Physical Therapy

Statement of Purpose

The mission of the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Puget Sound is to prepare students at the clinical doctoral level for entry into the physical therapy profession. Our presence on a liberal arts campus underscores our belief that the development of clinician scholars is a natural extension of the values of critical analysis, sound judgment, active inquiry, community participation and apt expression. The curriculum is designed to teach the evaluation and intervention skills that are unique to the practice of physical therapy. Students also learn to identify professional boundaries, gain an appreciation of coalition building with other health care providers in order to optimize patient care, and become discerning consumers of the professional literature. Similarly, students develop the capacity for autonomous decision-making in preparation for a professional environment in which information is continually evolving. All courses provide opportunities to develop articulate written and oral communication skills. Through a careful blending of rigorous academic work and mentored clinical practice, our program seeks to prepare clinician scholars for informed, ethical, and efficacious practice.

Design of Curriculum

The University of Puget Sound Physical Therapy Program embraces the concept of physical therapy as a field that embodies scientific and empirical knowledge to explain human motion disorders. Physical therapists develop interventions to restore motion homeostasis, or enhance adaptation to disability based on the results of systematic patient examination. Graduates will be prepared to function as independent practitioners collaborating within the health care environment.

The professional portion of the program is sequentially integrated. During the first year of academic coursework the student does intensive work in the areas of musculoskeletal anatomy and kinesiology, neurophysiology, cardiopulmonary function, and other foundations of human motor function. Building on this foundation during the second year of study, the student focuses on the theory and foundation, then the techniques of clinical practice. The second-year student applies this new knowledge treating patients in the on-site teaching clinic under close supervision by program faculty. In the summer following the second year, the student completes an off-site clinical internship. In fall of the third year, the student takes capstone courses that require integration and critical analysis while treating patients in the on-site teaching clinic, and completes two advanced clinical electives in areas of special interest. The final semester of the program is made up entirely of internship experiences, which take place throughout the western United States. Sequentially integrated, cumulative explorations of critical inquiry, professional writing, and professional communication including instructional methodology are woven through the program.

Student Learning Goals

(Portions of text adopted from A Normative Model of Physical Therapy Professional Education, version 97, American Physical Therapy Association.)

The curriculum in Physical Therapy enables the learner to develop

1. The ability to think logically, analytically, and critically in clinical and health care decision making;
2. The ability to communicate clearly and effectively;
3. Intellectual autonomy and the accompanying capacity to reflect and learn independently for a lifetime;
4. An understanding of the interrelationship of knowledge;
5. Familiarity with diverse fields of knowledge;
6. An acknowledged set of personal values;
7. An understanding of the person, his/her subsystems, and his/her social and cultural needs;
8. Knowledge of motion as it occurs at the tissue, system, organ, and person levels;
9. Knowledge of the cause of motion disorders and the effect of those disorders on the person, system, organ, or tissue level plus the effect on families and society;
10. Knowledge of and skill in physical therapy procedures to effect motion homeostasis or to enhance adaptation to permanent loss;
11. Knowledge and ability to promote client health;
12. A set of concepts, values, and skills necessary for ethical practice as an independent practitioner collaborating within the health care environment in urban and rural communities;
13. The ability to assume responsibility for the health care needs of the persons under their care;
14. The ability to apply a systematic approach to solving health care problems;
15. The ability to contribute to society and the profession through practice, teaching, administration, and the discovery and application of new knowledge about physical therapy.

Doctor of Physical Therapy

The School of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy offers a program of study leading to the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. The program prepares candidates for entry-level positions as practicing physical therapists. Physical therapists practice as independent practitioners in the health care environment.