Upstate Medical University will soon offer future physical therapists a streamlined curriculum to earn their degrees.

Students in the College of Health Professions’ Doctor of Physical Therapy program can earn their degree in eight semesters, one less than the standard nine semesters. Whereas the previous program took three years, students will complete the new one in 2.5 years.

“The new, highly integrated DPT curriculum is an exciting and innovative approach to learning,” offered College of Health Professions Dean Katherine Beissner, PT, PhD.  “In addition to linking content across content areas, the new curriculum incorporates more hands-on clinical work early in the program, allowing students to immediately see the relevance of didactic coursework in patient care.

Shaving off a semester helps students reduce debt and minimize the stress of being in an intense graduate program. Plus, it gets Upstate graduates into the job market well before their peers at other institutions, giving them a jump on the application process and finding a job.

“It’s going to give them a competitive edge because most programs aren’t finishing in the fall like we will,” said Doctor of Physical Therapy program Chair Adam Rufa PT, DPT, PhD, OCS. “They will be able to finish their program, take their boards and get into the job market before the other students finish their programs. Every spring, the market is flooded with new PT graduates. Getting out ahead of many other schools will be a big advantage for our students.”

The new program, the only one like it in Central New York, will debut with the class that starts in June of 2025.

Rufa said that important content is not being eliminated, but the program is becoming more efficient. For example, currently, students take several one or two-credit classes narrowly focused on topics such as ethics or imaging. Rather than learning these concepts in isolation, these topics will be integrated into larger more clinically focused classes. He adds that the change is a more effective way to teach and learn.

“Instead of three separate assignments, for example, in three smaller credit classes, all of that work is combined into one course, which reduces the overall burden on the student,” Rufa said. “Having those topics in isolated silos doesn’t work well when the goal is integrating the students’ knowledge and skills.”

The student clinical experience has also been adjusted, adding more integrated clinical experiences which occur along with didactic course work. Students will get 30 weeks of full-time experience that starts with an 8-week clinical in the summer of the second year and ends with a 12-week clinical in the fall of the final semester.      

Shaving off a semester saves tuition and room and board costs for students. Tuition alone is $15,000 per semester for out-of-state students and $13,000 per semester for in-state students. Add on housing and food costs, and the savings are considerable.

To develop this new curriculum the department hired a consultant and sought input from numerous stakeholders, including current students, clinical partners, and alumni. 

“We performed a thorough analysis of the program and elicited input from outside experts in the field of physical therapy education,” he said.

Rufa said Upstate is the only school in the local area to make these changes and is one of only a few in-person accelerated programs in the country.  

Students typically enter Upstate’s DPT program after earning a bachelor’s degree, and Upstate’s DPT graduates get hired in a variety of settings including hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, schools, academia, the military, college sports, and professional athletics (including the Bills, Mets, Nets, and the Hornets).   

“Demand for our graduates is very high,” Rufa said. “We have a 100 percent employment rate and the need for physical therapists, especially locally, continues to grow.”

Caption: DPT Program Chair Adam Rufa, DPT, PhD, and DPT student Devin Sedwick, in the physical therapy lab in Silverman Hall.