Physical therapist assistants are required by accreditation and licensing agencies to demonstrate competency in evidence-based practice, yet surprisingly, no research exists examining EBP from the PTA student perspective—until now. This groundbreaking case report from Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College investigated whether integrating laboratory-based patient scenarios into a neurology course could improve PTA students’ perceptions and application of evidence-based practice principles. Fourteen second-year PTA students completed a comprehensive twelve-question survey before and after participating in four laboratory sessions where they were required to formulate clinical questions using the PICO format, search for relevant research articles, critically appraise the evidence, and then apply their findings to mock patients portrayed by instructors or fellow students. The results were remarkably positive: all twelve survey questions showed improvement ranging from 7.58% to 31.34%, with the most dramatic gains appearing in students’ confidence in asking well-structured clinical questions (31.34% increase), critically appraising research literature (25.37% increase), and understanding how to implement EBP in clinical settings (25.37% increase). Additionally, objective grading data from the four lab sessions demonstrated consistent improvement in student performance, with average scores climbing from 19.73 out of 20 on the first session to a perfect 20 on the final session, suggesting that repeated practice enhanced both confidence and competence in applying evidence-based practice skills to patient care scenarios.
