Professional (Entry-Level) Doctoral Degrees in Physical Therapy: Status as of Spring 2003

Journal of Physical Therapy Education, Fall 2006 by Domholdt, Elizabeth, Kerr, Leann O'Reel, Mount, Katherine A

Background and Purpose. Since its inception in 1993, the professional (entry-level) Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree has been adopted by a rapidly growing number of programs in the United States. The purpose of this study was to provide information on the process and status of the transition toward the DPT in spring 2003, updating and extending a previous study completed in spring 2000.

Subjects. Directors of 145 of 191 (76%) accredited physical therapist education programs participated.

Method. An Internet-based questionnaire was sent to the directors of 191 accredited physical therapist education programs in the United States.

Results. Of 144 respondents, 119 had made a decision regarding the DPT, with 117 of those (98%) deciding in favor of offering the DPT degree. Compared to public institutions, a higher proportion of programs at private institutions had decided to implement the DPT. Substantially more programs were further along in the higher-level approval process than in 2000. Desired characteristics of DPT students at entry were relatively unchanged compared to those desired by programs previously in place at the respective institutions. According to the questionnaire responses, clinical education characteristics have changed to include: more hours in clinical education, longer duration of each clinical experience, and facilitation of student roles beyond patient care. Almost 90% of DPT programs required either a group or individual culminating scholarly project. Programs' desired faculty characteristics have evolved and put a greater emphasis on a record of publication, establishment of a research agenda, and possession of a doctoral degree other than the professional (entry-level) DPT.

Discussion and Conclusion. Programs educating physical therapists in the United States are transitioning to professional DPT programs at a rate that exceeds prior predictions. While there are still a higher proportion of programs at private than public institutions making the transition, other characteristics that once differentiated programs with differing decisions are no longer factors.

Key Words: Doctor of Physical Therapy degree, Physical therapist education.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Professional (entry-level) education for physical therapists in the United States is rapidly changing to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. Initially discussed by Johnson in her Mary McMillan lecture to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) in 1985,' the first professional DPT class was initiated at Creighton University in 1993.2 Barely more than a decade later, the Evaluative Criteria adopted by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) indicated that the DPT degree was the preferred degree to be awarded for completion of a professional physical therapist education program.' The DPT degree is thought to match the length and complexity of contemporary physical therapist education as well as provide the appropriate preparation for the clinical decision-making and diagnostic skills required within contemporary physical therapist practice.

The transition to the DPT degree has been moving at a pace that is difficult for the refereed literature of the profession to match. A study conducted by the Task Force on Entry-Level Doctoral Education of APTA's Education section was undertaken in spring 2000 and published in 2002. This study, though dated by the time of publication, provided insight into the process of transition to the DPT degree among accredited physical therapist education programs at institutions in the United States, and predicted that "up to 58 entry-level doctoral programs will exist by 2005."4(p65) However, even in 2000, these authors acknowledged the "volatile nature of education and practice environments"(p61) and anticipated that "the nature and pace of the transition may undergo substantial change as it unfolds over the next several years."4(p67) As we now know, the actual number of accredited DPT programs in 2005 greatly exceeded the earlier prediction: As of November 2005, there were 141 accredited DPT programs in the United States.5

The results of the 2000 study showed that programs offering or changing to the DPT degree were more likely to be located at private institutions than at public institutions, to have a longer history of awarding graduate degrees, to have a larger faculty, and to have a faculty with a higher proportion of doctoral degrees than did those of programs that had not yet considered doctoral education. In addition, factors reported to affect decisions and influence change related to the DPT were competition, practice needs, curricular factors, institutional factors, faculty qualifications, and opinions of clinical educators.4

The DPT gained further momentum in June of 2000 when APTA's House of Delegates issued its Vision Statement for the profession asserting that "physical therapy, by 2020, will be provided by physical therapists who are doctors of physical therapy."6 Additional progress was made in February of 2001 when APTA's Education section formally endorsed the DPT as "the preferred first professional degree for the physical therapist,"7 and again in 2006 when CAPTE accreditation criteria identified the DPT as the preferred degree.3