Foundational Courses
| Physical Therapy DPT Curriculum | 120 credits | |
|
SUMMER 1 |
14 |
|
|
6 |
||
|
4 |
||
|
3 |
||
|
1 |
||
|
FALL 1 |
15 |
|
|
3 |
||
|
5 |
||
|
4 |
||
|
3 |
||
|
SPRING 1 |
15 |
|
|
4 |
||
|
4 |
||
| Neurologic Physical Therapy I |
4 |
|
| Professional Practice II |
3 |
|
|
SUMMER 2 |
10 |
|
| Therapeutic Modalities |
3 |
|
|
7 |
||
|
FALL 2 |
16 |
|
| 4 | ||
| 4 | ||
| 2 | ||
| 3 | ||
| 3 | ||
|
SPRING 2 |
16 |
|
| Neurologic Physical Therapy III |
3 |
|
|
4 |
||
|
5 |
||
|
4 |
||
|
SUMMER 3 |
13 |
|
| 7 | ||
|
3 |
||
|
3 |
||
|
FALL 3 |
11 |
|
| Clinical Education III |
8 |
|
|
3 |
||
|
SPRING 3 |
10 |
|
| 8 | ||
| 2 | ||
|
TOTAL CURRICULUM |
120 |
Foundational sciences, which provide the underlying knowledge base for physical therapy practice, include Human Anatomy and Histology, Neuroscience, and Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology. At NYMC, the faculty who teach these sciences are experts in their field. Faculty from the School of Medicine and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences are the primary faculty in Human Anatomy and Histology, Neuroscience, and Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology. Faculty from the Division of Physical Therapy assist in the teaching of these courses and also help students to apply these sciences to clinical practice in courses that include Kinesiology, Exercise Physiology, Foundational Physical Therapy Skills, as well as courses in specific clinical content areas.
The program philosophy of providing students an engaging and student-centered education in foundational sciences, clinical sciences, and professional development is readily apparent from the structure of the curriculum. In the first semester, students, take Human Anatomy and Histology, which includes small group cadaver dissection. Kinesiology, the study of movement, is taught simultaneously with the anatomy course. Foundational Physical Therapy Skills introduces students to general patient examination skills. In addition, students take the first of a four-course series in Professional Practice, which addresses group process, learning styles, and professionalism in physical therapy. Thus, from the very first semester students are integrating material from the foundational sciences directly to clinical practice. The parallel processing of foundational and clinical science course work provides a direct link between these two areas of study.
The second and third semesters of the first year extend the coursework in foundational sciences to Neuroscience, Exercise Physiology, and Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology. Neuroscience introduces the structure and function of the human nervous system. Exercise Physiology presents concepts of exercise physiology that apply to all areas of physical therapy practice, from acute care to health and wellness. Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology ensures that students have a knowledge base in medical management sufficient for making physical therapy diagnoses, screening patients, and making referrals to other health team members within a health care environment that includes direct access to patients.
The second and third years of the program focus on patient management coursework, clinical education, and preparing for the National Physical Therapy Examination. Students take multiple courses related to caring for patients with diverse health conditions across the health span and across the lifespan and have the opportunity to take two elective courses during the third year of the program. Students choosing the research elective select a project offered by faculty in an area of clinical research, teaching, or public health service. Close mentoring by faculty results in project outcomes and a manuscript that is acceptable for publication or presentation at a professional meeting.
Elective Courses: An Opportunity for Professional Specialization
The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program at New York Medical College trains graduates to be competent and caring entry-level practitioners who can practice in diverse clinical environments. Because many students are ready to choose a practice area of focus prior to graduation, the program offers an opportunity for students to develop additional skills in an area of interest. This occurs through taking elective courses during year 3. The area of interest may include clinical research, psychomotor skill development and advanced clinical decision making in a specialty practice area, public health-related topics, and other topical areas. The offering of specific elective courses may vary year-to-year depending on faculty availability and student interest.
Evidence-Based Practice
Because physical therapy is a clinical science, evidence for the validity of clinical intervention approaches can be complex and elusive. In the Division of Physical Therapy at NYMC, students are taught to base their clinical decision-making on a system of evidence-based practice that reflects sound scientific principles, formal investigations of the effectiveness of clinical intervention strategies, and on contemporary patterns of best practice that may have yet to be formally tested. An integral goal of the program is for students to become skilled in the critical analysis of the professional practice of physical therapy.
A very important benefit of the learning environment at NYMC is that students learn from their earliest clinical coursework to base their intervention strategies on evidence of best practice. Physical therapy is a clinical science that utilizes treatment approaches that are based on sound scientific principles and investigations of clinical effectiveness. In the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at NYMC, students learn how to establish a physical therapy diagnosis, set goals, develop a treatment plan, and modify treatments as the patient progresses. The learning of these skills is not delayed until clinical affiliations but is explicitly integrated into the academic curriculum. Furthermore, because scientific investigation is taught as an integral part of the professional practice of physical therapy, students learn clinical reasoning based on a critical analysis of scientific and clinical literature.
Clinical Education
Clinical education allows each student to integrate academic knowledge, refine clinical skills, and continue developing his/her/their professional self. Students expand their clinical and professional skills by evaluating and treating patients in diverse clinical settings while receiving supervision and feedback from practicing physical therapists. These clinical education experiences require students to collaborate closely with their clinical instructors in an active learning process.
The goals of the clinical education program at NYMC include: to prepare graduates who implement evidence-based practice across a variety of settings; to prepare graduates with a good understanding of regulatory and market forces affecting the provision of physical therapy care; and to prepare graduates who adapt successfully to changes in the health care environment.
The clinical education component of the physical therapy program consists of four full-time clinical education experiences, each eight to twelve weeks in length, for a total of at least thirty-six weeks. The clinical education experiences are integrated into the second and third years of the program.
To provide these clinical education experiences, the Division of Physical Therapy at NYMC partners with a wide variety of clinical institutions. While most of our affiliating institutions are located in the tri-state area, additional opportunities are available throughout the United States. Current clinical sites include acute-care hospitals, outpatient clinics, sports medicine clinics, rehabilitation hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, other long-term-care institutions, and various types of pediatric settings. Specialty affiliations at burn centers, home health care agencies, aquatic centers, in the performing arts, and at a Native American reservation are also available.
Following nine months of clinical practice under the supervision of licensed physical therapists, graduates of our program are fully prepared to meet the practice challenges of the current and future health care environments.