An Integral Part of Our Evolving Healthcare System
Physical therapy continues as an integral part of America’s evolving healthcare system, and practitioners can have a satisfying career helping people, from newborn to elderly, function at their optimum ability. Physical therapists work to prevent or overcome the effects of disease or injury for clients in a range of vibrant environments, including acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient centers, individual homes, skilled nursing facilities, public school systems, and private practice. Physical therapists also work as educators, researchers, and consultants.
Innovative Patient-Centered Curriculum
In Arcadia's innovative patient-centered curriculum, offered on-campus or by hybrid pathway, students learn to integrate and apply clinical, behavioral, and basic science knowledge. Time spent in lectures and labs is structured to nurture students’ critical thinking skills and help them absorb the full depth of knowledge for evaluating, treating, and instructing clients.
Aligned for Excellence
The Arcadia University physical therapy program, offered on-campus or by hybrid pathway, adheres to the standards set by The American Physical Therapy Association. Additionally, the APTA set a vision shared by Arcadia that, by 2020: physical therapy will be provided by physical therapists who are doctors of physical therapy; that consumers will have direct access to physical therapists in all environments; that physical therapists will be practitioners of choice in clients’ health networks; and, that physical therapists and their assistants will maintain active responsibility for the health of the people they serve, as well as the growth and respect of the physical therapy profession. Arcadia’s entry-level program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.
Opportunity, Far and Wide
Arcadia University believes that to understand the world students should experience the world, and has become a recognized leader in global education, providing interested students with international opportunities to experience the world as medical professionals. Arcadia's D.P.T. students have options for clinical education across the United States, in England, or the chance to join a service project in Jamaica, Peru or Guatemala.
Prepared, Employed Graduates
With the combined classroom and experiential learning offered throughout the program, Arcadia graduates surpass the national average for passing the licensure examination on the first attempt, and have done so since the program's inception. So admired is Arcadia’s program and its licensing exam record that U.S. News and World Report ranks it 24th of 239 accredited graduate physical therapy programs, and many graduates are offered their first professional physical therapy job from the connections they made during their clinical experiences. Arcadia's DPT Program is recognized in all 50 states.
The Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Arcadia University is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: http://www.capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call 215-572-2950 or email ptadmission@arcadia.edu.
Due Process for Anyone Outside the Arcadia Community
Any stakeholder of the Arcadia University Physical Therapy Program (“Program”) has the right to file a complaint and receive due process. Current students, faculty, and staff involved with the Program should follow the established University policies and procedures for handling such claims set forth in the Physical Therapy Program Handbook. All other stakeholders, including, but not limited to, prospective students, clinical education sites, or employers of graduates, may also file a complaint related to the Program and should contact the Office of General Counsel at generalcounsel@arcadia.edu or call (215) 572-2926, and the Chair of the Physical Therapy Program, Dr. Phil McClure at mcclurep@arcadia.edu or call (215) 572-2863. The College of Health Sciences prohibits any form of retaliation against any party making a complaint against the Program.
Current Requirements for the D.P.T Program
Students in the on-campus DPT program and Arcadia DPT Online (our hybrid option) must meet the following requirements, to obtain their degree, earning 110 credits:
Satisfactory completion of 6 semesters of classroom work.
Satisfactory completion of full-time clinical study.
An overall minimum GPA of 2.70 maintained throughout the program. A grade below “C” is not acceptable toward the degree.
Continuous enrollment. If extenuating circumstances make additional time necessary, approval to continue beyond the scheduled duration of the program must be obtained from the Department Chair and the Physical Therapy Review Committee. Students who withdraw for reasons other than academic or clinical performance may re-apply for admission. Departmental approval is necessary for re-admission.
Each student must successfully complete 32 weeks of full-time clinical education experience (CEE) before graduation and an integrated clinical education experience equivalent to one week of clinic time. The full-time CEE consists of eight weeks in an inpatient or outpatient setting in the second fall of the program after completion of the first didactic year, and a 24-week full-time terminal CEE that could be in a variety of settings and begins after the completion of the didactic program in the spring of the second year. This experience extends through summer.
Academic Policies
A student accepted into the Physical Therapy program is expected to abide by the regulations set forth by Arcadia University and the written policies of the Physical Therapy program. For a discussion of the general academic policies and procedures for graduate students, see Graduate Academic Policies and the Arcadia University Student Handbook. The policies of the Physical Therapy program are published in the Physical Therapy Policies and Procedures Student Handbook, revised annually.
