General Program Description

Students enter the program in May and continue through the program, for three years (nine semesters), to graduation in May. Each year consists of two summer sessions and the fall and spring semesters. It is a full-time lock-step graduate program consisting of 107 graduate credits, including a research project and four full-time clinical internships. The objective of the Program is to prepare a highly skilled generalist practitioner in physical therapy, capable of practice in any setting. Students participate in faculty research as part of their required course work. The majority of students present their research projects at the Annual Conference of the American Physical Therapy Association or the Combined Section meeting of APTA; all students present their research at the Annual Research Colloquium of the Department of Physical Therapy. A variety of research facilities are available to students, including The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, the Miami VA Hospital an Medical Center, and the clinical space at University of Miami Hospital and five satellite clinics.

Clinical Experiences
Students begin clinical experiences and internships in the second year of study, and end with 24 weeks at the end of the third year, for a total of 32 weeks of clinical internships. Every student is required to complete assignments with patient populations across the lifespan and across levels of acuity. The university has more than 350 clinical experience sites across the United States, including Hawaii. Additionally, due to the growth of both inpatient and outpatient facilities that are part of University of Miami Hospitals and Clinics, the department is expanding in developing integrated clinical experiences (ICEs) as part of didactic courses beginning in the first year.

Faculty
There are 30 full-time and 6 part-time faculty members, including both the academic and clinical faculty. Of the 19 Core academic faculty, full-time faculty 90% hold post-professional or clinical doctoral degrees. Fourteen faculty are certified as clinical specialists, > 20 are engaged in clinical practice, and three are Catherine Worthingham Fellows of the APTA. Over the past 3 years the faculty has averaged > 30 publications per year in peer-reviewed journals, with national and international presentations of over 85 per year. The faculty-to-student ratio is 1:5. Despite travel schedules, research labs, volunteer service in international settings, or other commitments, the faculty pride themselves in being available to students, and helping to create an atmosphere of caring, compassion, and the “UMPT Family.” Our Alumni also remain connected to our Department – faculty and students alike.

Enrollment
There are approximately 8,000 undergraduate students (80 pre-physical therapy students) and 4,500 graduate students at the university.

Admission
The mean grade point average (GPA) for the last 5 years (2008-2013) was 3.5. Classes are usually 50-55 persons per class. Each class of students begins in the summer session (mid-May). Admissions are processed through PT-CAS (Centralized Applications Service). General requirements for admission include an overall GPA, science GPA, and prerequisite GPA of 3.0; a Graduate Record Exam score of 149 Verbal and 147 Quantitative, and an Analytical score of 4.0; three recommendations (one from a physical therapist); an essay detailing reasons for choosing physical therapy as a profession; and a personal interview. The prerequisite courses required include one semester in each: English composition, general biology, psychology, introductory statistics, human anatomy, human physiology (or 2 semesters of human anatomy/physiology combined); and 2 semesters in each: chemistry (w/lab) and physics (w/lab). Deadline for application as of 2013 is November 1.

Outcomes
95% of admitted students graduate from the program (3-year average). NPTE First Time pass rates average 90-100%. Ultimate Pass Rate, per the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT), for the years 2009-2011 was 99.29%. Students have multiple offers of employment at graduation, and 6 month post-graduation employment has been 100% for the last 3 years.

Tuition, fees and financial aid
For the class of 2016, block tuition was $9,250 per semester for each of the nine semesters of study. For housing, students usually find local apartments in the greater Miami-Coral Gables area with costs ranging between $600-$700 per month, per person. Approximately 90% of current students receive some sort of financial assistance. The Department of Physical Therapy offers numerous graduate assistantships in all years of studies. The University of Miami Office of Financial Assistance works closely with all students in assisting them with securing adequate resources for their educational needs. Current programs available include the Graduate Student Loan (GSL up to $8,500 per year), the Supplemental Loan Program (SLP up to $10,000 additional), and the PLUS Loan (up to $4,000 additional, but with a higher interest rate). Additionally, there are work-study programs and other graduate assistantships throughout the university available on a competitive basis. Alumni and minority scholarships of $1,000-$3,000 are offered to students on a competitive basis in all years of study through an endowment fund.

Student life
Intercollegiate athletics are traditionally of a national championship nature, especially in football and baseball. Some physical therapy students have the opportunity to work with the athletic teams in the training room. Intramurals are an important part of campus activities, and physical therapy students have had championships in women’s softball and volleyball and in coed softball and flag football. Many physical therapy students find part-time employment working at the 200,000 square foot Wellness Center or as PT Aides in our University of Miami Hospital. Annual events and opportunities organized by and for our students are the Marquette Challenge (students raising money for the Foundation for Physical Therapy, U of Miami continuously participating and placing in the top money-raisers since 1989), the Hurricane Challenge (since 1987, our students raising money to bring all Miami-Dade County students with disabilities to the university for a day of special events, a picnic, and celebrity guests), and the Recreation for the Disabled course, in cooperation with Shake-a-leg of Miami (sailing course for able-bodied and disabled persons). Miami is a rich and unique city with numerous cultural activities, such as the ballet, the symphony, the theater, and, of course, South Beach and the Florida Keys.