Overview
Physical Therapists Allow Clients to Optimize Movement and Function.
As a physical therapist you will be trained and licensed to perform a broad range of activities including the evaluation and treatment of individuals recovering from injury or disease, and in programs for maintaining wellness and fitness for those without apparent disease or injury. Physical therapists provide patients and clients with services that restore function, enhance mobility, relieve pain, prevent or limit physical disability, and promote health and well-being. These may include, but are not limited to, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, providing treatments or interventions based on their evaluation, and providing health and wellness interventions and education.
The Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Lewis University will prepare graduates to pass the physical therapy licensure examination required to practice as a physical therapist in Illinois and across the nation. Through innovation and integration of education, scholarly activities, service, and clinical care, at Lewis you will learn to optimize movement and function across the lifespan in diverse populations, communities, and individuals. You will become a reflective, ethical, culturally informed, socially responsible, and innovative clinician who will lead and work collaboratively in the ever-evolving healthcare field. Faculty, graduates, and students at Lewis will use movement to improve the human condition.
Career Outlook
Employment of physical therapists is projected to grow 17 percent from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Demand for physical therapy is expected to come from aging baby boomers who are staying active later in life, and people who are susceptible to chronic health conditions.
DPT Curriculum
Lewis University DPT students will be uniquely educated to be innovative human movement specialists. Graduates will be critical thinkers, who practice with integrity, autonomy, inter-professional skills, in contemporary evidence-based practice as innovators, health advocates, and global citizens.
- 109 semester credit hours
- 8 semesters
- Classroom experiences in foundational sciences, professional topics, clinical science, and evidence-based practice research/innovation experiences.
- 32 weeks of Clinical Education
Classroom Experiences: The curriculum is a face-to-face program with hybrid experiences of traditional lecture and lab experiences blended with modified problem-based learning, case study, interprofessional collaborative education experiences, and team-based learning. Students experience the best of various curricular models in our new facilities.
Clinical Education: Students in the DPT program will have a variety of clinical experiences which are representative of those in which physical therapy is commonly practiced. Four 8-week clinical experiences will include the areas of orthopedics, neurorehabilitation, acute care, and niche areas of practice such as pediatrics, geriatrics, etc.
Accreditation
Graduation from a physical therapist education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; phone; 703-706-3245; accreditation@apta.org is necessary for eligibility to sit for the licensure examination, which is required in all states.
Lewis University is seeking accreditation of a new physical therapist education program from CAPTE. The program is planning to submit an Application for Candidacy, which is the formal application required in the pre-accreditation stage, on June 1, 2024. Submission of this document does not assure that the program will be granted Candidate for Accreditation status. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status is required prior to implementation of the professional phase of the program; therefore, no students may be enrolled in professional courses until Candidate for Accreditation status has been achieved. Further, though achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status signifies satisfactory progress toward accreditation, it does not assure that the program will be granted accreditation.
Program Outcomes
First data will be available in 2028-29.
Questions?
Contact the Office of Graduate Admission at grad@lewisu.edu or (815)836-5610.
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