Academic Standing
To remain in good academic standing, students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.7 in each semester. If a student receives less than a 2.7 for a semester, the student will be placed on probation. Failure to improve the grade point average in the subsequent semester will result in dismissal from the program.
We are facing an unprecedented and challenging time in academia. Arcadia University has offered the student-centered approach of adopting a revised pass/fail grading policy for the Spring 2020 semester. The Physical Therapist Program recognizes that many undergraduate institutions from across the country have adopted this policy as well. Please note that a passing grade for any prerequisite course taken this semester will meet guidelines for admissions criteria. This will include guidelines for our assured admission pathways. Please contact us with any questions at ptadmission@arcadia.edu.
Information for students intending to apply via the assured admissions process.
Licensure
The Arcadia DPT program leads to a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. The designed outcome is to ensure that upon graduation, you will have met all coursework and clinical requirements as outlined by the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). This program is designed to lead to exam eligibility for the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) and not an individual license. In most states the above will fulfill requirements for licensure, though state specific requirements may vary.
The links below provides a state by state breakdown of comparable licenses, including a determination of eligibility for licensure. This information provided is designed as a baseline determination of whether the program meets individual state specific requirements. Licensure requirements, the type of license to apply for, and appropriate pathway to pursue are subject to change and may differ based on individual student backgrounds, including coursework taken outside the scope of the program. Students should do their own due diligence and determine the appropriate pathway and license type for themselves.
Tuition for the on-campus cohort starting in 2022 will be $19,395 per semester for 6 semesters. Visit Arcadia's Graduate Tuition Fees page for more information.
Financial Aid and Scholarships
Students are automatically considered for merit scholarships and graduate assistantships based on their academic records upon applying for admission to the program.
The Physical Therapy Department has developed a set of Essential Functions in order to achieve the goals set forth in the Physical Therapy program’s mission statement: the preparation of physical therapists to excel in evidence-based practice and become effective, compassionate practitioners. All students must have the physical and mental capacity, with or without reasonable accommodations, to independently meet all of these criteria, which apply in the classroom, lab, community, and clinical settings as part of the physical therapy program. View criteria.
Enrolled Student Profile
DPT Class — Enrolled Fall 2021
Total number residential students enrolled: 66
Total number hybrid students enrolled: 51
Average Overall GPA: 3.52 (range 3.0-4.0)
Average Prerequisite GPA: 3.4 (range: 3.0-4.0)
Average GRE (new): 155 Verbal, 155 Quantitative, 4.2 Analytical Writing
Articulation Agreements
The Physical Therapy Department has collaborated with the following institutions and created specific admissions criteria under which DPT applicants from these institutions are admitted.
The ultimate goal of the program is to graduate the next generation of clinicians who are solidly grounded in the fundamentals of physical therapy and competent in critical thinking and problem-solving.
Critical thinking and the use of evidence for making clinical decisions is emphasized throughout the curriculum. Relevant literature is considered in each unit with the goal being graduates who use current evidence in their practice of physical therapy. Students also write case reports based on patients they have treated in each of their clinical affiliations. The culminating event for the program is the presentation of a poster reporting the case report results or a platform presentation by those students who have participated in a research project.
Structure of PT Curriculum: 20 case-driven 3 week courses
The curriculum is organized into 20 patient-based courses that integrate knowledge from every practice area of physical therapy. The curricular content addresses aspects of injury prevention, recovery, and rehabilitation. Students learn to apply the principles of physical therapy practice to all patient populations and conditions: from the young child to the older adult, from fractures to traumatic brain injury. Each course is designed so that students can immediately apply the material to the patient case central to each, allowing them to develop their skills continuously as they advance through the program.
Students will spend time weekly in the Anatomy Resource Center during the first year of the program and have opportunities to review cadaver anatomy during the second year of the program. Our curriculum integrates the cadaver anatomy with the patient case(s) being covered in a given course and allows the students to apply the regional anatomy directly to relevant clinical examination and treatment.
Example:
Focus: movement system impairments associated with motion due to acute musculoskeletal injury.
Patient Case #1: A 21-year-old male fell while playing recreational soccer on campus. He reported immediate pain and edema around the knee with an inability to bear weight through his affected leg.
Patient Case #2: A 57-year-old female tripped and fell stepping up a curb on her way to the bank where she is employed as a financial advisor. She is able to bear weight through her leg but she complains of significant pain, edema and ecchymosis.
