Washington University in St. Louis

PROGRAM CONTACT INFORMATION

Sarah Rands
Manager, Admissions and Student Affairs
Washington University in St. Louis
Program in Physical Therapy
Campus Box 8502
4444 Forest Park Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri 63108
Phone: 314-286-1402
Phone (alternate number): 314-286-1401
Email: ptprog@wustl.edu
Website: http://pt.wustl.edu/

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Final PTCAS Application Deadline	Monday, March 02, 2009
Deadline Type	Soft Deadline
Program has rolling admissions process?	YES

Other deadlines (if any):
Early application: Friday, November 14, 2008

Additional Deadline Information:

The DPT/PhD sequential application deadline is November 14, 2008. All applications that are complete (including all supplemental documents) by November 14, 2008, will be reviewed in our 1st series of Admissions Committee meetings.
Join us at our Open House on Saturday, October 25, 2008. For more information, please see our website at http://pt.wustl.edu .

PROGRAM PREREQUISITES

Course Prerequisites

Must applicants earn a Bachelor's degree prior to enrolling into the PT program? YES

For more information about course prerequisites, visit the program Web site: http://pt.wustl.edu/pt/pt.nsf/WV/CC50C83A8240111486256AE00059D4A8?OpenDocument

Course prerequisite fields will be blank if program data is not available or applicable.

Course Prerequisite Name or Subject Area	Req, Rec, Crq*	SEM hrs	QTR hrs	Lab Required (Y/N)	Additional Program Information
Chemistry	REQ	8	.	YES	2 semester sequence with labs
Physics	REQ	8	.	YES	2 semester sequence with labs
Biology/Zoology	REQ	6	.	NO	Content to include cell structure and function, function of macro-molecules, intro to genetics
Anatomy	REQ	3	.	NO	Human vertebrate, comparative or anatomical kinesiology
Physiology	REQ	3	.	NO	Human physiology preferred, a 2 course sequence of anatomy/physiology may meet the anatomy and physiology requirements
Trigonometry	REQ	3	.	NO	Calculus is also acceptable
Statistics	REQ	3	.	NO	.
English	REQ	6	.	NO	To include either English Composition or an upper division writing course
Psychology	REQ	6	.	NO	To include Abnormal Psychology. Developmental Psychology will not count as Abnormal Psychology
Humanities/Social Sciences	REQ	6	.	NO	At least 2 courses in Humanities and or Social Sciences (i.e. anthropology, economics, history, humanities, literature, political sciences, psychology, speech or sociology)

* “Req” = required course; “Rec” = recommended course; “Crq” = conditionally required course

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

GRE: Required
Last acceptable GRE test date( if applicable):
Oldest GRE score considered (if applicable): 5 years

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	.	500
Verbal Percentile	.	.
Quantitative	.	660
Quantitative Percentile	.	.
Analytical	.	.
Analytical Percentile	.	.
Writing	.	4.40
Writing Percentile	.	.

Additional information about program’s GRE requirements:
Ideally candidates will score above the 50th percentile on each section of the exam. Our Program allows the applicant to retake the GRE up to three times. If multiple scores are submitted, the Program will use the scores from the best series and will not select scores from multiple sittings.

References

Total number of references required by program: 3 References

REFERENCE TYPE	Reference Type Is Required, Recommended, Accepted, Conditionally Required, NOT Accepted, or Other
Teaching Assistant	Accepted
Supervisor	Accepted
PTA	Not Accepted
Professor (Science)	Recommended
Professor (Math)	Recommended
Professor (Liberal Arts)	Recommended
Pre-Health Advisor	Accepted
Politician	Not Accepted
Physical Therapist (1)	Accepted
Physical Therapist (2)	Accepted
Health Care Provider	Accepted
Friend	Not Accepted
Family Member	Not Accepted
Faculty Advisor	Accepted
Employer	Accepted
Co-Worker	Not Accepted
Clergy	Not Accepted
OTHER: Personal Health Care Provider	Not Accepted*

Additional information about program’s reference requirements: One reference must be from a college-level instructor with whom the applicant took a course. It is preferred that this person is the primary professor, although in some circumstances a teaching assistant is acceptable. For the other two letters of reference, best choices include a second professor, a healthcare practitioner, an employer or a supervisor.

