YSU to award first doctoral PT degrees Sunday

Statistics show that physical therapy jobs will grow by 27 percent by 2016.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University will award its first doctor of physical therapy degrees at 2 p.m. Sunday in Beeghly Center.

The clinical doctorate of physical therapy program was approved last month by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Sixteen students will receive the degree.

The doctorate of physical therapy is YSU’s second doctorate program. Its first, the doctorate in educational leadership, started in 1992 in the Beeghly College of Education. One doctorate in educational leadership will be awarded Sunday.

“YSU is one of just 10 schools in the state to offer the DPT,” said Nancy Landgraff, chair of YSU’s physical therapy department and an associate professor, “but we expect the clinical doctorate to become the standard for physical therapists nationwide by 2020.”

David Denton of Struthers, one of the new DPT recipients, said the entry-level clinical doctorate program will help the university attract more students. “I think the DPT program gives YSU something special to offer, and the whole profession is changing in this direction,” he said.

There are 17 students in the program’s second-year class expected to graduate in May, and 23 are enrolled in the first-year class.

“The program is very competitive, and we have a waiting list. Our applications exceed the number of available slots by 60 percent,” Landgraff said. “And job opportunities are outstanding. Every one of our graduates has had offers.”

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that physical therapy job numbers will grow 27 percent by 2016.

Denton believes a doctorate-level education is important because physical therapists are direct-access practitioners in 48 states, including Ohio. That means they can evaluate and treat patients without a physician referral, he explained.

YSU’s physical therapy program started in 1996 as a bachelor’s degree program in the Bitonte College of Health and Human Services. It switched to a three-year master’s program in 2002 when the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education established post-graduate level education requirements for new physical therapists nationwide.

Landgraff credited Marlene Iannucci, associate professor and former department chair, for leading the necessary shift in course offerings, including the addition of nine new courses and one full-time faculty member.

Undergraduates from a variety of fields can qualify for the DPT program.