General Program Description
The program, designed to enhance learning and integration across traditional course boundaries, prepares students to disseminate new knowledge, assume leadership roles, work collaboratively with other professions, and optimize global health. After an introductory course that presents a macro view of the curriculum and physical therapist practice, the curriculum content is presented in 21 modules of three weeks duration. Each module has clinical cases to focus lectures and clinical laboratories; the module ends with Grand Rounds which requires a small student group to lead a formal presentation to apply learned principles to different patient types. Cases move from simple to complex, e.g., inability to weight bear because of acute ankle sprain in a young athlete followed by consideration of modifying factors such as age, comorbidities, medication and family values. Content ranges from examination and treatment of the young child to the older adult, from developing a plan of care for a deconditioned obese child to an older adult with Parkinson disease. Since faculty members teach in each semester, principles are revisited and reinforced. Students spend 30 hours per week in class during didactic portions of the program. Although traditional lectures remain, this method has been supplanted by small group discussions, seminars, problem-solving strategies, and guided-self discovery laboratories. There is no thesis requirement but research is an elective course. The program begins with a traditional fall semester and spring semester schedule followed by a summer session that includes human cadaver dissection. The second year includes an 8-week full-time clinical education experience and students return to class for the second half of the fall semester. The students begin their 6-month clinical education experience during the second summer. The program concludes with one week on campus in January. Our curriculum requires a rich mix of associated faculty and guest lecturers to ensure that all entry-level content is contemporary. There are 14 core faculty members who are licensed physical therapists, 40 associated faculty and more than 100 guest lecturers who participate in delivery of the curriculum.
Clinical Experiences
Each student completes 40 hours of part-time clinical education and 34 weeks of full-time clinical education before graduation. The part-time clinical experience is throughout the first academic year. The full-time clinical experience begins with an 8-week experience in the 2nd fall semester of the program and the final experience is for 6-months beginning in the summer. In addition, all students rotate through four different community outreach projects accompanied by a core faculty member. In the first year, students go to a senior center of primarily African American adults to conduct 6 one-hour sessions of chair aerobics and to a retirement community of older white adults for aquatic exercise for an additional 6 hours. In the 2nd year, students participate in the Dan Aaron Stay Fit Clinic for persons with Parkinson Disease and Multiple Sclerosis 4 hrs/wk for 6 weeks and in an outpatient orthopaedic setting which serves under- or uninsured persons 3 hrs/wk for 6 weeks. Experiences are divided into inpatient/acute, outpatient, long-term care, and a variety of specialized settings are also utilized. Students should expect that at least one of the experiences will be away from the Philadelphia area. Students may choose to travel to London, England for an 8-week clinical education experience or to a number of different countries including Jamaica, Peru, or Guatemala for a one to six-week pro bono physical therapist experience.
Faculty
There are 14 core faculty members. The principles are taught by the core faculty and enriched with clinically relevant content by 55 associated faculty and 100 guest lecturers. All core faculty members are licensed physical therapists; six have a PhD, one has an EdD, and two are clinical specialists. Core faculty members are leaders in professional organizations including the APTA. Scholarship activity is high with faculty members engaged in funded research projects, writing peer-reviewed publications or textbooks, and presenting at professional and scientific meetings around the world. The faculty to student ratio is 1:12.
Enrollment
Arcadia University has a total enrollment of approximately 4,000 students. The total graduate student population is 1,670. Class size is limited to 60 students in each of three classes in the entry-level physical therapist program.
Admission
Applications and all supporting materials are to be submitted via PTCAS by November 1st. Admission decisions are released in stages between January 15 and March 15. A bachelor’s degree and a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0, computed on all undergraduate, graduate and continuing education courses and a minimum prerequisite GPA of 3.0 are expected. Prerequisite courses include: 4 courses in biology, including human or mammalian physiology w/lab and anatomy w/lab (two semesters of anatomy and physiology w/lab may be substituted); and an upper level (300-400 level) science course, biology preferred; 4 lab/lecture courses in physical sciences: chemistry and physics; two courses in behavioral sciences with one in psychology; 1 course in statistics. Test scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) must be taken within the last five years. Applicants must meet the minimum required scores in all areas of the GRE: (1) Verbal Reasoning = 150, (2) Combined Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning = 300, (3) Analytical Writing = 4. Each year approximately 350 applicants meet the minimum requirements. Average cumulative and prerequisite GPAs of classes accepted for the last five years have been between 3.5 and 3.7.
Outcomes
98% of admitted students graduate from the program (3-year average); 100% of the graduates pass the licensure exam; 95% passed the licensure exam on the first try (3-year average); and 98% of the alumni responding to a survey within 1 year of graduates are employed (3-year average).
Tuition, fees and financial aid
For the 2013-14 academic year, tuition is $27,580 for fall and spring semesters. The summer tuition between years 1 and 2 is $13,790. Additional program fees are approximately $350 per year. Textbooks and supplies are approximately $2,000. Approximately 50% of students receive financial aid. Arcadia University offers scholarships and graduate assistantships in the Department of Physical Therapy and throughout the University. For specific information about financial aid, please contact the Director of Financial Aid at 215/572-2819.
Student life
There is a wide range of rentals within a 5-20 minute drive from the University for graduate student housing. On-campus parking is available each semester for a small fee. The University draws on the rich education and medical resources of the metropolitan Philadelphia area, with its famous orchestra, museums, theaters, shopping and numerous medical centers and their libraries. New York and Washington, DC are also easily accessible.
1 Review on “Arcadia University”
I went to Arcadia for my DPT. The curriculum is great. However, during my time period here I did not feel supported by the staff. They seemed more concerned with their numbers than you, the individual. Mental health of the majority of the class was disregarded. Professors would call students out in class and were extremely rude. One professor even mocked a mental health first aid training we had. They were very insensitive. Some professors would be impossible to reach, would not reply to emails, and not give feedback requested on assignments. For example, for my capstone I received no feedback on my abstract or poster presentation.
My suggestion is to go elsewhere. Spend your money somewhere where all of the staff actually cares about you, not just 1 or 2 members.