Why Onboarding Matters: Shaping PTs as First-Line Providers

How clinicians are introduced to their role matters. It shapes their professional identity and, ultimately, how they lead and deliver care.

One of the most common gaps in clinical onboarding is failing to reinforce what today’s DPT graduates have earned—and what the system needs them to become. These are doctors of physical therapy, trained to practice at the top of license and contribute meaningfully as frontline MSK providers.

Yet too often, onboarding misses this opportunity. Clinicians are not consistently addressed or introduced as doctors, nor are they given the structured education pathways needed to fully step into this role. The result is a disconnect—between training and practice, between potential and impact.

Healthcare organizations can and should lead this change. Embedding advanced clinical education, leadership development, and professional identity reinforcement into onboarding is a practical, high-leverage step. It accelerates readiness, supports clinician confidence, and helps align teams with the evolving demands of modern MSK care.

Summit Professional Education helps organizations build onboarding programs that do exactly this—equipping new hires not only with clinical skills, but with the mindset, language, and leadership presence required to thrive as first-line providers.

The first 90 days set the tone. Let’s ensure that tone supports the future the profession is ready to lead.