • Programs by EIM | Evidence In Motion
2. Quality Standards: For Clinical Physical Therapist Residency and Fellowship Programs. ABPTRFE. Jan 2023.
3. Toh et al. BMC Medical Education: The role of mentoring, supervision, coaching, teaching and instruction on professional identity formation: a systematic scoping review.  (2022) 22:531 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03589-z
4. Pugliese, M. S., Brismée, J.-M., Allen, B., Riley, S. P., Tammany, J., & Mintken, P. (2023). Mentorship and self-efficacy are associated with lower burnout in physical therapists in the United States: a cross-sectional survey study. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 20, 27. Epub September 27, 2023.
5. Williams A, Rushton A, Lewis JJ, Phillips C. (2019). Evaluation of the clinical effectiveness of a work-based mentoring programme to develop clinical reasoning on patient outcome: A stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial. PLOS ONE, 14(7), e0220110.
6. American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties (ABPTS)/APTA, June 2025.
7. A Physical Therapy Profile: Wages Earned in the Profession, 2021–22. A report from the American Physical Therapy Association. July 2023.
8. Souter C, Musy E, et al. Educational and experiential factors associated with physical therapists’ diagnostic reasoning. Journal of Physical Therapy Education. 2019;33(3):198–208.
9. Smith K, Scheumann T, Farrell K. Mentoring presentation—ELC or AAOMPT.
10. ABPTS MOSC requirements (Maintain Your Certification | APTA Specialist Certification—Governed by ABPTS).
11. Hagen, C. AAOMPT presentation, 2024.