Program Description
Program Objectives
Accreditation

Greetings from the Program Director
Midwestern University's Physical Therapy Program offers students a well-designed curriculum, enabling graduates to effectively and successfully meet the demands of working in today's health care community. Students and faculty form a partnership in learning, developing skills necessary for life-long learning. The program also provides opportunities for students from a variety of health care professions to work together and build collaborative relationships. The faculty brings with them a wealth of experiences in physical therapy, and with the support of the clinical community, provides students with a dynamic, state-of-the-art professional education.

Donna Cech, P.T., M.S., PCS
Director, Physical Therapy Program

Mission
The Physical Therapy Program shall prepare entry-level practitioners to provide physical therapy services at a variety of points along the health care continuum. Integrating physical, clinical, and behavioral sciences in an interdisciplinary environment, graduates are prepared to fulfill their roles as physical therapists. These roles include direct patient care (physical therapy examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention), consultation, education, critical inquiry, and health promotion. The program provides the foundation for graduates to promote health and maximize human movement, as well as make valuable contributions to society, health care, and the profession through community service, education, and scholarly inquiry.

Program Description
Midwestern University’s Physical Therapy Program offers a course of study leading to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree for qualified students. The full-time, continuous, 34-month, entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy curriculum is designed to deliver the academic and clinical education required to prepare students for their professional role as key members of the health care team and as an integral part of the health care delivery system. The general education, professional training, experience, and personal character development of physical therapists uniquely prepare them to coordinate care related to functional improvement and functional disability.

The focus of the professional clinical doctorate degree program is the preparation of entry-level, generalist physical therapists who are able to provide competent, skilled professional services in a wide range of community and institutional practice settings that require independent judgment and self-sufficiency.

The Doctor of Physical Therapy Program is open on a competitive admissions basis to applicants having bachelor’s degrees in any field but who have not completed an accredited physical therapy program. The program prepares entry-level practitioners to provide physical therapy services in large, small, traditional, and nontraditional community and institutional practice settings that require independent judgment, leadership, and autonomous practice. The program also provides the foundation for graduates to identify and contribute to effecting solutions to the major, emergent health issues of our society and contribute to the academic and clinical education of future practitioners. The graduate will be prepared to make valuable, ongoing contributions to society, health care, and the profession through leadership activities and collaborative efforts with others in physical therapy and interdisciplinary education, practice, and research.

Program Objectives
Upon completion of the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program graduates are expected to be able to:

1. Integrate and clinically apply current basic science, applied science, and professional knowledge bases;
2. Be self-directed learners, confident clinical decision makers, team players, independent practitioners, managers, and leaders;
3. Prevent and reduce the incidence and severity of impairment, functional limitation, and disability;
4. Provide high-quality and cost-effective diagnostic and treatment-based physical therapy services;
5. Understand, critically evaluate, and apply scientific research;
6. Respond sensitively to the diverse health care needs of patients, caregivers, and society;
7. Acquire and sustain the confidence of patients, caregivers, colleagues, and community members by demonstrating high levels of competence, accountability, ethical standards, and moral behavior;
8. Practice in autonomous, sole-practitioner setting, and interdisciplinary teams;
9. Participate in the dynamic evolution of physical therapist roles and responsibilities, including the promotion of health and wellness; and
10. Provide physical therapy services in traditionally underserved rural and urban communities.

These objectives are accomplished through:

1. An innovative impairment- and disability-based curriculum;
2. A spiral pattern permitting continual integration at increasingly complex levels of understanding;
3. A strong content foundation in the physical, clinical, and behavioral sciences;
4. Problem-based and case-based learning experiences integrating scientific knowledge with clinical expertise;
5. An emphasis on critical thinking, clinical decision making, outcomes analysis, and evidence-based practice;
6. An educational environment designed to promote learning;
7. Opportunities for teamwork, delegation, supervision, and leadership;
8. Several professional course sequences requiring students to build on prior knowledge and expand their skills;
9. A sequence of stimulated and actual clinical experiences across the curriculum; and
10. Team teaching methods.

Accreditation
MWU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission/A Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC/NCA), 30 North LaSalle St., Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60602. The Physical Therapy Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 1111 N. Fairfax St., Alexandria, VA 22314.