DPT PROGRAM POLICIES AND
PROCEDURES
Doctor of Physical
Therapy Program
PURPOSE
The
purpose of this document is to acquaint the students enrolled in the Doctor of
Physical Therapy (DPT) Program (the program) at the
PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY
The
The
mission of the program is to prepare a physical therapy generalist at the
doctorate degree entry level who is capable of providing excellent physical
therapy services in virtually any physical therapy practice environment. This
graduate is also capable of pursuing a specialty area within the profession. As
a program within a State supported institution of higher learning, we recognize
the need and obligation to address the continually changing physical therapy
needs of the State of
The
physical therapist is a professional member of a health care team who views the
patient as an individual with multi-dimensions (physical, intellectual, and
psycho-social). It is the unity and dynamic nature of these dimensions that
must be recognized and respected in each individual if the health care team is
to serve humanity adequately. Interwoven in this philosophy is the belief in
the dignity of humankind, the right of quality health care services, and the
potential of the individual as a consumer to actively participate in the health
care process. It is the team concept with the patient as an active participant
that best serves the needs of the patient in maintaining or restoring his/her
state of health and well-being.
Physical
therapists serve not only as primary providers of health care but also as
administrators, consultants, educators, and researchers. As such, the
educational preparation of the physical therapist is an integrative
process-drawing from the liberal arts, basic sciences, natural sciences, and
applied sciences.
The
future of health care has always rested on the art and scientific inquiry of
its practitioners. Physical Therapy is a profession, which like other health
care professions, is ever evolving and advancing in the quality, nature, and
extent of services offered. The body of knowledge of Physical Therapy will only
grow if its practitioners engage in basic and clinical research.
The
DPT Program does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national
origin, sex, age, handicap, or marital status.
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
Attendance
As
a student in a professional graduate program, it is expected that you will use
your time wisely. Attendance at all classes is strongly recommended. Faculty
have the right to require attendance of classes. Attendance at examinations is
required. If an exam is to be missed for a legitimate reason, the instructor
must be notified prior to the exam if
possible. Make-up examinations are given at the discretion of the individual
instructor. For all guest lecturer classes, off-campus classes, and
professional clinical internships, attendance is required. Students are required to be on time and prepared for
all classes and examinations.
Dress
Lectures
There are no specific dress requirements for on-campus lectures. For all
off-campus lectures, clinical rounds, etc. students are required to dress
neatly, i.e., no jeans, t-shirts, etc. and appropriately comply with any dress-codes
specified by the off-campus site.
Labs
Students are required to come to lab ready to work. Men are required to
wear shorts and t-shirts. Women are required to wear shorts and a halter-type
top unless otherwise specified by the instructor(s).
Off-Campus Classes
Occasionally
classes will be scheduled off-campus at various health care facilities.
Attendance at these sessions is mandatory. It will be the student's
responsibility to obtain transportation to the off-campus activity unless it is
provided by the University.
Classroom/Professional
Behavior
All
classes are considered important and therefore should be taken very seriously.
Students are expected to behave in a manner commensurate with their status as
mature, intelligent, and professional adults. Academic dishonesty, in any form,
will not be tolerated and will be treated severely. As members of an
established profession, the program faculty and students will adhere to the American Physical Therapy Association Code
of Ethics. Any violation of that code is subject to disciplinary action up to
and including dismissal from the program. A copy of the Code of Ethics will be
provided in PHYT 600, Physical Therapy as a Profession.
The
requirement of professional behavior includes the treatment of all human
subjects who volunteer to participate in laboratory exercises and classroom
demonstrations. Subjects will volunteer
willing without coercion or penalty for not participating (e.g., the threat of
denial of services if they are a patient in our clinic). Subject confidentiality will be handled in
the same manner that it is handled for all patients in our PT practice
clinic. The rights and dignity of each
subject will always be maintained.
Subjects will always retain their right to withdraw their participation
in laboratory or classroom activities without penalty. All subjects will be informed of their
rights prior to participation in any classroom activity. Any violations of this policy should
immediately be reported to the Department Chair.
ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS
Grading Policy
A
minimum 3.0 over-all grade point average (GPA) must be maintained at all times. This is a graduate curriculum
and a 3.0 in the major is a University requirement
for graduation. Failure to achieve this level will result in a student being
placed on probationary status. (Further information regarding graduate student
grade policies may be found in the Graduate
Catalog and the Official Student
Handbook). Should a student fail to achieve a 3.0 by graduation, he/she will
not
graduate until such time as the 3.0 is achieved.
All
course requirements are established by the individual instructor and are
delineated in their respective course syllabi. Instructors may establish
requirements in courses that are in addition to the course syllabi if they are
determined to be necessary for the successful completion of the course, to
maintain the integrity of the program, or to assist the student in achieving
his/her professional goals. Instructors may choose to allow make-up examinations
at their discretion if the situation warrants. Courses that are divided into
several distinct units may be structured so that a student must pass all
sections of the course to complete the course successfully. This requirement
will be identified in the course syllabus. Most courses in the curriculum have
a laboratory component. In lab courses, both the lecture and
lab sections must be passed to complete the course successfully.
In
accordance with the University policy, a student will be required to maintain a
minimum cumulative graduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.000 at the end of
each semester to be considered in good academic standing. In addition, the University will require an
overall cumulative 3.000 GPA and an overall 3.000 GPA in courses required for
the degree to allow a student to graduate.
In
addition, students will be required to obtain a minimum grade of C in all
required courses in the DPT curriculum that assign letter grades. The exception
to this will be Clinical Gross Anatomy, in which a minimum grade of B- will be
required to pass. Failure to achieve the minimum grade in any course will
preclude the student from progressing in the program. Generally, the student
will be allowed to repeat the course at the next available opportunity. Failure
to achieve the required B- in Clinical Gross Anatomy, however, will result in
an option to repeat the course the next time it is offered only if a minimum of
C was earned in the course. A grade of C- or below in Clinical Gross Anatomy
will result in dismissal from the program. In the case required courses that
are graded Pass/Fail, students will be required to earn a P grade.
Students
will be given the opportunity to repeat, one time, any required course in which
the minimum grade of C was not achieved. Failure to pass a course with the
minimum grade for the second time will result in dismissal from the program. In
addition, failure to achieve the minimum grade in three different courses will
result in dismissal from the program.
That is, students will be allowed to repeat only two different required
courses. Failure of a third required
course will result in dismissal.
Elective courses are graded Pass/Fail and will not be counted towards a
student’s grade point average. These
requirements are in addition to the stated probationary policy described in the
Graduate Catalog.
The
curriculum is sequential. Therefore, all courses must be successfully completed
before a student can progress to the next academic semester. No further course
work can be pursed in the Physical Therapy Curriculum until any deficiency is
resolved. In other words, all courses in a given semester are prerequisite to
the courses in the next semester. Courses are offered only one time per year.
The only exceptions to this are PHYT 821 - Orthopedic Integrated Clinical
Experience - and PHYT 822 - Geriatric Integrated Clinical Experience. Both courses will be offered several times
within the curriculum. Any student who
fails either of these courses may proceed with the curriculum. However, both of these courses must be
completed before the student can enroll in his/her final full-time clinical
internships, PHYT 832 and PHYT 833.
Deadlines
Many
courses within the DPT program will have outside assignments such as papers and
projects. These requirements will have specific dates on which they should be
submitted. The faculty expects that all
assignments will be submitted on time. Exceptions may be made only in very
unusual circumstances and only at the discretion of the course instructor.
Probationary Status
The
program will adhere to the University guidelines regarding academic probation
for graduate students. This policy is clearly outlined in the Graduate Catalog. All academic course
work must be successfully completed before a student will be allowed to
participate in the clinical internship phase of the program.
Deferment Policy
Any
student who wishes to request a deferment of their enrollment in the DPT
Program must do so in writing to the Chairman of the Department of Physical
Therapy. The reasons for deferment must be clearly stated in this request. The
request will be considered by the faculty and professional staff at the
earliest possible time. The student may be required to present his/her request
to the faculty and professional staff at a department meeting. The decision
whether or not to grant deferment will be made by the faculty and professional
staff and will be for a one year period. In the event a request for deferment
is made after classes have begun in any given semester, University grade policy
regarding withdrawals will be followed.
