General Program Description

The 9 semester, 94 credit hour Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program at the University of Toledo is housed in the College of Health Sciences on the Main Campus. However, our comprehensive facilities span across 2 campuses that are within 10 minutes of each other and include a fully functioning medical center with an acute care hospital and a CARF accredited in-patient rehabilitation center and out-patient clinic. The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC) was recently ranked by the US News and World Report as the region’s #1 hospital. This provides the students with the benefit of the sophisticated physical and intellectual resources of an academic health science center, such as advanced simulation technologies and clinicians and scientists who are engaged in health-related research and advanced patient care. The University of Toledo’s Interprofessional Immersive Simulation Center and Clinical Skills Center provide students the opportunity to develop their clinical, communication, and interprofessional skills in a realistic environment prior to engaging in clinical education. They participate in learning experiences with students of other health care disciplines, including occupational therapy, speech language pathology, athletic training, nursing, physician assistant, medicine, and pharmacy. Thus, students learn the skills of physical therapy practice, as well as the culture and professionalism of health care. Students can also pursue educational opportunities in addition to their DPT degree. The DPT program, in collaboration with the UT Department of Kinesiology, offers a DPT/PhD track that enables students to pursue clinical (DPT) and academic (PhD) doctoral degrees in which DPT academic credit can contribute, in part, to the fulfillment of the PhD degree. The PhD degree is in Exercise Science and has an emphasis on research. Students can also choose to pursue a graduate certificate while earning their DPT degree. Graduate certificate course work is completed through an online delivery system. These certificates allow students to pursue specialized knowledge in a specific area of interest, including gerontological practice, patient advocacy, and healthcare practice management, while completing their DPT degree.

Clinical Experiences
The clinical education component of the program is composed of 36 full-time weeks of clinical experience. Clinical Practicum I is a 2-week clinical experience that occurs at the end of the spring semester of the first year. Students then return to campus for 7 weeks of didactic coursework in the summer followed by another 2-week clinical experience (Clinical Practicum II) at the same site as Clinical Practicum I. Following the second year of the program, students complete an 8-week clinical experience (Clinical Practicum III) during summer semester. Fall semester of the third year includes the final 8 weeks of the didactic component of the program followed by an 8-week clinical experience, Internship I. Spring semester includes two 8-week clinical experiences: Internship II and the Specialty Internship. The areas of clinical specialty for the last internship include, but are not limited to pediatrics, sports medicine, critical care, and geriatrics. Students are required to complete clinical education experiences in a variety of practice settings and are required to complete at least one experience outside of the Toledo geographical region. In addition to direct patient care, the clinical experiences provide students with the opportunity to further explore the multiple roles of a physical therapist.

Faculty
The DPT program faculty is comprised of professionals who are passionate about physical therapy education, and who are accomplished clinicians and researchers. All faculty members have advanced academic degrees and are licensed physical therapists. Several faculty members are Board Certified Clinical Specialists in their area of expertise, and a number of faculty members engage in direct patient care in various University of Toledo Medical Center clinics such as the Comprehensive in-patient Rehabilitation Center, the Interdisciplinary Headache Clinic and the Parkinson’s Disease Interdisciplinary Clinic. In addition to the DPT program faculty, other health care professionals including physicians, nurses, and psychologists are involved in the students’ physical therapy educational experience.

Enrollment
The DPT program accepts 28 students per class each year from over 200 applications. The typical academic characteristics of the 28 students who are accepted into the program include an average overall GPA between 3.6 and 3.7 and an average prerequisite GPA between 3.5 and 3.6.

Admission
The minimum admission criteria for the DPT program include completion of all prerequisite courses, a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum 3.0 overall and prerequisite grade point average (GPA), submission of three letters of recommendation to include one from a physical therapist, excellent interpersonal/communication skills and knowledge of the profession as determined by an interview and written essays. Preference is given to applicants who have completed over half of their undergraduate coursework at and earned their undergraduate degree from the University of Toledo. Application for admission to our program occurs once per year and must be made through the Physical Therapy Centralized Application System (PTCAS). Admission is very competitive.

Outcomes
The graduation rate of those who begin the DPT program is 92-100%. Of those who have graduated from the DPT program, 98% have passed the National Physical Therapy Examination and are licensed physical therapists. Once licensed, the employment rate of our graduates is 100%.

Tuition, fees and financial aid
Tuition and fees for fall and spring semesters are generally $13,800 for Ohio residents and $24,000 for non-residents. Summer tuition varies by year and is approximately an additional $3,000 (residents) or $5,000 (non-residents). Additional costs incurred annually for the curriculum-related expenses (e.g., lab fees, clinical education, books, supplies, etc.) total approximately $2,500. The DPT Program does not offer Graduate Assistantships (GA). GA’s are required to work 20 hours per week, primarily teaching in undergraduate courses. Therefore, GA positions are more common in traditional doctoral (PhD) studies in which the GA is not in class 25 hours per week as is typical of clinical/professional doctoral programs such as the DPT program. Further, there are not undergraduate courses in the DPT Program in which GA’s can teach. However, the DPT Program has several one-time partial scholarships for which students can apply. These scholarships are for current DPT students and are based on academic performance, leadership, and self-reported financial need. The application process occurs during summer semester and the one time scholarships typically range from $1000-$4000. Students can re-apply for these scholarships each year. Additional financial aid is available through the University’s Student Work Study Program. Each year, DPT students are given the opportunity to apply for one of several “student work study” positions in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, which houses the DPT Program. Students are paid an hourly rate that is established by the Student Financial Aid Office. The positions typically require students to work an average of 10 hours per week in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences. However, the total number of work hours allowed per year is dependent upon information in the student’s FAFSA and is determined by the Student Financial Aid Office.