Doctor of Physical Therapy
The University’s Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy (DPT) prepares students for professional practice as general practitioners who demonstrate self-directed, ongoing learning, competency in clinical practice, a commitment to the application of professional skills, and knowledge in service to others. The program’s curriculum is a problem-based learning (PBL) design. PBL places emphasis on the development of a reflective practitioner by teaching students to learn from and solve clinical problems. Curriculum content is organized around carefully designed clinical patient problems that students study, discuss, and research in small tutorial groups. Students learn to synthesize information from multiple disciplines as it is relevant to the clinical problem. Tutorial group work develops interdependence among students and supports the use of peers in learning and problem-solving. Clinical education includes part-time, integrated experiences in each of the academic semesters, and full-time clinical education in the summer following the first year and during the fall and spring of the third year. Clinical education totals thirty-eight (38) weeks of full-time work and approximately twelve (12) to sixteen (16) hours per semester of part-time work.
Expected Student Outcomes
A graduate of the Doctoral Program in Physical Therapy at Sacred Heart University is prepared to:
- Practice in a safe manner that minimizes risk to patients, self, and others.
- Demonstrate professional behavior in all situations.
- Practice in a manner consistent with established legal and professional standards and ethical guidelines.
- Communicate in ways that are congruent with situational needs.
- Adapt delivery of physical therapy services with consideration for patients’ differences, values, preferences, and needs.
- Participate in self-assessment to improve clinical and professional performance.
- Apply current knowledge, theory, clinical judgment, and the patient’s values and perspective in patient management.
- Determine with each patient encounter the patient’s need for further examination or consultation by a physical therapist or referral to another healthcare professional.
- Perform a physical therapy patient examination using evidenced-based tests.
- Evaluate data from the patient examination (history, systems review, and tests and measures) to make clinical judgments.
- Determine a diagnosis and prognosis that guides future patient management.
- Establish a physical therapy plan of care that is safe, effective, patient centered, and evidence based.
- Educate others (patients, caregivers, staff, students, other healthcare providers, business and industry representatives, school systems) using relevant and effective teaching methods.
- Produce quality documentation in a timely manner to support the delivery of physical therapy services.
- Collect and analyze data from selected outcome measures in a manner that supports accurate analysis of individual patient and group outcomes.
- Participate in the financial management (budgeting, billing and reimbursement, time, space, equipment, marketing, public relations) of the physical therapy service consistent with regulatory, legal, and facility guidelines.
- Direct and supervise personnel to meet patient’s goals and expected outcomes according to legal standards and ethical guidelines.
- Present an in-service or case presentation on a topic relevant to the clinical setting.
- Utilize effective self-assessment skills to provide input to the clinical instructor regarding strategies to strengthen clinical performance
Admission Requirements
Students entering the program must have completed an undergraduate degree in the discipline of their choice. In the case of Sacred Heart University undergraduates, undergraduate study in biology, exercise science, or psychology may be completed in three years, followed by three years of graduate study. Students also must have completed the necessary course prerequisites by the end of the summer semester prior to enrollment and have no more than two courses outstanding at the time of application. Students are admitted to the program on a competitive basis. Applicants must submit all materials for admission consideration by December 15 (or as published by the Graduate Admissions Office) for the incoming fall class.
Application materials must include:
- A graduate admissions application form and nonrefundable application fee;
- Official transcripts of all previous college or university studies; and
- Two letters of recommendation (one from an academic source and one from an employment/volunteer source).
Admission criteria include:
- Undergraduate GPA of 3.2 or higher;
- Physical therapy prerequisite courses GPA of 3.2 or higher;
- Letters of recommendation;
- Relevant activity in the healthcare field; and
- Personal and group interviews with the Physical Therapy admissions committee.
Degree Requirements
The program is a three-year (six semesters plus eight weeks of clinical education in the first summer and thirty weeks in the third year) course of study offered on a full-time basis only, to allow for the professional socialization of the student and the integration of coursework. This program leads to preparation for licensure as a physical therapist.