Clinical Education
Doctor of Physical Therapy students embark upon an amazing journey of both personal and professional growth when they begin their clinical education. These experiences are interspersed throughout the on-campus pathway and the hybrid pathway, and are key in applying the knowledge obtained in the classroom to real patients under the direct supervision and mentoring of a licensed physical therapist in a clinical setting. In collaboration with the Directors of Clinical Education, students are evaluated by their Clinical Instructor on their professional knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Students will learn and work with physical therapist clinical instructors and patients/clients in:
major medical centers
community hospitals
rehabilitation hospitals and agencies
home health
school-based clinics
private practices
The program includes a part-time clinical experience in the first year and 32 weeks of full-time clinical education. Arcadia has developed more than 250 clinical relationships with a wide variety of top-flight local, regional, national and international facilities. The majority of sites are in the mid-Atlantic region. Many students are offered their first jobs through the relationships they develop during these experiences.
Students observe and assist physical therapists half days for a total of 10 visits over the first year. The experience consists of alternating weeks in the clinic with weeks of small group discussions and reflections on campus. The primary purposes of the ICE experience are to introduce students to physical therapist practice in both inpatient and outpatient settings, to mentor students in professional behaviors, and to integrate classroom knowledge and clinical experience.
Full-time clinical education begins in the fall of Year 2, with an 8-week clinical education experience. Students are responsible for the additional costs of travel and housing associated with their clinical experiences. Through these weeks, students develop into professionals and can begin to deliver effective physical therapy services. Clinical placements are made in consultation with the Directors of Clinical Education and clinical facilities for a match that is ideally suited to the strengths and interests of the student.
Upon completion of the didactic coursework in the spring of Year 2, students will begin their terminal clinical education experience. This final experience, which lasts for 24 weeks, is a hybrid between traditional clinical education and the residency model of clinical training that is rich in mentoring and structured learning experiences to facilitate accelerated learning. Clinics affiliated with this program are among a select group with strong relationships with our program and the patient-centered curriculum.
Clinical Education Abroad
Second-year D.P.T. students can take advantage of the opportunity to spend the first eight weeks of the terminal clinical education experience in London. The application process begins in the preceding summer for this opportunity, which is in a rehabilitation setting for individuals following amputation. Expenses above and beyond the normal semester tuition exist. Interested students need to contact Susan S. Tomlinson, Director of Clinical Education, well in advance to initiate the process, as these spots are not always available. This experience is coordinated between the Physical Therapy Department and Arcadia’s The College of Global Studies.
Service Learning Across the Nation and Around the World
Community-Engaged Teaching and Service Learning
The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Core Values include Altruism, Compassion and Caring, and Social Responsibility, and Arcadia University strives to integrate these core values throughout the DPT curriculum. During the first year of the curriculum, students participate in a non-credit-bearing service learning requirement, which offers DPT students the opportunty to meaningfully interact with members of their community (often in the context of wellness/fitness programs, and with populations and organizational structures that might be new to them) while reflecting on the social determinants of health through a developing PT lens.
With faculty oversight and in coordination with the facilities' fitness directors, AUDPT students in the campus-based pathway are regularly welcomed at West Oak Lane Senior Center, an urban senior center day program, and at Foulkeways at Gwynedd, a continuing care retirement community, for this service learning requirement.
During the second year of the DPT curriculum, students are then required to participate a one-credit, satisfactory/unsatisfactory course that integrates the same reflections from the first year experience while serving the underserved through supervised PT practice. In this course, students collaborate with individuals in novel settings (i.e. telehealth, community-based programming, pro bono) who are underinsured or uninsured (Arcadia University Pro Bono Physical Therapy Clinic), and with individuals living with a complex progressive neurologic diagnosis (Dan Aaron Stay Fit Clinic), who are not frequently represented in typical clinical education settings.
The combination of these first and second year experiences broadens students’ understanding of health, wellness, fitness, and physical therapist practice, and provides opportunities to refine clinical skills while collaborating with all persons in their community.
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
In tandem with the clinically-focused experiences occurring during the second year, faculty members and students also collaborate to research, plan, and conduct presentations on the benefits of exercise to chronic disease support groups, community organizations, and clinicians. Students have presented on a variety of topics, including: juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer, fibromyalgia, end-stage renal disease, and childhood fitness.
