General Program Description
The Associate Degree in Sciences in Physical Therapy is a program within the field of health that prepares graduates to work as Physical Therapist Assistants. It has a length of five academic semesters (two years and a summer session). The University of Puerto Rico in Ponce confers this degree in the Department of Allied Health Studies. It has been offered in the Department of Allied Health Studies of the University of Puerto Rico in Ponce since the 1970. The program is accredited by the Council of Higher Education of Puerto Rico, the Middle States Commission of Higher Education and, since 1980, by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). The Program is the only one accredited by the APTA in the southern region of Puerto Rico. The Program’s philosophical base embraces the philosophical base of the University of Puerto Rico and the inalienable right of each human being to an education of quality and excellence. The Program mission is to offer an education of excellence, maintaining a holistic and comprehensive focus based on the appreciation of the humanistic and ethical values, in the cultural differences, and the search of knowledge through a challenging environment where the student can explore his/her abilities, and skills, and his/her responsibility to serve within his/her community; to prepare physical therapist assistants for a legal, safe, ethical, and effective practice. The graduates are health care providers that receive an Associate Degree in Physical Therapy and assist the Physical Therapist in providing physical therapy services.
Clinical Experiences
Students must fulfill different clinical experiences and complete 625 hours. two clinical experiences of observation and three full time experiences, where they will perform tasks according to the courses approved in the curriculum. To be able to fulfill the last three clinical experiences, all of the program students must have the three doses of Hepatitis B vaccine, a current health certificate issued by an authorized agency, a Cardiovascular Resuscitation Certification (CPR) and the Criminal Offender Record Certificate. They must wear a uniform approved by the Department of Allied Health Studies. In addition, they must approved the core courses, previous to their clinical experience, with a grade average of “C” or more. Some clinical centers may have other requirements such as drug tests. The program will notify the students about the specific requirements of the center to which they are assigned. The student is responsible for providing the complete evidence of requirements on time and to cover the costs that this entails. They are also responsible for their health care services, and the costs that entail the transportation to the clinical centers as well as their personal expenses. In order to offer the students high-quality and varied clinical experiences, as required by CAPTE, the Program has contracts with clinical centers to serve as clinical experience centers. All these centers has experienced physical therapists and physical therapist assistants that fulfill the criteria, as established by CAPTE and the Academic Senate of the UPR in Ponce, to be clinical instructors. These centers include general hospitals, rehabilitation centers, pediatric centers, geriatric centers, private offices and sports medicine, among others.
Faculty
There are four full-time and one part-time faculty members. The faculty student ratio is 1:18 in conference courses.
Enrollment
The University total enrollment is over 3,000 students. The PTA program admits 36 students per academic year, in the fall semester. A key factor is the maintenance of the faculty/student ratio of 1/18 in lectures and 1/12 in labs. No student is admitted in the spring semester.
Admission
The Program is mainly nourished from students from high school. They are admitted by the Central Administration of the UPR, according to the general requirements approved by the Board of Trustees. Other students are admitted through readmissions (students of the Program that left their studies or graduates from the UPR System and wish to continue studies), reclassifications (students classified in another academic program in the Institution and that wish to continue studies in our program), and transfers (students of other units of the system or students from private universities). The admission to the Program will be subject to the number of available spaces, according to the priorities of admission established by the admission policies of the UPR. The students interested in being admitted through readmission, reclassification, and transfer must fulfill all of the criteria established in the admission policy. The Admissions Committee will evaluate all the requests of students who fulfill the criteria at the time of submitting their application. Those requests that do not fulfill all the criteria will automatically be rejected. The criteria of admission to the program are the following ones: 1. New Students ? Fulfill all the requirements established by the University of Puerto Rico. ? Index of General Solicitation (IGS) of 265 (Subject to changes) 2. Readmission, Reclassification, and Transfer Students ? GPA average of 2.50 or more. ? Minimum of 24 credits approved.
Outcomes
In the last three years the PTA Program retention rate is 88%, the graduation rate is 67.2% (students who completed the Program in 2 years). In the last three years, 93% of students approved the examination board and the employment rate of these graduates, six months after approving the board examination is 90%. Our graduates can work in PR and in the US, after approving the state examination board.
Tuition, fees and financial aid
The yearly cost for tuition, fees, room and board and other related expenses for the academic year is approximately $11,000.00 for alien student and $7,000.00 for residents. Financial aid is provided for 70% of admitted students.
Student life
The University of Puerto Rico in Ponce offers its students a variety of services, coordinated by the Deanship of Student Affairs. These include but are not limited to the following services: medical services, counseling and guidance, psychology, economic aid, bookstore and cafeteria, among others. In the PTA program, academic counseling services a given to all students. The students receive orientation about curriculum, studies plan, academic progress, achievements, remedial measurements, if needed is referred to other services such as orientation, psychology, economic aids, medical services, and registrar, among others. No housing is provided on campus but there are off-campus boarding houses at walking distance from the college. Sports activities include baseball, basketball, gymnastics, tennis, and track and field. The University also has the students Choir and Band.