Physical Therapy

College of Health Professions

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Curriculum

The course/credit requirements are based on the assumption that the incoming Ph.D. student has completed at least a master’s degree, or 30 hours of post-baccalaureate work (e.g. course work at = 500 level), or a first professional degree program (DPT, MD) in a field related to movement science.

The Doctor of Philosophy degree in Rehabilitation and Movement Science will require a minimum of 30 credit hours of coursework, three credit hours of research laboratory rotations, five credit hours of professional development coursework, and 12 credit hours of dissertation research.

Students will conduct a substantial original investigation under the direction of a primary advisor and advisory committee. A wide range of study opportunities are available with core and affiliate faculty using state of the art equipment in 6 laboratories.

Students focus their studies in one of two curricular tracks.

Applied Physiology

The applied physiology concentration prepares students to teach, conduct research and direct external funding initiatives in the area of exercise physiology, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, and physiology particularly associated with metabolic and chronic disease states.

Degree Overview

Plan of Study

Neuromusculoskeletal Dynamics

The neuromusculoskeletal dynamics concentration prepares individuals for teaching, research and clinical initiatives associated with the identification and rehabilitation of movement disorders.

Degree Overview

Plan of Study

Coursework is interdisciplinary in nature and includes coursework options in biostatistics, the basic life sciences, epidemiology, and other relevant areas. Students will be required to complete:

  • 12 credit hours of research core courses comprised of a research design class, two classes in statistical application and an elective in the area of research design or statistics;
  • 18 credit hours in a concentration comprised of a focus on course work in a specific discipline formulated with the major advisor and approved by the Admissions Committee of the degree program;
  • three credit hours comprised of laboratory rotations in a minimum of two laboratories within the Rehabilitation and Movement Science program;
    • each credit hour requires a minimum of 50 contact hours in the laboratory selected;
  • five credit hours of professional development comprised of an interdisciplinary research/journal club seminar (0.5 credit hour repeated for 6 semesters), a teaching practicum (one credit hour) and a presentation delivered at a regional, national or international conference of a related discipline (one credit hour);
  • a minimum of 12 credit hours of dissertation research comprised of a focused line of research over a three-to-four-year period of doctoral work.

Required research courses for the program

Required concentration courses for the Ph.D. program tracks