Entry-level DPT

You’ll be able to gain clinical experience in a variety of practice environments in Louisville and across the country. Our entry-level DPT curriculum includes 32-weeks of full-time clinical practice. The experiences will further build upon your skill and expose you to diverse, real-life practice opportunities.

• You’ll have the help of our Director of Clinical Education in selecting clinical sites.
• Clinical experiences are integrated across all three years of the program.
• Integrated clinical experiences will allow you to gain experience and build confidence prior to the three-month terminal clinical experience during your last semester of the program. 

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Applicants for the DPT Program are required to meet or exceed the following criteria:

1. Bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university – or –completion of 90 credit hours from a regionally accredited college or university that include the DPT Program course prerequisites – or –enrollment in the final year of the Spalding University Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences degree program for DPT majors
2. Minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 on a four-point scale.
3. Minimum prerequisite and science grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 on a four-point scale.
4. At least two letters of reference from a professional who can best address the applicant’s ability to be academically successful as well as address personal/professional characteristics. Letters should come from a college/university counselor/advisor/faculty member, a physical therapist that supervised your volunteer/work experience, and/or faculty advisor for a college/university club or organization.
5. GRE (Graduate Record Examination) recommended minimum scores of 150 on each of the verbal and quantitative, and minimum of 3 on the analytical writing section. GRE scores must be taken within the past 5 years.
6. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) for applicants who graduated from a college, university or professional training school in Australia, Canada (except Quebec), Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom or the United States do not need to take the TOEFL.  All other applicants must score at least 550 on the written examination, 213 on the computer-based examination, or 79 on the internet-based examination.
7. Observation/Employment in Physical Therapy totaling 40 hours under the supervision of a physical therapist signed and verified by a physical therapist.
8. Prerequisite coursework:
   • Applicants must submit evidence of satisfactory completion of the following courses with a minimum of a “C” (courses must be completed within 10 years):
     • Science Courses: Each science course must be a course for science majors, have a  laboratory component, and be a two-course sequence with more than 3 semester credits in length per course.
       • i. Human Anatomy and Physiology – or one three-credit course in human anatomy and one three-credit course in human physiology
       • ii. Chemistry – 8 credits
       • iii. Physics – 8 credits
     • Statistics – 3 credits
     • English/Psychology/Humanities: 18 credit hours total with a minimum of one 3-credit course in English, Psychology and Humanities.
     • One writing-intensive course, which may also be any prerequisite course.
9. Interview with members of the DPT Program Admissions Committee
10. Technical standards and essential functions statement of agreement

The School of Physical Therapy at Spalding University plans to participate in the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service, known as PTCAS, in the 2022-2023 admissions cycle. Applicants applying to the Spalding University physical therapist education program for the 2023 entering class will apply online using the PTCAS application beginning in June 2022. To learn more about PTCAS, visit www.ptcas.org.

A decision about initial accreditation from CAPTE is expected prior to graduating from the charter class. Graduates from the DPT program will be eligible to apply for the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) after the program receives initial accreditation. The dates for the NPTE are not yet scheduled for 2026.

Criminal background checks are required for Professional Practice (clinical education) placement. Findings of a criminal background check may preclude placement in the Professional Practice courses. Students with findings on a criminal background check will be counseled by the program director regarding potential implications for state board licensure as a physical therapist. Students with convictions of certain criminal history may not meet state board requirements for licensure as a physical therapist.

For complaints that fall outside of the realm of due process such as complaints about the program from prospective students, clinical education sites, employers of graduates and the public, the following policy and procedures should be utilized:

Policy: The Program values the concerns and complaints that may arise from parties outside the University’s due process system and strives to respond to concerns and complaints in a timely, fair, and appropriate manner. Retaliation to parties affiliated with the filing of a complaint will not occur. A complaint will be considered when the maker submits it in a signed, written format to the Program Director or Chair of the KCSPT. A complaint regarding the Program Director should be forwarded to the Chair of the KCSPT. A complaint about the chair should be forwarded to the Dean of Graduate Education.

Procedures:

1. Complaints not involving a specific faculty member will be shared with the faculty to develop solutions and to educate the faculty about the concern. The Program Director will attempt to resolve the complaint and notify the complainant within 10 days of receipt.
2. The Program Director will discuss complaints involving clinical education sites or from or about clinical faculty with the Director of Clinical Education (DCE). Once a solution is created, the complainant will be notified within 10 days of receipt.
3. Records of complaints about the program that fall outside of due process, including the nature and disposition of the complaint, will be maintained by the Program Director for 5 years.

In addition to the DPT Program policies and procedures about complaints, the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) considers complaints about programs that are accredited or are seeking accreditation by CAPTE, and complaints about CAPTE itself. That information can be accessed at https://www.capteonline.org/complaints.

Effective October 25, 2022 the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Spalding University has been granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; phone: 703-706- 3245; email: [email protected]. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call 502-873-4449 or email [email protected].

Candidate for Accreditation is an accreditation status of affiliation with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education that indicates the program may matriculate students in technical/professional courses. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status does not assure that the program will be granted Initial Accreditation.

Candidacy is considered to be an accredited status, as such the credits and degree earned from a program with Candidacy status are considered, by CAPTE, to be from an accredited program. Therefore, students in the charter (first) class should be eligible to take the licensure exam even if CAPTE withholds accreditation at the end of the candidacy period. That said, it is up to each state licensing agency, not CAPTE, to determine who is eligible for licensure. Information on licensing requirements should be directed to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT; www.fsbpt.org) or specific state boards (a list of state boards and contact information is available on FSBPT’s website.

Spalding University is an equal-opportunity educational institution. The University does not discriminate against otherwise qualified individuals on the basis of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or disability.

(Reference https://catalog.spalding.edu/?id=1085)