The College of Health Sciences at Des Moines University offers an accredited entry-level program of study in physical therapy. The program includes 34 months of academic study and supervised clinical internships leading to a Doctor of Physical Therapy (D.P.T.) degree.

The DPT program supports the development of health care practitioners via the utilization of innovative and collaborative learning experiences focused on enhancing quality of life via the science of human movement.  The program prepares graduates who are competent in advancing health and serving society in diverse healthcare environments that are reflective of contemporary practice.

Mission

Engage innovative thinkers to optimize health through movement.

Vision

Transform communities by optimizing lives through the science of movement.

Student Learning Outcomes

• Students and graduates will demonstrate knowledge of foundational and clinical sciences associated with the practice of physical therapy.
• Students and graduates will performance all elements associated with patient management
  • safely
  • effectively
  • displaying sound clinical decision making
• Students and graduates will display moral, ethical, and legal behaviors in academic, healthcare and community environments.
• Students and graduates interact/communicate with patients/clients, caregivers, health care providers and community members in a manner that is congruent with situational and cultural needs.
• Students and graduates will apply evidence-based principles within their practice environment.
• Students and graduates will perform administrative duties/activities associated with practice management.
• Students and graduates will demonstrate interprofessional attitudes and behaviors in all settings.
• Students and graduates will provide care/consultation for health promotion and wellness in healthcare and community environments.
• Students and graduates will exhibit lifelong learning behaviors for personal and professional growth.
• Students and graduates will engage in service to the profession, university, and community.

Program Requirements

To be considered for admission, you must have a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university prior to the start of orientation.

Applicants must submit GRE scores during the application process.  Required courses must be completed before registration.  A science GPA and cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher are recommended to be considered for admission.  The following course work must be completed prior to matriculation; grades below a C- will not be accepted.

Other recommended course work includes biomechanics, kinesiology, exercise physiology, genetics, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology and math (trigonometry or calculus).

Applicants are also required to observe physical therapists at work in various settings. We require that you spend at least 50 hours observing licensed physical therapists in both inpatient and outpatient settings.  Completion of 40 hours of observation is required prior to an applicant’s eligibility to be considered for an admission interview.

Additional information can be found on the DPT Program Admissions Requirements website.

Program Application Process

Application to the Doctor of Physical Therapy program is accepted through the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service (PTCAS).

Detailed information regarding the process can be found on the DPT Program Admissions website.

Applicants will be contacted by email if they are selected for an on-campus interview. An interview is required for admission.  Applicants will receive a response to their application status after the interview process.

Curriculum Overview and Outline

Students must complete each of the courses listed in the accompanying set of course descriptions.  The curriculum is designed to assist students with professional and personal development. This is accomplished through integrated and sequential learning experiences including but not limited to a course series in Foundational Sciences (FS), Patient Management (PM), Clinical Applications (CA), and Professional Issues and Development. The experiences provide the basic cognitive, affective and psychomotor knowledge and skills needed for the practice of physical therapy. These experiences are also designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain personal insight into their style for learning, teaching, relating and changing in society. Ultimately, the program motivates students to become lifelong learners.

To ensure excellence for both students and society, formative and summative evaluation is essential. Evaluation facilitates learning and provides validation for program excellence.

The faculty is committed to excellence in teaching and learning, and to serving students, the community and the profession. Excellence is achieved through selection of students with unique natural talents and abilities followed by nurturing and development.

The program is 34 months in length and is divided into eight terms. Each term builds on the information from previous terms. The length of time for each term varies.

Program Outcomes

To review the program’s outcomes statistics (e.g., average graduation rate, average employment rate, average licensure exam pass rate, graduate survey data, etc.), please visit the program’s outcomes webpage.

Licensure

Students who satisfactorily complete the requirements for graduation from the physical therapy program of the College of Health Sciences are eligible to take the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) given by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. A passing score on this examination is one requirement for practice as a physical therapist in all states. The pass rate for DMU students taking the exam is 100% over the last three years.

Technical Standards for Admission, Academic Promotion and Graduation

A candidate for the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree must have abilities and skills (referred to as “technical standards”) in seven areas: unimpaired observation; communication; motor/sensory; strength and mobility; visual integration; intellectual, conceptual, integrative and quantitative; and behavioral and social. The University is committed to complying with the terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act, recognizing that certain minimum technical standards must be present in all students seeking a health care degree. Reasonable accommodations will be provided when supported with appropriate documentation, but in all cases, candidates and students must be able to demonstrate performance of these standards in a reasonably independent manner.

