General Program Description
The DPT academic program is comprised of 18 months of didactic preparation and 12 months of clinical experience. It includes a research requirement, a comprehensive oral examination, and a final clinical internship. The curriculum is presented on a regional approach, with the anatomy of a region being presented followed by pathology, evaluation, and treatment of the same region. Students are usually in class approximately 35 hours per week. The program has nine full-time faculty and utilizes clinicians from local military and civilian facilities to complement the curriculum. Through close affiliation with military hospitals, patient interaction starts before actual clinical experiences.
Clinical Experiences
Students begin training in September by attending Medical Department Officer Training for their branch of service. The physical therapy course begins in December, runs on a semester calendar, and is 30 months in length. Students are assigned to one full-time clinical experience at either a military or civilian medical facility. In addition, students complete the program with a 12-month, full-time physical therapy clinical internship at a military or civilian medical facility. Students are required to complete at least one clinical experience in an acute care/rehabilitation setting and general orthopedics/neuromusculoskeletal evaluation and treatment setting.
Faculty
The program has nine full-time physical therapy faculty and all are ABPTS board certified in at least one area of specialization. All nine core faculty hold terminal degrees, and all are engaged in clinical practice and research. The faculty has an extensive publication record with an average of 2.0 peer-reviewed publications per faculty member per year. The faculty members serve as faculty research advisory committee members for an average of four student-faculty collaborative research projects per year. On average, 60% of these projects go on to peer-reviewed publication. The faculty/student ratio is low and averages 1:6.
Enrollment
Total annual enrollment in the physical therapy program is approximately 26 students and is set by the uniformed services.
Admission
Individuals do not need to be in the military in order to submit an application. If they are accepted and agree to attend, they will become an officer in one branch of the uniformed services (Army, Navy, or Air Force). The basic prerequisites for consideration are: a bachelor’s degree; the Graduate Record Exam; and all prerequisite courses including 3 semester hours of statistics; 4 semester hours of biology (w/lab); 6-8 semester hours of anatomy and physiology (w/lab); 8 semester hours in each: chemistry and physics (w/labs); 6 semester hours of psychology, and 3 additional semester hours of social science. Over the past 3 years applicants selected to attend the program have had an average undergraduate GPA of 3.6 and an average cumulative GRE score of 306 (154 verbal, 153 quantitative). Interested students should go to the U.S. Army Baylor University Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy Website (http://www.baylor.edu/graduate/pt/) for general information and specifically to the “Applicant Information” section (http://www.baylor.edu/graduate/pt/index.php?id=27028) of the website to obtain contact information for an area military healthcare career counselor who can answer questions on the program and assist with the application process. The deadline for submission of applications is December 1 for the class beginning the following fall. MATRICULATION RATE: The matriculation rate for fully qualified applicants is approximately 30%. Uniformed Service recruiters prescreen applicants and those that do not meet the eligibility requirements are not considered as fully qualified applicants. If the prescreened applicants are included, the matriculation rate is approximately 10%. ATTRITION RATE: The attrition rate is approximately 4%.
Outcomes
98% of admitted students graduate from the program (3-year average); 100% of the graduates passed the licensure exam on the first try (3-year average); and 100% of those program graduates fulfill their military obligation when they graduate (3-year average)
Tuition, fees and financial aid
All students are officers in the US Army, Navy, or Air Force, and receive a salary commensurate with their rank. No tuition fees are assessed. Students are paid approximately $43,000 annually and incur a 54 month military obligation that begins upon completion of the program.
Student life
Most students choose to live off the military post, although some married students may request to live in nearby military housing. Ft Sam Houston maintains a number of community support programs, including recreation, business, athletic, and youth and family support services. This post is located in the heart of San Antonio, a city with multiple cultural and entertainment events, ranging from rodeos, Fiesta Texas, NBA Spurs basketball, Sea World, and many Mexican and German heritage festivities. The city is served by public bus transportation and has a wide availability of higher learning institutions, where both undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered.