Mar 29, 2024  
Ohio University Graduate Catalog 2013-2015 
    
Ohio University Graduate Catalog 2013-2015 [Archived Catalog]

Physical Therapy (Entry-Level) (D.P.T.)


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Program Overview: 

The Division of Physical Therapy is dedicated to excellence and leadership in preparing future physical therapists with the knowledge, behavior, and skills required to function within the diverse roles of the contemporary health care environment. Our students are prepared to assume leadership roles as physical therapy professionals through autonomous and evidence-based practice, altruism, integrity and ethical conduct, and social and professional responsibility. We are committed to contributing to the body of knowledge in physical therapy through provision of physical therapy services to those in southeast Ohio.

Because the faculty have extensive clinical expertise and national prominence in physical therapy research and because of the exceptional clinical performance of our students and graduates, the Ohio University Division of Physical Therapy is ranked among the top 60 physical therapy programs in the most recent US News and World Report survey.

In addition, the Division of Physical Therapy at Ohio University is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: www.capteonline.org.

The courses that we teach are designed to meet the accreditation standards of this organization, as well as to prepare the graduate for practice in physical therapy. The faculty are committed to implementing a curriculum that is designed to prepare competent physical therapists who will be able to employ critical decision-making skills and evidence-based practice for optimal patient care. We have a hybrid curriculum that includes elements of traditional, system based, and problem solving approaches. There is an intentional progression from simpler concepts and problems to more complex problems that require synthesis from all areas of the curriculum. As students progress through the curriculum, they gain the skills necessary for independent learning by presenting patient cases and through various teaching opportunities. Synthesis courses, are positioned prior to the student attending full time clinical rotation in order to integrate material from the previous semesters. There is also an emphasis on manual therapy with two courses (spine and extremities) devoted to theory and technique of mobilization and manipulation. Clinical experience is integrated with the didactic and laboratory components throughout the program of study.

The Division of Physical Therapy has clinical education agreements with medical centers, rehabilitation and outpatient facilities, general acute care hospitals and specialty clinics throughout Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, as well as California, Florida, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Louisiana among others. Admissions Information:

Freshman/First-Year Admission

Eligibility and Selection: Students are eligible to apply to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program if they have a minimum overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale; can complete approximately 2/3 of the prerequisite courses by the end of the Fall Term in which they apply and complete the remainder of the prerequisites prior to the start of the program in summer semester; complete all prerequisite courses with a grade of “C” or above; and hold a baccalaureate degree by the time that the program starts in summer semester. The admissions committee considers items such as overall GPA, prerequisite GPA, strength of academic preparation, references, Graduate Records Exam (GRE) scores, relevant life experience and preview day impressions when selecting eligible applicants. Prerequisite Course Information: Prerequisite courses include one statistics course, one developmental/child psychology course, one additional psychology course, one year of introductory physics with laboratory component, one year of chemistry with laboratory component, one cellular and molecular biology course with a laboratory component, one animal organ systems biology course with laboratory component (the two biology courses must be designed for science majors and pre-professional students), one human anatomy course with laboratory component, one human or animal physiology course with laboratory component (two courses of combined anatomy and physiology with laboratory components may be used to meet the anatomy and physiology prerequisite requirements), and one exercise physiology course. All prerequisite courses must be equivalent to the course descriptions listed on the program’s website at www.ohio.edu/ouchsp.org/doctor-of-physical-therapy or the Physical Therapy Centralized Admission System (PTCAS) at www.ptcas.org. The human anatomy, human or animal physiology and exercise physiology prerequisites must be taken at a 4-year institution. Science courses for non-science majors are not acceptable to meet the prerequisite requirements.

Change of Major/Minor/Certificate Policy

Application Process: The Admissions Committee reviews applications only after receiving completed applications from PTCAS. Deadline dates for the current application cycle can be found on the website at www.ptcas.org. 1. Submit an application to PTCAS online at www.ptcas.org by the specified deadline date. Application requires submission of the following: online PTCAS application; official transcripts from all schools attended; and PTCAS Recommendation Forms. Two recommendations must be from physical therapists for whom you have worked or volunteered and one college professor. We request that the two physical therapists not be co-workers in the same work group. 2. Submit the appropriate Ohio University Graduate College Application online at www.ohio.edu/graduate by the specified deadline date. Application requires submission of the following: appropriate OU Graduate College application and fee (Provide your PTCAS ID on your OU Graduate College application; you will be assigned a PTCAS ID when you create your PTCAS Account); official Graduate Records Exam (GRE) scores; exam must be taken by the specified deadline date; the GRE Reporting Code for Ohio University is 1593. 3. Submit a supplemental transcript directly to the Physical Therapy program at Ohio University with Fall grades posted as soon as it is available. 4. Eligible competitive applicants will be invited to a Preview/Interview Day which has traditionally been held in January. The purpose of this event is to provide applicants an opportunity to view the facilities, interact with current faculty and students, attend a financial aid session, and evaluate the program curriculum and philosophy. Open ended sessions allow applicants to ask faculty and students pertinent questions regarding our program and a group interview provides faculty a chance to gather additional information from applicants. 5. Admission is granted to eligible students through a ranking of the current applicant pool. The selection of students is determined by a weighted scoring of the GPA, the prerequisite GPA, the GRE score, the evaluation/references, the interview/general impressions from Preview/Interview Day, and relevant life experiences. There are five possible admissions decisions: Full Acceptance: The applicant has completed all prerequisite work with a “C” or above, has completed an earned degree and has acceptable evaluations /references and Preview Day interview; Provisional Acceptance: The applicant is admitted to the School contingent upon completion of an earned degree, and completion of prerequisite course work in progress with a grade of “C” or better prior to beginning the program and acceptable evaluations/references and Preview Day interview; Alternate Acceptance: The applicant is placed on an alternate waiting list, contingent upon space becoming available and completion of an earned degree and prerequisite course work in progress with a grade of “C” or better prior to beginning the program and acceptable Evaluations/References and Preview Day interview; Ineligibility: and non-acceptance.

External Transfer Admission

Applications from all undergraduate institutions are evaluated equally. While no specific number of seats is reserved for Ohio University students, an attempt is made to have at least 50% Ohio University students. Transfer applicants who are offered and accept admission to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program will need to provide official copies of all transcripts to the Graduate College (in addition to submitting them to PTCAS). International students please refer to the Admissions Requirements available on the Graduate College webpage at www.ohio.edu/graduate/international/index.cfm for additional requirements. All non-native speakers of English must demonstrate proficiency by submission of official TOEFL (550 minimum paper-based test/213 computer-based test, 80 internet-based test) or IELTS (6.5 across all bands) scores. See the Graduate College’s webpage for exemptions and more details regarding English proficiency requirements. Opportunities Upon Graduation: We graduate physical therapists who are generalists; that is, graduates should be able to function in any setting in physical therapy. There is currently a shortage of physical therapists due to a variety of reasons; therefore, job prospects are excellent. Physical therapists work in a variety of settings including acute care, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, private practices, school systems, and industrial settings. We generally treat persons who have orthopedic, neurologic, and cardiovascular/pulmonary problems; however, specialty areas include women’s health issues, sports, pediatrics and geriatrics. The largest anticipated need in the future will be in skilled nursing facilities due to the numbers of people predicted to be entering the ranks of the elderly. For the past eight, our employment rate among graduates is 100% within 3-6 months post-graduation, but many have positions prior to graduation.

Entry-Level DPT


The following is a listing of the courses required in the three-calendar-year graduate professional education program in physical therapy.

First-Year Coursework


Second-Year Coursework


Third-Year Coursework


Select two courses (six hours) from:


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