General Program Description

Idaho State University is a research extensive university located in the southeast corner of Idaho. It is one of three major public Universities in the state and is designated as the health professions training institution for the state of Idaho. The Doctor of physical Therapy program in located in the Kasiska College of Health Professions which houses 10 other health programs. The physical therapy program was started in 1989 and celebrating it’s 24 year of operation in 2013. The program has a strong interdisciplinary training emphasis with other rehabilitation professions in the college. The department also operates a faculty student practice on site to allow student practitioners almost immediate access to patients under appropriate supervision. To date the program has graduated over 400 physical therapists.

Clinical Experiences
Four clinical experiences for students are located in and out of state with option for orthopedics, neurological, acute care, cardiopulmonary, and pediatric management. Four 3-week practicum experiences are completed during the didactic portion of the curriculum. A final 8-week clinical externship completes the clinical component of the 3-year program encompassing 100 credits. Students should be aware that they cannot do all clinical experiences in the same state.

Faculty
There are seven full-time faculty members. Six of f the full-time faculty hold post-professional doctoral degrees, while the other faculty are all pursuing doctoral degrees. Five are clinical specialists all of the faculty are engaged in clinical practice.

Enrollment
Idaho State University has a total enrollment of 15,000 students with 2,100 at the graduate level. The DPT program has a total enrollment of 75 students at any one time. 24 students are accepted every year and preference is given to Idaho residents but non-residents are accepted.

Admission
We are using the Physical Therapy Central Application Service (PTCAS) for our application process this year with an initial deadline of November 15. Notification of acceptance is made by March 1 of each year or earlier. The grade point average (GPA), recommendations, Graduate Record Examination/ (GRE), Miller Analogy Test (MAT) and or TOEFL exams, writing sample and letters of recommendation are evaluated the admissions process. Prerequisite courses include: 3 courses in each: anatomy (with lab), physiology (with lab), and exercise physiology and 2 courses in each: chemistry (with labs), and physics (with labs); and 1 course each: statistics, and introductory psychology, a sociology/psychology/health science/anthropology or an upper-division psychology course and human growth and development. Clinical experience of 80 hours is required in at least two physical therapy settings. Specific admission requirements are available via the department web site and upon request.

Outcomes
98% of admitted students graduate from the program (3-year average); 98% of graduates passed the National Physical Therapy Licensure Examination the first time (3-year average); 100% of those program graduates responding to surveys are employed (3-year average).

Tuition, fees and financial aid
The tuition for the 2014-2015 academic year is $3867. for residents for each semester and $10,247. per semester for non-residents. There is and additional fee of $1357. per semester for residents and $3363. per semester for non-residents. On-campus room and board expenses are $1,660.00 for room, $1,695.00 for board per semester. Student scholarships and non-resident tuition waivers are available for qualified students.

Student life
Idaho State University is located in Pocatello, which is served by public transportation systems (bus, trains, and airlines). There are 85 buildings on campus with a wide array of single and married student housing. The university is located a short distance from Salt Lake City, Utah, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone National Parks. Idaho State offers advanced degrees at the doctorate level in biological and social sciences, and in education. The climates hot and dry in the summer with mountain snow in the winter. Numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation are available locally and regionally.