Participate in a Study Exploring Imposter Phenomenon in Physical Therapy

Anna Miller is a third year Doctor of Physical Therapy Student at The George Washington University, and is working with Dr. Marisa Birkmeier and Dr. Matthew Garber on a research study investigating Impostor Phenomenon in the physical therapy profession. 

The purposes of this study are to investigate the prevalence of Impostor Phenomenon (IP) and the demographic factors that may contribute to developing feelings of IP in physical therapist students (SPTs), physical therapists (PTs), physical therapist assistant students (SPTA’s), and physical therapist assistants (PTA’s) across the country.

IP occurs when high achieving individuals have a pervasive sense of self-doubt combined with fear of being exposed as a fraud, despite objective measures of success. While prevalence and demographic factors that contribute to developing feelings of IP have been formally investigated in medical students, resident physicians, and surgeons, the research regarding IP in the physical therapy profession is limited to personal stories, case studies, and blog posts.

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and your data will remain confidential. Choosing to participate or abstaining from participating in this study will not negatively impact your current role or professional status. There is no financial renumeration for your participation. All data collected will be securely stored with restricted access to the research team. We will use the synthesized results to help bring awareness of the prevalence of IP to physical therapy programs and employers to allow them to address it instead of leaving it untreated.

If you are interested in participating in the study, click here: https://smhsgwu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eerfmKUaNIAsvMa

Should you have any questions, please reach out directly to the principal investigator via email at [email protected] or Anna Miller via email at [email protected].