Clinical Education
Hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)Integrated Clinical Experiences
Our integrated clinical model gives students the opportunity to work with real patients from day one. Starting in September of the first semester, you'll spend two half-days per week at a clinic in your geographic area, working with patients under the guidance of a licensed physical therapist who will serve as your clinical mentor. This continues throughout the first two years of the program.
Each week, your mentor will guide you in practicing specific skills directly with patients, helping you connect what you're learning in the classroom to real clinical practice in real time. The Director of Clinical Education will identify both the clinic and your mentor, making every effort to place you within one hour of your home. These sessions are a required and central part of the curriculum designed to ensure that integration of knowledge and clinical skill begins early and deepens throughout your training. This model brings the classroom and clinic together, giving students meaningful patient exposure without relocating their lives.
Clinical Rotations
In the final year of the program, you will participate in three full-time off-campus clinical education experiences. Each experience is 10 weeks long: one in an outpatient orthopedic setting, one in a complex medical setting such as inpatient acute, acute rehab, subacute rehab or homecare, and an elective in the area in which you have a strong passion for.