St. Catherine University

This page is intended for college transfer students and graduates ONLY. High school students MUST contact the institution directly for information about the guaranteed freshman-entry program. Do not apply using PTCAS.

PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION (2011-12)

Paul Niemuth, Director of PT Admissions
Doctor of Physical Therapy Program
601 25th Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454
Phone: 651-690-7981
Phone (alternate number): 651-690-7825
Email: peniemuth@stkate.edu
Website: www.stkate.edu/academic/dpt

APPLICATION DEADLINE for 2012 ENTERING CLASS

PTCAS Application Deadline	December 1, 2011
Deadline Type	FIRM Deadline
Application Close Date (for soft deadlines only)
Program Has Rolling Admissions Process?	YES
Important Dates (if any):

EARLY DECISION

Program participates in the PTCAS Early Decision Applicants MUST apply and submit all materials to PTCAS by AUGUST 15.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

If supplemental materials are required, send items directly to the PT program.

Supplemental APPLICATION required?	NO
Supplemental MATERIALS required?	NO
If yes, list of items
Supplemental FEE required?	NO
If yes, amount
Supplemental deadline(s) DD-MM-YYYY
Link to supplemental forms or instructions
Custom (program-specific) questions on the PTCAS application
Please expand on the PTCAS application and provide additional details about the roles you have held since graduating from high school, including leadership, service, jobs, responsibilities, athletics, community, family, and other activities (unrelated to college classroom activities).
Describe what you have learned from the variety of patients that you have observed and how this will impact you as a physical therapist.
How has your background and experience prepared you to interact effectively with individuals who are different from you in their social, cultural or economic perspectives?
What is your religious preference? (This information is optional and is only requested for use on federal and state reports as well as institutional research. It will not used, in any way, to determine one’s eligibility for admission, nor will it be used in any type of discriminatory manner.)

PROGRAM PREREQUISITES

Course Prerequisites

Must applicants earn a Bachelor's degree prior to enrolling into the PT program? YES
Link to program’s prerequisite web page:

#	COURSE SUBJECT	COURSE LEVEL	4-YR *	LAB **	SEM HRS	ACCEPTABLE COURSES	COURSE DESCRIPTION
1	Biology / Biological Science	General or College	NO	REQ	8	Biology: Cell Biology: GENERAL Biology: Genetics Biology: Immunology Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Biology: Histology	.
2	Chemistry I	General or College	NO	REQ	4	Chemistry: Inorganic	.
3	Chemistry II	General or College	NO	REQ	4	Chemistry: Inorganic	.
4	Physics I	General or College	NO	REQ	4	.	.
5	Physics II	General or College	NO	REQ	4	.	.
6	Anatomy	General or College	NO	NO	4	A&P: SEPARATE courses A&P: COMBINED courses A&P: Human A&P: Mammalian A&P: Vertebrate	.
7	Physiology	General or College	NO	NO	4	A&P: SEPARATE courses A&P: COMBINED courses A&P: Human A&P: Mammalian A&P: Pathophysiology A&P: Vertebrate	.
8	Psychology	General or College	NO	NO	6	Psychology: Abnormal Psychology: Developmental Psychology: GENERAL Psychology: Human Behavior Psychology: Growth & Dev. Psychology: Life Span Dev. Psychology: Rehabilitation	.
9	Statistics	General or College	NO	NO	3	Biology: Biostatistics Math: Statistics Psychology: Statistics	.
10	Math	General or College	NO	NO	4	Math: Calculus Math: Trigonometry Math: Pre-Calculus	We will also accept a Pre-calculus course
11	Medical Terminology	General or College	NO	NO	4

* YES=course must be completed in a 4-year college/university and NOT in a community college.
** REQ=required lab; Rec=recommended lab; NO=lab not required; N/A=not applicable

Additional information about program’s course requirements:

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

For 2011-12 Cycle: Due to changes in the GRE, programs may require or prefer that you take the exam early and before the "GRE® revised General Test" is introduced on August 1. Early Decision candidates in PTCAS must take the GRE and request scores to be sent by no later than July 31.

GRE General Test = Testing on or before July 31, 2011
GRE REVISED General Test = Testing on or after August 1, 2011

Is the GRE required?	Required
Program’s GRE College Code for 2011-12 Cycle	7594 (new)
GRE Accepted by Program for 2011-12 Cycle	GRE® General Test required (take GRE by 7/31)
Last acceptable GRE test date – DD-MM-YYYY (if applicable)	31-Jul-2011
Oldest GRE score considered – DD-MM-YYYY (if applicable)

GRE table below may contain blank fields if program data is not available or applicable.

GRE Section	Minimum GRE Score	Average GRE Score for Accepted Students
Verbal		460
Verbal Percentile
Quantitative		610
Quantitative Percentile
Analytical Writing		4.5
Analytical Writing Percentile
Additional information about program’s GRE requirements	Due to changes in the GRE, applicants who apply for the 2012 entering class MUST take the GRE before July 31. We will consider later applicants on an individual basis.

