Abstract
Despite the wide acceptance of the International Classification of Function, Disability, and Health (ICF) model, there remains a fundamental gap in the utilization of the ICF to foster clinical decision-making in physical therapy students. This article proposes a shift from initiating the patient examination with assessment of body structures and functions to a model that incorporates adult learning theory and clinical expertise theory to facilitate students' transition to expert clinicians. The authors offer the example of an older patient with a neurological condition to demonstrate the reasoning process that delineates typical aging from the disease process for optimal patient outcomes.