Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program

School of Health Professions and Education

The doctor of physical therapy degree (DPT) is a graduate degree, although qualified students may apply for guaranteed admission pending the completion of their bachelor's degree. Graduates of the program are eligible to sit for licensure examination in the state of their choice. The program is registered by the New York State Education Department and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.

The Utica College physical therapy department has many distinctive strengths. The curriculum emphasizes problem-based learning, a process that develops students' ability to learn while increasing their store of knowledge. In problem-based learning, students work in small groups on carefully chosen case studies. Faculty members guide and challenge students as they investigate problems and discover how to solve them. This process is important because it trains students to think for themselves, a trait essential for all successful physical therapists.

The direct freshman admission program guarantees admission to the professional program. Those students can be certain that they will not have to compete again to secure their place in the graduate program. Other students are also welcome to apply at any point in their undergraduate career or after receiving their bachelor's degree. The physical therapy department is committed to recruiting a diverse student body.

The department's faculty has an extraordinary range of expertise. Assistant Professor Tom Crist recently led an archaeological field school in Butrint, Albania. Associate Professor Peter Pawson researches animal models to understand how mammals recover from strokes. Assistant Professor M.J. Gelsomino teaches the Fit Kids Program in the local public schools to encourage physical exercise and lower rates of childhood obesity. Assistant Professor Jan Simpson is the director of rehabilitation at St. Elizabeth Hospital.

The department laboratories have state-of-the-art research equipment. Utica College has a motion analysis laboratory with Peak Performance and Noraxon EMG telemetry systems to examine human movement. In addition, physical therapy students have access to the excellent facilities of several local clinical institutions. During their course of study, students go weekly to the Sitrin Medical Rehabilitation Center where they get hands-on experience with patients and clients. Students also work with patients at the St. Elizabeth Hospital's rehabilitation department as a routine part of their program.

Students have the opportunity to engage in advanced research under a faculty member's supervision. In May 2003, six physical therapy students accompanied Assistant Professor Tom Crist to the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian to conduct research for their master's theses. They examined early twentieth-century skeletal remains to investigate an unusual developmental abnormality of the shoulder blade that leads to a much greater risk of rotator cuff impairment. In 2004 another group of students researched late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century skeletons excavated in Philadelphia. They examined the remains to find evidence of disease and to determine cause of death. Students working with Assistant Professor M.J. Gelsomino conducted research on children in the Utica public elementary schools, studying the connections between childhood obesity, physical activity, and cardiovascular disease rates. They presented a paper on this research at the 2005 combined meeting of the APTA.

Entering the DPT Program

The doctorate of physical therapy is a graduate degree. Students may apply to the physical therapy DPT program at various points in their academic careers. The department will guarantee a place in the program to 36 students. These students take three or four years to finish the entry requirements and then spend three years in graduate study. They receive a B.S. at the end of their fourth year and the DPT at the end of their sixth year of study. If there is space in the program, transfers from within Utica College or from other institutions may apply for one of these guaranteed spots.

Students with a bachelor's degree can apply directly to the physical therapy department. Before entering the three-year DPT program, they must have successfully completed all entry requirements.

Learn more:

> View DPT program admissions requirements

> Meet our distinguished faculty

 

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