1. Unimpaired Observation: Candidates and students must have sufficient vision to be able to observe and timely interpret demonstrations, experiments and laboratory exercises in the basic sciences. They must be able to observe a patient accurately for purposes of diagnosis and clinical care.
2.  Communication: Candidates and students must be able to speak, hear, observe, read and understand the English language in order to elicit information; examine patients; describe changes in mood, activity, and posture; and perceive nonverbal communications. They must be able to communicate effectively and respectfully with patients. Communication includes not only speech but also reading and writing. Candidate and students must also be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team.
3. Motor/Sensory: Candidates and students must have sufficient motor and tactile function to execute movements reasonably required to perform basic laboratory tests, perform physical examinations, and provide clinical care, including emergency treatment to patients. Such actions may include but are not limited to palpation, auscultation and percussion, and require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional use of the senses of touch and vision. Candidates and students must be willing and able to touch and examine members of all genders.
4. Strength and Mobility: Students and candidates must demonstrate upright posture, strength, including lower extremity and body strength, and mobility to provide clinical care, attend to emergency codes and to perform such maneuvers as CPR.
5. Visual Integration: Consistent with the ability to assess asymmetry, range of motion and tissue texture changes, candidates and students must have adequate visual capabilities for proper evaluation and treatment integration.
6. Intellectual, Conceptual, Integrative and Quantitative Abilities: Candidates and students must have the ability to accurately measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, problem solve and think critically. They must also have the ability to participate and learn through a variety of modalities including but not limited to classroom instruction, small groups, team and collaborative activities. In addition, candidates and students should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures. Candidates and students must be able to concentrate, analyze and timely interpret data and make decisions within areas in which there is a reasonable amount of visual and auditory distraction. They must also perform these functions in a timely manner.
7. Behavioral and Social Attributes: Candidates and students must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive and effective professional relationships. Candidates and students must be able to work effectively as a member of a health care team; tolerate physically taxing and stressful workloads; adapt to changing environments; display flexibility; learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients; and to be free of impairments due to substance abuse. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities that will be assessed during the admissions and educational processes. Students must be accepting and non-judgmental when caring for patients whose spiritual beliefs, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or sexual orientation differ from their background.

Accommodations

The University encourages application by qualified individuals with disabilities who meet these technical standards either with or without reasonable accommodations.  Requests from candidates and students for reasonable accommodations in meeting the technical standards will be reviewed and considered by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). CTL is the University department that reviews requests for student accommodations. For additional information about the process for assessing an applicant’s compliance with the Technical Standards, contact the CTL.

Use of an intermediary may be permissible in performing some physical maneuvers or data gathering, but must not substitute for the candidate or student’s interpretation and judgment. The use of a trained intermediary, a person trained to perform essential skills on behalf of the candidate, or a person used such that a candidate’s judgment must be mediated by someone else’s power of selection and observation, is not permitted.

Technological compensation can be made with respect to certain technical standards, but candidates and students should be able to perform these standards in a reasonably independent manner.  

Process for Assessing Compliance with the Technical Standards

Candidates are required to attest at the time they accept an offer to matriculate that they meet the applicable technical standards, and thereafter must attest on an annual basis, as a student, that they continue to meet the standards. These standards are not intended to deter any candidate or student who might be able to complete the requirements of the curriculum with reasonable accommodations.

Physical Health

In addition to the technical standards, candidates and students must possess the general physical health necessary for performing the duties of a health professions student and health care provider in training without endangering the lives of patients and/or colleagues with whom they might have contact. A candidate or student whose performance is impaired by abuse of alcohol or other substances is not suitable for admission, continuation, promotion or graduation.

Course Sequence

Required Courses

Elective Courses

4.0 credit hours of elective course work is required for graduation.

To receive a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, a student must satisfy the following:

• Successful completion of all academic requirements:
  • Pass all academic course work and clinical internships.
  • Maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at least a 2.0.
  • Pass the program comprehensive examination.
• Approval for graduation by the program faculty, Dean and the Board of Trustees of the University following recommendation by the Academic Progress Committee.  Academic performance and professionalism is evaluated and considered for graduation.
• Satisfactory resolution of all financial obligations