IC News

Applications are already rolling in for Ithaca College’s new Graduate-Entry Doctor of Physical Therapy degree program. With the first cohort of students expected to arrive on South Hill for the 2024 summer semester, the program marks a new chapter in IC’s 75-year history of physical therapy education.

Currently, IC offers a six-year program in Physical Therapy, which was designed to admit first-year undergraduate students (with a few spaces available for transfers). Students complete their Bachelor of Science in four years and begin the professional coursework after their junior year. They are then able to earn their Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree in two additional years. The graduate-entry program will offer students who already have a bachelor’s degree an entry into the existing pathway, allowing them to complete their DPT in three years.

The decision to expand the program began two years ago, when the Department of Physical Therapy restructured its curriculum to accommodate IC’s shift from three-credit courses to four-credit courses in some disciplines. During the restructuring process, the faculty and staff in the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance realized there was now a natural point for students to enter the DPT program as graduate students, joining the undergraduate cohort between the junior and senior years when professional coursework begins.

Interim Dean Christina Moylan says that now felt like the right time to introduce the graduate pathway.

“As a school, we’re always trying to be responsive to students’ needs and interests,” said Moylan. “Over the years we’d heard from students, both at Ithaca College and elsewhere, about being able to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy at the graduate level, but having to decline because we only offered first-year entry. The reality is that there are a lot of students who don’t realize they’re interested in PT until they complete their undergraduate coursework. Having this option was a way of making sure that we’re making the physical therapy profession available to people who may not know at 17 or 18 years old that this is what they wanted to do.”

Department Chair and Professor Laura Gras sees the Graduate-Entry Program as an opportunity to expand access to physical therapy training, opening the door to students from other education backgrounds.

“We’re really trying to diversify the ways we can let people into the program,” said Gras. “We may have students who might be a little older than we’re used to seeing, students who are more diverse, with different life experiences and backgrounds, so we’re hoping this will really help enhance the experiences of the students who are already here in the six-year program. They’ll be joined by people who will be able to add more to their conversations and work.”

Ithaca College is home to one of the best-known physical therapy programs in the country. Students have unique opportunities to get hands-on experience through IC’s on-campus clinic, Anatomage Lab, Human Anatomy Lab, Movement Analysis Lab, Healthcare Simulation Lab, and the college’s relationship locally with Cayuga Health System and hundreds of other clinical fieldwork sites across the country.

“Our clinical partners are always raving about how well-prepared our students are,” said Gras. “They get a good foundation while they’re here. They know how to interact with patients by the time they graduate.”

“We have a long history of graduating physical therapists and a large alumni base throughout the country,” said Associate Professor John Winslow, who will serve as the Graduate-Entry Program Coordinator. “I think prospective students who meet our graduates are inspired to pursue a career in physical therapy and choose Ithaca College for their education.”