International Service Learning
All Arcadia entry-level D.P.T. students have the opportunity to participate in an International Service Learning elective, with the goal of collaboratively expanding the availability of healthcare with long-standing international partners. Students can apply to take this 2-credit elective to provide education and physical therapy services, under the supervision of stateside licensed physical therapists and locally licensed clinicians, in countries such as Belize, Guatemala, and Jamaica. These planned, mentor-accompanied trips are generally two weeks in length and occur either during the terminal clinical experience or after completion of the didactic curriculum.
An example of Arcadia’s successful efforts to collaboratively expand healthcare accessibility in our global society is that of a program run by Arcadia University graduate, Jodee Fortner ’99. Fortner lived in Arequipa, Peru, and regularly hosted teams of physical therapists, Arcadia students and volunteers who provided services and equipment for children with disabilities. After seven years, Jodee has returned to the States and the Arequipa clinic is fully staffed by Peruvian physical therapists. The fact that the clinic is self-sustaining is a credit to Jodee’s efforts to “work herself out of a job.”
One current elective site is in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, where Dr. Brooke Riley ’04, has directed the Friends of the Redeemer United clinic since graduating from Arcadia University's PT program. The local clinic was established by Dr. Karen Sawyer and Karen Koch (Arcadia class of 1996) in 2002. In conjunction with local SPTs and clinicians, it provides predominantly out-patient services and home visits to people with musculoskeletal and neuromuscular diagnoses. Several times per year, the clinic runs an Intensive Neurologic Clinic for Jamaicans with stroke or incomplete spinal cord injury.
Facilities & Technology
Classroom and Student Labs - Our department facilities are located in the Health Sciences Center, on our campus inGlenside, Pennsylvania. The Center consists of modern teaching labs, seminar rooms, student lounges, faculty/staff offices and a clinical practice operated by the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Anatomy Resource Center - The Anatomy Resource Center is located on the first floor of the Health Sciences Building. This space provides our students with the opportunity to learn anatomy through interaction and dissection of human cadavers and joint prosections.
Pro Bono Physical Therapy Clinic - Arcadia University’s student-run Pro Bono Clinic offers no-cost physical therapy services to underinsured individuals. Our goal is to provide care that alleviates physical and psychological burdens, promote public health, and support you.
Simulation Center - The D.P.T. curriculum includes a variety of patient simulation experiences using standardized patients or state of the art human simulators. We partner with the Penn Medicine Simulation Center to provide these opportunities. We also have the ability to record and share real-time feedback about patient interaction experiences.
Shoulder Lab - The Shoulder Research Center is committed to understanding the underlying mechanisms of shoulder pain and developing optimal treatment approaches to manage it. The center uses various state-of-the-art measurement tools including muscle activation testing, surface and fine-wire electromyography (EMG), inertial measurement devices, quantitative pain analysis, Electromyography (EMG), 3-D Motion Capture, Force Transducers
Neuromuscular Performance Lab - The Neuromuscular Performance Lab is a collaboration of multiple faculty in the Physical Therapy Department interested in understanding mechanisms related to altered movement in various patient populations and improving rehabilitation outcomes. This lab uses cutting edge technology including isokinetic dynamometry to examine muscle performance, electromyography to examine muscle activity, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to examine corticospinal excitability, and function near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine cortical activation. Faculty who specialize in sports rehabilitation and neurological rehabilitation utilize this lab to study a variety of patients including athletes after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and patients following stroke.
Motor Performance and Gait Lab - The Motor Performance and Gait Lab, which is also housed in the Health Science Center, is a fully accessible 1650 ft2 space that includes force plates, motion capture system, exercise capacity testing devices, ultrasound machines and gait mat. It also includes several computer workstations for data reduction and analysis and software including ImageJ, custom-designed data collection software, statistical analysis (SPSS) and typical word processing and related software.
Dan Aaron Stay Fit Clinic- This space is used for running supervised exercise sessions for people with Parkinson disease and Multiple Sclerosis. It has state-of-the art exercise equipment, including stationary bicycles (upright and reclining), elliptical, arm ergometer, leg press devices.
Our full-time faculty members include three nationally recognized FAPTA members, multiple textbook authors, several who hold editorial board positions of leading national journals, and officers of various APTA specialty sections. Many have received prestigious teaching awards and all have active research including eight currently funded projects from various sources including NIH, Orthopaedic section, Sports section.
All faculty are licensed medical professionals in addition to their other credentials. All have significant clinical experience from a wide variety of practice settings and patient populations. Seven members of the full-time faculty have served as directors of physical therapy services or as owners in private practice.
Our faculty members teach both the on-campus pathway and the hybrid pathway.