Prerequisite Courses (45 credits)
| BI 111 | Concepts in Biology I: Molecules to Cells | 3 |
| BI 112 | Concepts in Biology II: Cells to Organisms | 3 |
| BI 113 | Concepts in Biology I Laboratory | 1 |
| BI 114 | Concepts in Biology II Laboratory | 1 |
| BI 206 | Human Anatomy & Physiology I | 3 |
| BI 207 | Human Anatomy & Physiology II | 3 |
| BI 208 | Human Anatomy & Physiology I Laboratory | 1 |
| BI 209 | Human Anatomy & Physiology II Laboratory | 1 |
| CH 151 | General Chemistry I | 3 |
| CH 152 | General Chemistry II | 3 |
| CH 153 | General Chemistry Laboratory I | 1 |
| CH 154 | General Chemistry Laboratory II | 1 |
| MA 131 | Statistics for Decision-Making | 3 |
| MA 140 | Precalculus | 4 |
| PY 111 | General Physics I | 3 |
| PY 112 | General Physics II | 3 |
| PY 113 | General Physics Laboratory I | 1 |
| PY 114 | General Physics Laboratory II | 1 |
| Two psychology electives | 6 |
Required Courses
Year 1, Semester 1 (17 credits)
This semester focuses on the patient with movement dysfunction primarily due to musculoskeletal problems. While PT 611 serves as the tutorial course, each of the courses uses the patient cases from the tutorial (some with additional information or modification) as the context for learning. Cases first presented in the tutorial will not be used concurrently across courses, but will be presented in a course context-specific manner. The courses will be substantially interrelated and are, therefore, corequisite to each other. Also included in this semester and tied to components of each course are 4–6 structured clinical exposures for each student per semester that will serve as a mechanism for understanding clinical relevance to practice and patient care. Each structured clinical experience will have an associated short writing assignment that will be used to facilitate achievement of the goals of the experience and to work on writing competence. These structured clinical experiences and related writing assignments are attached to the tutorial course for purposes of description.
| PT 611 | Structure & Function I | 7 |
| PT 621 | Examination & Documentation I | 4 |
| PT 631 | Evaluation & Intervention I | 6 |
Year 1, Semester 2 (16 credits)
This semester focuses on the patient with movement dysfunction primarily due to neurologic problems, although some cases include musculoskeletal problems to maintain continuity across semesters. While PT 612 serves as the tutorial course, each of the courses uses the patient cases from the tutorial (some with additional information or modification) as the context for learning. Cases first presented in the tutorial will not be used concurrently across courses, but will be presented in a course context-specific manner. The courses will be substantially interrelated and are, therefore, corequisite to each other. Also included in this semester and tied to components of each course are 4–6 structured clinical exposures for each student per semester that serve as a mechanism for understanding clinical relevance to practice and patient care. Each structured clinical experience has an associated short writing assignment that will be used to facilitate achievement of the goals of the experience and to work on writing competence.
| PT 612 | Structure & Function II | 7 |
| PT 622 | Examination & Documentation II | 5 |
| PT 632 | Evaluation & Intervention II | 4 |
Summer I (5 credits)
Year 2, Semester 1 (18 credits)
This semester focuses on the patient with movement dysfunction primarily due to cardiopulmonary or integumentary problems, as well as movement dysfunctions for the patient with complex and multisystem problems. Although PT 713 serves as the tutorial course, each of the courses uses the patient cases from the tutorial (some with additional information or modification) as the context for learning. Cases first presented in the tutorial are not necessarily used concurrently across courses but are presented in a course context-specific manner. The courses are substantially interrelated and are, therefore, corequisite to each other. Also included in this semester and tied to components of each course are 4–6 structured clinical exposures for each student per semester that serve as a mechanism for understanding clinical relevance to practice and patient care. Each structured clinical experience has an associated short writing assignment that will be used to facilitate achievement of the goals of the experience and to work on writing competence.