* Other: Personal Health Care Provider - We do not accept references from applicant’s healthcare provider (e.g. their personal physician or physical therapist). We do accept references from a health care provider for whom an applicant has volunteered or worked.

PT Observation Hours

Enter your PT observation hours on your PTCAS application. Login to the PTCAS application and print each customized PT Observation Hours form, if the program requires a physical therapist to verify your hours with a signature. Mail the signed form directly to the PT program, if required. Do not mail to PTCAS.

PT HOURS	PROGRAM REQUIREMENT
Description of Program’s PT Hours Requirement	Neither paid or volunteer PT hours are required, but are acknowledged.
Total Number of Hours REQUIRED	.
Total Number of Hours RECOMMENDED	.
DEADLINE for Completion of All PT Hours	.
PAID Experience	Accepted
VOLUNTEER Experience	Accepted
INPATIENT Experience	Accepted
OUTPATIENT Experience	Accepted
Number of hours in each PT specialty (if specified)	.
Number of hours in each PT setting (if specified)	.

Additional information about program’s PT hours requirement:

GPA Requirement

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

Name of GPA	Minimum GPA	Average GPA for Accepted Students
Overall Undergraduate Cumulative	.	3.60
Program-specific Prerequisite	.	3.60
Other GPA 1: Cumulative	.	.
Other GPA 2: Core (prequisites)	.	.

Additional information about program’s GPA requirements (if any): Students with cumulative, core, and math/science GPAs of 3.1 or above will be reviewed by committee automatically. If these GPAs are under 3.1, a special review process is in place to allow exceptions to this expectation. When courses are repeated we use the higher grade.

PTCAS Essay Instructions

You can customize your PTCAS essay for each designated PTCAS program. The PT program may require you to respond to specific essay questions. If program instructions below are blank, respond to 3 of the 5 essay questions on the PTCAS application form.

What personal characteristics do you have that make you suitable for the profession of physical therapy?
What is your motivation for pursuing a career in physical therapy?
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 types of patients have you observed with the greatest frequency, and what have you learned from them?
If you were to be accepted to two or more physical therapy education programs, what would help you make the decision regarding which program you should select?
REPEAT APPLICANTS If you have applied to a physical therapy program in the past five years, what have you done to improve upon, or enhance, your application for this current admissions cycle?

PROGRAM’S ESSAY REQUIREMENTS (If program instructions are blank, you must respond to 3 of the 5 essay questions on the PTCAS application form):

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

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

ITEM	PROGRAM REQUIREMENT
Supplemental application required?	YES - For all complete PTCAS applicants
Supplemental deadline(s)	Early application supplemental documents are due November 14, 2008. Final application supplemental documents are due by March 31, 2009. Applications will not be reviewed without their supplemental documents.
Link to supplemental application or instructions	http://pt.wustl.edu/pt/pt.nsf/WV/BCB532F7AA0E9EB286256BE500727B83?OpenDocument
Supplemental FEE required?	NO
If yes, supplemental fee amount	$
Briefly describe requirements for supplemental materials (if applicable)	Supplemental documents include Prerequisite Sheet and Course Retake form. If the applicant is interested in applying for the DPT/PhD sequential degree, they will need to submit the DPT/PhD supplemental essay. All supplemental forms may be found on our website at http://pt.wustl.edu/pt/pt.nsf/WV/BCB532F7AA0E9EB286256BE500727B83?OpenDocument.

Criminal Background Check

Are accepted applicants required to complete a criminal background check? YES
Description of criminal background check process (if applicable): Accepted students who are admitted are required to have a criminal background check and will be notified by the Program regarding specific details and instructions.