Course Challenge
Students
who enroll in the DPT Program may have previously earned graduate credits or
degrees. Some courses may be eligible for a challenge if the student feels he/she
is adequately prepared in that area. Clinical courses are not eligible for
challenge.
To challenge a course, the student must obtain a copy of the course syllabus
and review it, consult with the instructor of the course and inform him/her of
their intent to challenge, have the course challenge approved by the faculty,
and take a comprehensive test written by the primary instructor of the course.
If the test is passed with a minimum grade of eighty per cent, the Office of
Graduate Studies will be notified that this course requirement has been
satisfied via examination. (See the Graduate
Catalog for more details regarding this process). In certain instances, the
student may be required to attend specific lectures or labs within the waived
course if the instructor feels it is necessary. This process must be completed
by the second week of classes to allow the student to withdraw or enroll in the
course without penalty.
Clinical Education
Full-time
clinical internships occur at two different times during the DPT curriculum for
a minimum total of 21 weeks. The faculty believes that this is a critical
component of the curriculum. Students must successfully complete all course
work that occurs prior to any given
internship before they will be
allowed to participate in clinical education. In the case of PHYT 832 and PHYT
833, each student must have earned the required 3.0 GPA before beginning the
internships.
Clinics
are graded on a pass/fail basis using criteria outlined in the Student Clinical Manual. Any student who fails a clinical internship
may be allowed to repeat the entire clinic at the next available opportunity.
This will occur only if it is determined by the Academic Coordinator of
Clinical Education (ACCE), in consultation with the Clinical Coordinator of
Clinical Education (CCCE) and the Clinical Instructor (CI), department
chairperson, and other appropriate program faculty members, that the student
has the potential to succeed in a clinical environment. Otherwise, the student
will be dismissed from the program. Repeating a clinical internship at the next
available opportunity will most likely require that the student drop back one
year to resume the program. Failure of two clinical internships will result in
dismissal from the program.
If
a student cannot complete a clinical internship due to medical reasons, the
faculty will determine how that student will proceed in the program. This will
be considered on a case-by-case basis. In the instance where a student does not
attend any of the clinic, (e.g., the student has an accident prior to beginning
of a clinical internship and must withdraw before it starts), he/she may be
required to take this clinic at the next available opportunity. This will most
likely require that the student drop back one year to resume the program.
The
Department Chairperson, upon advice from the ACCE, CCCE, and/or CI, may remove
a student from a clinical internship site if it is determined that this would
be in the best interest of the student, the program, or the facility.
Relocation,
travel, and housing costs that occur during clinical internships are the
responsibility of the student. Having one's own transportation is highly
recommended. It is the responsibility of the ACCE to assign clinical internship
sites. The ACCE will attempt to work with students to place them in clinical
sites they request within the limitations of available clinical sites and the
needs of other students.
All
students must comply with the rules
and regulations of the health care facility to which they are assigned. It is
the student's responsibility to familiarize themselves with those policies
prior to attending the first day of internship.
A
physical examination and current CPR certification are required prior to
beginning clinical internships. Physical examinations may be carried out at the
University of Delaware Student Health
Center or by a personal physician.
CPR instruction will be provided.
STUDENT RIGHTS
Physical
therapy students enjoy the same rights and privileges as all other graduate
students who attend the
ACCREDITATION STATUS
The
graduate physical therapy program has obtained full Accreditation Status from
the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). This was
last granted on
LIABILITY INSURANCE
The
University carries liability insurance for students participating in off-campus
clinical internships. The program, University, and health care facility
negotiate a contract that clearly specifies the obligations of the University
and the health care facility in this matter.
Individual liability insurance is available at a nominal cost to the
student and the necessary information can be obtained from the academic
coordinator of clinical education.
I
have read and understand the "Policies
and Procedures Manual for Physical Therapy Students." By signing and
dating this sheet, I am affirming that I agree with and will adhere to the
policies described, including those that deal specifically with academic and
ethical dishonesty. I also understand that changes may be instituted by the
Physical Therapy Faculty during the time I am a student in this program.
Name
_____________________________________
DPT
Class of _____________________________
Date
_____________________________________
Witness __________________________________