In conjunction with Thomas Jefferson University's College of Health Professions, Villanova University offers students considering a career in Physical Therapy the possibility of completing both the Bachelor of Science in Biology and Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree in a six-years.

Students in this program will spend three years at Villanova, completing the majority of the courses for the Bachelor of Science in Biology degree.  They will then transfer to Thomas Jefferson for the next three years where they will complete the Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT) portion of the program.  Credits from the program at Jefferson will be used to complete the bachelor’s degree requirements at Villanova; the degree will be granted after the first year at Jefferson.  The Doctorate in Physical Therapy degree will be granted after the third year at Jefferson.

The American Physical Therapy Association states that the rationale for awarding the DPT is based on at least four factors, among others:

1. The level of practice inherent to the patient/client management model in the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice requires considerable breadth and depth in educational preparation, a breadth and depth not easily acquired within the time constraints of the typical MPT program.
2. Societal expectations that the fully autonomous healthcare practitioner with a scope of practice consistent with the Guide to Physical Therapist Practice be a clinical doctor.
3. The realization of the profession's goals in the coming decades, including direct access, "physician status" for reimbursement purposes, and clinical competence consistent with the preferred outcomes of evidence-based practice, will require that practitioners possess the clinical doctorate (consistent with medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, optometry, and podiatry).
4. Many existing professional (entry-level) MPT programs already meet the requirements for the clinical doctorate; in such cases, the graduate of a professional (entry-level) MPT program is denied the degree most appropriate to the program of study.

The DPT program is a post-baccalaureate program.  The combined degree program will allow a student to enter the DPT program after three years of undergraduate work, enabling the student to enter the profession after only six years.

Requirements

• have an SAT I score of 1320 or better on the Critical Reading and Math components (a specific score on the Writing component will not be used at this time)
• or ACT score of 30 or better and include the writing portion
• rank in the top 10% of their high school class where class rank is reported
• and have a GPA of at least 3.7 (unweighted) on a 4.0 scale

Application and Admission Requirements

• the candidate’s Villanova Preliminary Application for Undergraduate Admission (October 15)
• a completed Common Application (November 1)
• application fee
• official high school transcript
• all SAT or ACT scores sent directly from the College Board and/or ACT
• Common Application School Report and recommendation
• Villanova essay

Application forms and deadline information for completing these applications can be found on the  Undergraduate Student Application web page.  In completing #17 on the Villanova admission application, the applicant should indicate the program (PT on the paper application and Health Affiliation Physical Therapy on the online application) and the Villanova major of choice, which the applicant will pursue at Villanova University. It is very strongly recommended that the applicant select Biology as the major so that the undergraduate degree requirements can be met.

For more information, contact Dr. John Friede at 610-519-4833 or john.friede@villanova.edu.