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.

POLICY	PROGRAM REQUIREMENT
Program’s citizenship requirements (individuals listed may be eligible for admission):	U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, Foreign (non-U.S.) citizens with a visa
Program requires non-native speakers to submit TOEFL scores?	YES
Program policy for submission of non-U.S. (foreign/international) coursework:	Send foreign transcript evaluation to PTCAS.
Program policy for CANADIAN coursework:	Same as instructions for foreign transcripts above.

Additional information about program’s policy on foreign coursework:

PROGRAM INFORMATION

PT Degree Offered:	Program culminates in a doctoral (DPT) degree.
PT Program Start Date(s) For Entering Class:	Mid-August 2009
Dual-degree programs offered in conjunction with the PT degree (if any):	A DPT/PhD dual degree program is available to one qualified student per year. The degree programs are completed sequentially, with early integration of the student into a research laboratory. See instructions for supplemental materials.

PROFILE OF MOST RECENT ENTERING CLASS

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

PROFILE INFORMATION	PROGRAM DATA
Size of Most Recent Entering Class	81
Anticipated Size of Next Entering Class	81
Percent of IN-STATE applicants accepted	14
Percent of WICHE applicants accepted (if applicable):	0
Percent of OUT-OF-STATE (non-resident) applicants accepted	84
Percent of CANADIAN applicants accepted	0
Percent of INTERNATIONAL (non-U.S/non-Canadian) applicants accepted	1

Additional information about the class profile: All applicants who completed an undergraduate degree at Washington University in St. Louis are reviewed by the admissions committee; only those meeting the acceptance criteria applied to all applicants will be admitted.

We have articulation agreements with Augustana University and Truman State University.

Institution's religious affiliation (if any):

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Program in Physical Therapy at Washington University in St. Louis – School of Medicine provides a world-class education in an environment full of energy and enthusiasm. Our students are dedicated and supportive of one another; our faculty thrive on sharing their love for the field. Together, faculty and students continually strive, excel and put new ideas into motion, making this a dynamic and exciting place to learn.

The Program is dedicated to a three-part mission: training exceptional clinicians, expanding knowledge in the field through groundbreaking research and offering excellent patient care. In this environment of innovation, our students learn at the forefront of what is known about the science of movement and experience firsthand the continual advancements in physical therapy.

We take a student-centered approach to education, striving to provide every resource and opportunity students need to learn well. The atmosphere is warm, non-competitive and supportive. We are committed to helping every student achieve his or her professional goals.

Our Program is made up of faculty, staff and students who are passionate about the field of physical therapy. Throughout the school, our faculty and staff provide an enthusiasm for learning that will make your education challenging, interesting and fulfilling.

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT): This professional, full-time clinical doctorate program prepares students for the practice of physical therapy. The curriculum is three years of combined academic and clinical work, including 38 weeks of full-time clinical experiences. The program has been accredited continuously by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) since 1942. It is distinguished by its focus on diagnostic classification of patients' movement problems and on evidence-based practice.

The DPT curriculum combines clinical experience and classroom learning, with the goal of training outstanding clinicians. In classroom learning, faculty present material as it relates to clinical application. Students practice hands-on clinical skills on each other, on volunteer patients and during trips to off-site clinics. Students encounter increasingly difficult clinical cases as they move through the curriculum.

Patient contact is integrated throughout the curriculum. During the first year, students spend one day a week in an area clinic participating in care with an experienced clinician. In addition, four full time clinical experiences of 8 to 12 weeks each are interspersed throughout the curriculum; for these experiences, students may choose from approximately 400 affiliated clinical sites throughout the country.

Students leave the program adept at quickly and thoroughly diagnosing a patient's movement dysfunction and implementing an effective treatment plan. An emphasis on evidence-based health care practice prepares students for life-long learning.