General Program Description

The University of Wisconsin-Madison offers an entry-level doctoral degree in physical therapy. The Program’s administrative home is in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Medicine in the School of Medicine and Public Health. The UW-Madison Program is a 3-year full-time curriculum, with a class beginning each June. The curriculum is built on scientific inquiry and critical appraisal of published works, offering comprehensive evidence-based education and hands-on clinical experience. Graduates are committed to patient care, public service, and lifelong learning.

Clinical Experiences
Students complete a 2-week clinical experience after the first fall semester and a 4-week clinical experience at the start of the second summer session. The curriculum ends with four 8-week clinical internships during the final fall and spring semesters, for a total of 38 weeks of clinical rotations. Required 8-week clinical experiences include acute care, neurological, and orthopedic settings. There are a variety of other types of elective clinical experiences as well. The Program affiliates with over 400 clinical sites, many of which reside in Wisconsin, but also cover over 35 states and a site in Uganda, Africa.

Faculty
There are thirteen full-time faculty positions. Seven faculty hold post-professional doctoral degrees with an additional three faculty completing doctoral work; five are certified as clinical specialists and seven are engaged in clinical practice. The faculty to student ratio is 1:9.

Enrollment
The University has a total enrollment of 42,099 students, including 9,116 graduate students and 2,640 professional degree students. The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program admits 40 students per year and currently has 119 students enrolled.

Admission
In order to be eligible for selection to the UW-Madison Physical Therapy Program, the following requirements must be met: a bachelor’s degree, Graduate Record Examination scores (minimum GRE scores are verbal 350, quantitative 500, writing 3.5), completion of prerequisite science courses with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0, 6 credits of psychology or human development, patient care experience (a minimum of 20 hours of volunteer or paid time in each of two different physical therapy settings), and three letters of recommendation. Science prerequisite courses include: 1 semester each of biology with lab (any biology except botany), human physiology, human anatomy, exercise physiology, biomechanics, and statistics; 2 semesters each of general chemistry with labs and physics with labs. Students who do not possess a bachelor’s degree from an institution where English is the principal language must submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores. The UW-Madison Physical Therapy Program offers two admission cycles, with applications accepted beginning September 1.Approximately one half the class is accepted during each cycle. Admission Committee meetings are held twice, with all application materials needing to be received by November 17, 2011 or by January 19, 2012 for consideration to begin the Program in the summer of 2012.

Outcomes
Ninety-six percent of admitted students graduate from the program (3-year average). One hundred percent of graduates passed the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy License Examination (3-year average).

Tuition, fees and financial aid
The 2010-2011 tuition and fees per semester is $5,970 for Wisconsin residents, $13,054 for nonresidents, and $7,049 for Minnesota residents. Total tuition costs for the entire 3 year Program using 2010-2011 tuition rates are: $47,741 for Wisconsin residents, $106,180 for nonresidents, and $56,637 for Minnesota residents. Information on residence for tuition purposes is available at: http://www.registrar.wisc.edu/students/residence/. The Office of Student Financial Services offers loans, grants, and student employment opportunities for graduate students. A limited number of scholarships are awarded through the program. Additional financial aid information is available at http://www.finaid.wisc.edu

Student life
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is recognized as one of the nation’s great universities. In addition, the city of Madison is consistently ranked among the nation’s most livable cities, and is a rich source of recreational and entertainment opportunities. State Street, a one-mile stretch of shops, restaurants, galleries and theaters, connects the city and the university, linking Bascom Hill with the Wisconsin State Capitol. Spanning 933 acres along the southern shore of Lake Mendota, UW-Madison’s engaging and diverse campus is considered one of the most picturesque settings for higher education in the United States. The Physical Therapy Program has a very active student service organization, Phi Theta, which performs service, social and fund raising activities. Phi Theta promotes physical therapy, wellness, and disease prevention to the campus and the surrounding community. Students also participate in MEDiC, a UW-Madison student organization to improve the health of the under served and to provide interdisciplinary education to Physical Therapy, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Physician Assistant students.