| PT 713 | Structure & Function III | 7 |
| PT 723 | Examination & Documentation III | 4 |
| PT 733 | Evaluation & Intervention III | 3 |
| PT 741 | Professional Practice II | 2 |
| PT 743 | Grand Rounds I | 2 |
Year 2, Semester 2 (18 credits)
This semester focuses on the patient with movement dysfunction primarily due to spinal, TMJ, or genitourinary problems, including patients with congenital or acquired spinal cord injury that is inherently multisystem and complex. Although PT 714 serves as the tutorial course, each of the courses uses the patient cases from the tutorial (some with additional information or modification) as the context for learning. Cases first presented in the tutorial are not necessarily used concurrently across courses but are presented in a course context-specific manner. The courses are substantially interrelated and are, therefore, corequisite to each other. Also included in this semester and tied to components of each course are 4–6 structured clinical exposures for each student per semester that serve as a mechanism for understanding clinical relevance to practice and patient care. Each structured clinical experience has an associated short writing assignment that is used to facilitate achievement of the goals of the experience and to work on writing competence. This semester also includes the introduction of the special project that will serve as the summative capstone experience for the patient-based components of the curriculum. The special project continues into Year 3, Semester 1.
| PT 714 | Structure & Function IV | 6 |
| PT 724 | Examination & Documentation IV | 4 |
| PT 734 | Evaluation & Intervention IV | 4 |
| PT 744 | Grand Rounds II | 3 |
| PT 760 | Special Project I | 1 |
Summer II (17 credits)
This semester focuses on the larger issues in contemporary physical therapy practice rather than on individual patient management. While PT 825 serves as the tutorial course, PT 843 will also use the contemporary practice cases from the tutorial as the context for learning. The courses will be substantially interrelated and are, therefore, corequisite to each other. Students also work with a faculty member and preceptor to complete their special project.
| PT 825 | Contemporary Practice in Physical Therapy | 9 |
| PT 845 | Professional Practice III | 4 |
| PT 861 | Special Project II | 4 |
Year 3, Semester 1 (11 credits)
| PT 752 | Clinical Experience II | 5 |
| PT 853 | Clinical Experience III | 6 |
Year 3, Semester 2 (6 credits)
Program Total: 108 credits
Clinical Education
The curriculum includes 21 credits of full-time clinical education at affiliating clinical sites across the United States. These activities occur in the summer following the first year and during the fall and spring of the third year. Student placement for these clinical education experiences provides each student with a variety of learning experiences within different types of practice settings. The DPT program is affiliated with more than 700 clinical facilities representing a wide range of practice settings, located predominately in the northeastern United States, but include sites across the country. Each site must have a formal contractual relationship with the University that includes a description of the responsibilities associated with clinical education. The University supervises the student’s clinical education experience through communication with the clinical instructor on site, written student performance evaluations, and on-site visits as necessary. Students should anticipate the additional costs of clinical education in the curriculum, including travel, housing, meals, and living expenses. In some cases, clinical sites may provide some assistance for expenses such as housing. Planning for clinical education is done through the DPT program by the directors of clinical education (DCEs). Students will receive individual advisement regarding clinical education planning. Students will be asked to make clinical education placement requests; however, final placement decisions are the responsibility of the DCEs.
Program Accreditation
The Physical Therapy program was initially accredited by both the Connecticut Department of Higher Education (CTDHE) in 1998 and the Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) in 1999, in 2004, and reaffirmed again in 2014. In 2003, both agencies approved transition of the program to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. The program was recognized in these accreditation proceedings for several strengths, including the high quality of its curriculum, the exceptional qualifications of its faculty, and the level of University support provided to the program. CAPTE accreditation is an ongoing process for all PT programs. The PT program at Sacred Heart University received continuing accreditation in 2014 with the next CAPTE accreditation review occurring in 2023.