General Program Description

The Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science is housed in the Allied Health Professions Building, which is a state-of-the-art teaching and research facility. The program is supported by 15 full-time core faculty, three part-time core faculty, 60 adjunct faculty, 12 staff, and approximately 300 clinical affiliation sites. These sites provide a wide variety of educational experiences and specialty settings. Although affiliated institutions are located throughout the United States, they are clustered primarily in the mid-Atlantic area. The department maintains a well-equipped service learning center that provides physical therapy pro bono for the uninsured as well as very active and extensively equipped research labs for faculty and students. The Doctor of Physical Therapy is a three-year curriculum beginning in the summer session. The curriculum is integrated through the use of blocked courses, multidisciplinary team teaching and integrated patient content. In addition to the block format, course blocks are integrated by a series of “threads” inclusive of lifespan orientation, communication, evidence-based practice, clinical-patient relevance, prevention, health promotion, technology as well as individual and cultural differences. The first year of the program begins with a systems-oriented approach to the foundational sciences and is followed by instruction of clinically relevant, system-specific and age-appropriate examination and intervention skills. There are also blocks in this first year that include Professional Issues content. The second year of the program encompasses the clinical blocks that includes Medical Issues along with two blocks each of focused instruction on the Management of Musculoskeletal and Neuromuscular Disorders. In each of the blocks there are Seminars for Evidence-Based Practice to enhance students use on evidence in clinical decision making. Further, there is exposure to under-served patient populations and an additional block of Professional Issues. Woven throughout this year are Integration Labs for Independent Practice, heightened patient exposure and clinical site visits to facilitate synthesis of all information presented thus far in the curriculum. Integrated clinical exposures introduce students to the clinical environment and provide the opportunity for them to practice their current clinical skills. A clinical qualifying measure performance exam utilizing standardized patients must be successfully passed by students prior to entering the third academic year. Year three is dedicated to 33 weeks of practical experience in a variety of clinical settings. The 33 weeks are subdivided into three separate clinical internships. During these full time clinical internships, the student has the opportunity to integrate knowledge gained from courses and to expand skills in evaluation, treatment, and interpersonal communication. Each student is required to have experience in medically complex, rehabilitation, and community-based settings.

Clinical Experiences
Integrated clinical exposures introduce students to the clinical environment and provide the opportunity for them to practice their current clinical skills in the second year of the curriculum. A clinical qualifying measure performance exam utilizing standardized patients must be successfully passed by students prior to entering the third academic year. Year three is dedicated to 33 weeks of practical experience in a variety of clinical settings. The 33 weeks are subdivided into three separate clinical internships. During these fulltime clinical internships, the student has the opportunity to integrate knowledge gained from courses and to expand skills in evaluation, treatment, and interpersonal communication. Each student is required to have experience in medically complex, rehabilitation and community-based settings. The University of Maryland Medical Center is the primary teaching facility of the SOM, consisting of a private, non-profit system of teaching hospitals. The University Hospital, the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, and the University of Maryland Cancer Center form the Medical System’s 747-bed facility downtown. The University of Maryland Rehabilitation and Orthopedics Institute (Kernan Hospital) is a 40-bed acute care medical facility affiliated with the University that offers inpatient and outpatient services.

Faculty
We have 19 core faculty members with covering a broad area of content expertise. Eighteen core faculty members hold post-professional doctoral degrees, four are certified as clinical specialists, nine have active research agenda’s with grant funding and several are engaged in clinical practice. Over the past 3 years, core faculty have averaged a total of 23 publications in peer-reviewed journals per year. The core faculty-to-student ratio is 1:3.

Enrollment
The 3-year DPT program admits 55-65 students each year from an applicant pool of over 500. Total enrollment at any point is approximately 150, 15-20% of whom are out-of-state students. Each admitted class is diverse in culture, gender, age and background.

Admission
The average prerequisite grade point for admission is 3.50. Please refer to the above website or UMB’s current department brochure for complete admissions details. The Entry-Level Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) is conferred in May for eligible students in their third year. 60% of applicants selected for interview are admitted to the program (3-year average).

Outcomes
89% of admitted students graduate from the program (3-year average); 99% of the graduates passed the licensure exam (3-year average); and 99% of those program graduates responding to surveys are employed at 6 months (3-year average).

Tuition, fees and financial aid
First-year (12 months) estimated cost of tuition is $21,594 for in-state students. Tuition for out-of-state students is $37,367. Additional costs include fees ($2,124) and books ($1,800). Department merit scholarships include the Florence Kendall award, the Hobart Scholarship the Pekar-Able Award, and the Diversity Award. Details are available on the department website. Approximately 98% of the students receive some type of financial aid on an as-needed basis from various sources. The campus central Financial Aid Office handles all students. For additional information, contact the Student Financial Aid Office at 410/706-7347.

Student life
The University of Maryland, Baltimore includes six professional schools: Medicine, Law, Social Work, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Graduate. Two Allied Health programs, Physical Therapy and Medical and Research Technology, are departments within the School of Medicine (SOM). A third Allied Health program, Dental Hygiene, is a department within the School of Dentistry. UMB’s Health Sciences and Human Services Library has new, state of the art facilities and currently is ranked among the top 25 medical libraries in the country. UMB boasts an extensive array of interdisciplinary professional associations and mechanisms for faculty and student collaboration. The University of Maryland Medical Center is the primary teaching facility of the SOM, consisting of a private, non-profit system of teaching hospitals. The University Hospital, the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, and the University of Maryland Cancer Center form the Medical System’s 747-bed facility downtown. The University of Maryland Rehabilitation and Orthopedics Institute (Kernan Hospital) is a 40-bed acute care medical facility affiliated with the University that offers inpatient and outpatient services. The University of Maryland at Baltimore offers apartment-style accommodations for students. For information, contact: The Division of Residence Life; University of Maryland, Baltimore, 621 W Lombard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-1082. There are more than 5,000 currently enrolled students, with 4,700 faculty and staff. The BWI Airport is approximately 20 minutes from the university. Many bus routes serve the campus. The Pennsylvania Train Station (Amtrak) is approximately 20 minutes from campus, while The Camden Yards Train Station (MARC and Baltimore’s Light-Rail) is approximately five minutes from campus.