References

Number of references required by program: 2 References

EVALUATOR TYPE	Applicant must send one reference from this SPECIFIC type of evaluator	Applicant must send a reference from one or more evaluators in this category to fulfill program's requirements	Evaluator Type ACCEPTED	Evaluator Type NOT Accepted
Physical Therapist-1	X
Physical Therapist-2			X
Professor in Major			X
Professor				X
Academic			X
Supervisor/Employer				X
Teaching Assistant				X
PTA				X
Pre-PT Advisor			X
Politician/Elected Official				X
Health Care Professional				X
Friend				X
Family Member				X
Co-worker				X
Clergy				X
OTHER				X

Additional information about program’s reference requirements:

PT Observation Hours

Enter your PT observation hours on your PTCAS application. Print the PT Observation Hours form from the PTCAS application or use online PT Hours signature process, if the program requires you to have your hours verified by a physical therapist. Send signed forms to PTCAS.

PT HOURS	PROGRAM REQUIREMENT
Description of Program’s PT Hours Requirement	PT hours are required - no verification by a physical therapist
Total Number of PT Hours REQUIRED	60
Total Number of PT Hours RECOMMENDED
DEADLINE for Completion of All PT Hours DD-MM-YYYY	01-Dec-2011
PAID Experience	Accepted
VOLUNTEER Experience	Accepted
INPATIENT Experience	Accepted
OUTPATIENT Experience	Accepted
Additional information about program’s PT hours requirement	We recommend that the PT hours be in at least two different clinical settings representing different patient/client populations; i.e Outpatient Clinic and Acute Care Hospital

GPA Requirement

GPAs will be blank if program data is not available or applicable.

GPA	Minimum GPA	Average GPA for Accepted Students
Overall Undergraduate Cumulative	3.00	3.62
Program-specific Prerequisite	3.00	3.51
Additional information about program’s GPA requirements (if any)	Program uses the most recent grade earned in GPA calculation if a course was repeated

FOREIGN APPLICANTS AND TRANSCRIPTS

The program’s foreign (international) transcript policies do NOT apply to study abroad coursework that is itemized on a U.S. college or university transcript. Study abroad is processed in the same way as U.S. coursework.

Program’s citizenship requirements (individuals listed may be eligible for admission)	U.S. citizens U.S. permanent residents Canadian citizens Foreign (non-U.S.) citizens with a visa Foreign (non-U.S.) citizens
Program requires non-native speakers to submit TOEFL scores?
Program policy for submission of non-U.S. (foreign/international) coursework	Send foreign transcript evaluation to PTCAS (recommended)
Program policy for CANADIAN coursework	Send foreign evaluation for CANADIAN coursework to PTCAS
Additional information about program’s policy on foreign coursework

PROGRAM INFORMATION

PT Degree Offered	Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT)
PT Program Start Date(s) For Entering Class DD-MM-YYYY	Sept-2012
Dual-degree programs offered in conjunction with the PT degree (if any)
Institution's religious affiliation (if any)	Catholic

Profile of Most Recent Entering Class

Items will be blank if program data is not available or applicable.

Size of Most Recent Entering Class	34
Anticipated Size of Next Entering Class	34
Percent of IN-STATE applicants accepted	80%
Percent of WICHE applicants accepted (if applicable)
Percent of OUT-OF-STATE (non-resident) applicants accepted	20%
Percent of CANADIAN applicants accepted
Percent of INTERNATIONAL (non-U.S/non-Canadian) applicants accepted
Additional information about the class profile	The program gives preference to applicants who are currently enrolled at St. Catherine University

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The DPT curriculum at St. Catherine University is an integrated curriculum designed to create a transformative learning environment that prepares students to fully develop the sophisticated clinical reasoning ability required of competent physical therapy practitioners. Students take one course at a time and most courses are 5-6 weeks (5-6 cr) in length. Courses are organized around practice settings, rather than academic disciplines (exercise physiology, etc.) or clinical skill sets (patient handling, etc.). Some examples include Outpatient, Acute Care, Rehabilitation, and Long Term Care. This curriculum design allows students to create knowledge relative to a specific clinical context.

Curricular content within each course is organized into four “streams”: Medical and Behavioral Science, Practice Environment, Examination, and Treatment. Students acquire a basic level of understanding in multiple areas and move to more complex integration in order to facilitate reflective, active, and deep learning. Various instructional methods are intertwined in the learning including lecture, practice skills labs, tutorial case learning, critical appraisal of physical therapy literature, and student-led presentations. Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, such as “Care for the Poor and Vulnerable” are imbedded throughout the curriculum. For example, students are required to participate in a two week service learning project with options of traveling to the Dominican Republic, Mississippi, or service in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Research and principles of evidence based medicine are threaded throughout the curriculum. Students participate in faculty led research projects and choose a topic of their interest area. Projects begin in fall of second year and end with Research Day in December of the third year with final manuscript completion the following spring. Beginning with the first class in September, students have ongoing half-day clinical experiences supervised by physical therapists in various practice settings. During these integrated clinical education sessions, students practice basic components of patient/client management including history taking, examination (goniometry, muscle testing, palpation, etc.) and therapeutic exercises, and bring back experiences for classroom discussion. From there, students participate in 5 eight-week length clinical internship experiences, one at the end of the first year, one in the spring of second year and three in the third year. The DPT Program at St. Kate’s is an 11 month instructional program over approximately three years and begins on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Students graduate near the end of May in their third year.

(Page last updated 7/19/2011)