• Introduction
• Degree Requirements
• Course Location
• Program Costs
• Application Procedures
• Current List of Course Offerings
  • All Courses
  • Sorted by Date
  • Sorted by Categorical Offering
    
    

Introduction

1. Articulation of the clinical doctoral student's potential contributions to the profession in terms of personal and professional strengths, interests, and goals.
2. Development and presentation of options for the completion of a capstone project
3. Discussion and analysis of the elements of expert practice and examination of their relationship to the physical therapist's goals for doctoral study.

1. Professional Development Seminar - 3 credit hours (described above). A formal oral presentation of the physical therapist's clinical doctoral studies (Focus of Study, Clinical Core and Capstone Experience) will be required. One of the primary purposes of the professional development seminar will be to for the clinical doctoral student to develop their plan of study and to receive feedback from faculty and colleagues.

2. Focus of Study - 12 credit hours. In this block of courses, the clinical doctoral student identifies one of the 4 practice patterns (musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary, neuromuscular, or integumentary therapeutics noted below) as their Focus of Study. Within the block identified, 12 credit hours are required. Coursework may be from NAU offerings or hours transferred from an accredited institution. Northern Arizona University reserves the right to determine whether ongoing clinical residency programs would meet the 12 credit hour Focus of Study requirement.

3. Clinical Core -13 semester hours. In addition to the coursework identified within the Focus of Study, the clinical doctoral student must take one course in Differential Diagnosis, and 9 semester hours from any of the 3 remaining (non-Focus of Study) practice patterns areas noted in the above Section. Other courses approved by NAU with equivalent subject matter may be transfered from an accredited institution to satisfy coursework in the Clinical Core.

4. Physical Therapy Management and Economics - 8 credit hours. These courses may be either residential or nonresidential learning experiences and may consist of either NAU offerings or transfer credits from an accredited institution.

5. The Capstone Project - 9 credit hours. In addition to the professional development and new learning that occurs via didactic coursework, the capstone project serves as one of the essential outcome components of the post professional doctoral degree. The Capstone Project, the final requirement of the Post-Professional DPT curriculum is designed to allow the clinical doctoral learner to analyze and report on a particular clinical problem in-depth. It is expected that the end product of that exploration will be either a significant contribution to the clinical literature or at a level consistent with presentation to a professional audience. To achieve this end, we are strongly recommending the completion of a multiple case study manuscript as the learner's capstone project. Such reports allow physical therapy interventions can be more clearly defined and documented and the efficacy of those interventions can be more readily tested. Unless the clinical doctoral learner enters the Program with a well-defined project plan, the multiple case study approach involving at least four patients will serve as the required capstone project. For a clinical doctoral program, the use of multiple case studies has several inherent advantages over traditional laboratory based research. These include:
   • Immediate clinical application
   • Helps define physical therapy clinical practice
   • Precursor to effective clinical protocols
   • Teaches physical therapy clinical thought and problem solving
   • Helps establish guidelines of care and prediction of clinical outcomes such as length of treatment, impairment resolution, and prognosis for functional recovery
   • Comparison of patients with similar diagnosis, yet differing treatments and/or outcomes
   • Provides the basis for subsequent clinical trials and/or testing of theory using more controlled studies

   The need and importance of clinical case reports is significant and its importance has greatly increased over the past several years. Without such case reports, clinical science cannot expand and evolve. Therefore, unless there is a well-defined and compelling reason not to use a multiple case study report as a capstone project, it will be the clinical doctoral learner's responsibility to use the Professional Development Seminar (PT687), mentoring with clinical and faculty colleagues, and the Independent Study (PT697) and Research courses (PT685) in the curriculum to successfully develop and complete the capstone requirement in the multiple case study format. A recent example of a multiple case report can be found in a recent issue of The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy (vol 30, pp. 580-594, 2000) or Physical Therapy (vol 80, pp. 688-700, 2000).
   
   
   

   Top of Page
   

Course Location:

Northern Arizona University has taken a leadership role nationally in educational opportunities that meet the needs of adult learners. Coursework may be offered both on the campus in Flagstaff and at distance sites such as Phoenix and Tucson. Education at all sites occurs via in-person delivery. The post professional doctoral degree in physical therapy is designed for the working adult and as such is designed to be primarily a non-residential (off the Flagstaff campus) experience. The current list of course offerings will be available for review on the NAU Physical Therapy Web Site, or can be sent to you upon contacting the department.

Students taking 10 or more credit hours:	$2600
Students taking 7 - 9 credit hours:	$2240
Students taking 4 - 6 credit hours:	$1820
Students taking 1 - 3 credit hours:	$1380

Application Procedures

1. Complete the General Information Form and include the non-refundable $20.00 processing fee (checks made payable to Northern Arizona University)

2. Submit detailed curriculum vitae with your application using the following format. Curriculum vitae not in this prescribed format will be returned to the applicant without being reviewed for admission:
   1. Personal Information
      1. Name
      2. Contact address
      3. Contact Phone Number
      4. E-Mail address
      5. Physical Therapy License Number

   2. Education
      1. Only university and post university coursework that led to an earned degree should be listed here. Please note date the degree was earned

   3. Work Experience and/or Clinical Residencies
      1. List name of facility, city and state, and dates you were engaged in practice. State which of the 4 practice patterns identified in the Guide to Physical Therapy Practice was your primary area of practice. Note if you had administrative roles for that practice environment.

   4. Membership in Professional Associations
      1. List by dates of membership
      2. Include reference to any unique position or role you had within that professional association

   5. Professional Presentations
      1. Limit to the past 7 years only
      2. Include only those presentations that were part of statewide, national, or international physical therapist or medical professional meetings, or those meetings in which continuing education units were awarded as a result of your presentation.
      3. Provide dates and titles of presentations

   6. Publications

   7. Continuing Education/Professional Development Activities
      1. Limit to past 4 years only
      2. List title of presentation, date, location

3. An Interview may be requested by the Program Faculty

4. The final part of the application process is to submit a one page description of your proposed Capstone Project and the contribution you see it making to your professional development. While recognizing that one of the purposes of the Professional Development Seminar will be to more clearly define your project and discuss methods to assure its completion, it is expected that clinical doctoral student will enter the program with a clearly defined plan for their capstone experience. The capstone experience for each clinical doctoral student should take into account their own practice environment and the interests of the physical therapy profession at large.

Admission into the Program

Semester to Begin	Application Deadline
Fall	May 10
Spring	October 1
Summer	January 25

Because space is limited, students not accepted will have their applications, curriculum vitae, and capstone project description returned to them with an invitation to reapply for a later semester. Application materials will not be kept in the department, thus in the event of re-application, the entire application packet must be updated and resubmitted.

Acceptance into the Program

Once a student has been accepted into the Post-Professional Doctorate Program he/she must then complete the process with an application within the Graduate College. The Graduate College can be reached at (928) 523-4348 for specific information.

Contact Us:

Northern Arizona University
Department of Physical Therapy
P.O. Box 15105
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Phone: (928) 523-4092
Fax: (928) 523-9289
LuAnn.Steele@nau.edu