General Program Description
The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Touro College offers a 3-year graduate level curriculum leading to a dual BS in Health Sciences/Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. Touro College has two campuses that offer the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program: one in Bay Shore Long Island and one in Manhattan. The program begins in the fall of each year and is divided into six academic semesters and four full-time clinical affiliations. The Manhattan Program runs on a Sunday-Thursday schedule and the Long Island Program runs on a Monday-Friday schedule. The two sites offer the same curriculum with separate student bodies.
Clinical Experiences
Clinical experiences including a 6-week, two 8-week, and a 16-week affiliation, are included in the program. Students are assigned to a variety of different settings including acute care, general hospitals, health related facilities, skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation facilities, school, home care and out-patient practices to ensure that each student has experiences with a variety of patient populations and diagnoses.
Faculty
There are seventeen full-time faculty divided between the Bay Shore and Manhattan campuses. Of the full-time faculty, 94% hold post-professional doctoral degrees; and 50% of the Physical Therapists on the full-time faculty are board certified clinical specialists (orthopedics, pediatrics, hand therapy). Several of the faculty members are engaged in clinical practice and continually bring real world examples of practice into the classroom. Over the past 3 years, the faculty has been actively engaged in research and has numerous peer-reviewed presentations/publications on both the state and national levels. The faculty to student ratio is 1:10.
Enrollment
The Doctor of Physical Therapy programs seat approximately 65 new students annually between the two campuses.
Admission
The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program now utilizes the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service or PTCAS. Prospective students should log onto www.PTCAS.org to begin the application process. Applicants to the Doctor of Physical Therapy programs are required to complete the following prerequisite course work for admission to the program. Satisfactory completion of 90 transferable semester credits at an accredited college or university. The 90 credits include 15 credits within a major or minor (of which 9 credits must be upper division courses) and at least 60 credits in the Liberal Arts and Sciences. Specific course prerequisites include 8 credits in each: biology*, physics*, chemistry*; 6 credits in Anatomy & Physiology, Psychology (including General Psychology) and English Composition (or 3 credits of English Composition and 3 credits of English literature); 3 credits in each of Mathematics (pre-calculus level) and Statistics; and 12 additional credits of Liberal Arts courses. (*Science courses must include a laboratory and be designed for science majors. Science courses designed for liberal arts or nursing majors are not acceptable.) Remaining credits needed to reach a minimum of 90 are elective credits. Applicants to the Doctor of Physical Therapy programs must submit Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores. The recommended score to be competitive on the GRE is at least 147 verbal and 147 quantitative. All original transcripts must be submitted to PTCAS, with an earned GPA of 3.0 recommended. Applicants must also include official letters documenting a minimum of 50 hours of service in more than one physical therapy setting, with at least 25 hours in a hospital or institutional setting with an inpatient population. Two Letters of Recommendation with a completed reference form are required, one from a licensed physical therapist who supervised the applicant, and the other from a college or university professor who taught the applicant in an academic setting. Other requirements include Current American Red Cross Community or Professional Rescuer CPR competency certification, Current Standard First Aid competency certification. TOEFL test scores are required for students who did not graduate from high school or college in the USA or other English speaking country. Scores of 89 on the internet based test are recommended in order to be considered for admission.
Outcomes
91% of admitted students graduate from the program. National Physical Therapy Licensing Examination pass rates exceed the state and national averages.
Tuition, fees and financial aid
The tuition and all associated fees for the 2013-2014 academic year is $25,700. For financial aid and information visit the Touro College web site at http://www.touro.edu/shs/pt/ptexpenses.asp or contact the Office of Financial Aid at 212/463-0400 x5628 in Manhattan and 631-665-1600 x6265 in Bay Shore.
Student life
The Doctor of Physical Therapy Programs are situated in two distinct locations in the New York metropolitan area. The Long Island campus located in Bay Shore affords students easy access to the railroad, Fire Island ferries and the scenic beaches of the south shore. The Manhattan campus invites its students to sample all the city can offer with restaurants, museums and shopping within walking distance. Students from both campuses are active in the Student Physical Therapy Association (SPTA). The SPTA sponsors fund raising events and promotes health, wellness and the role of the physical therapist within the community. The SPTA communicates regularly with Program administration to convey student input. In addition, the SPTA sponsors many extracurricular activities, social, educational and recreational events.