Physical Therapy

Our Program  ♦  Curriculum  ♦  Post-Professional DPT  ♦ Prerequisite Requirements ♦ FAQ

Physical therapy (PHTH) is a health care profession devoted to optimum health and function. Physical therapy improves and maintains an individual’s ability to move and assists in the prevention of movement disorders. Physical therapists work directly with patients and clients of all ages. They conduct evaluations to identify and then resolve problems and potential problems. Typical problems addressed by physical therapists include impaired movement, pain, and compromised ability to carry out daily activities. Physical therapists may choose to work in a variety of settings including private practice, acute care and rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes, industry, private home therapy, school systems, and athletic programs.

Stockton offers programs leading to the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree. One program is the professional DPT designed to prepare our students to become physical therapists. We invite high school and college undergraduate applicants and applicants who already hold a baccalaureate degree to apply to the program. Our DPT Program is three (3) years.

 

About Our Program

The Physical Therapy faculty are an impressive group devoted to our students and the profession of Physical Therapy. Collectively, we are a professionally and personally diverse group who are well renowned at a national, state, and local level. We have vast clinical expertise in all major areas of practice. Faculty conducts research on an ongoing basis and routinely present and publish work in collaboration with our students. The faculty are dedicated educators and highly accessible. In addition to our full-time physical therapy faculty members, many other professionals contribute to the program, including physicians, basic scientists, and other health care professionals.

The curriculum is contemporary and innovative. Students learn in small class sizes in well-equipped classroom facilities. They have ongoing patient contact in the program such as patients visiting the classroom and regular trips to local clinics including two (2) on-campus hospitals. Additionally, there are three (3) full-time clinical experiences. For optimal learning, the full-time clinical experiences are scheduled at key times throughout the curriculum. Clinical experiences are concentrated in the mid-Atlantic region with additional sites outside the area.

As a school within the New Jersey system of Higher Education, every effort is made to maintain the affordability of the program. Students pay a combination of undergraduate and doctoral tuition during the first year and doctoral tuition thereafter. In some cases, students are able to complete their baccalaureate and doctoral education in six (6) years through a "dual degree" program. Many students are awarded Stockton Graduate Assistantships that permit exciting learning experiences such as working in clinics and conducting research. Students can also apply for internal and external scholarships.

Graduates of the program are our ambassadors. Our graduation rate for the past three years is 86.1%. Our graduates overall pass rate on the national physical therapy licensure examination is 100% for the Classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011. Our graduates are routinely employed within six months of passing the licensure examination, most within weeks.

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Prerequisites

Prerequisite Courses- Must be completed with a minimum grade of "C" or better by the spring semester of the year of your application to the DPT program.

Biology- One year of general biology with labs (BIOL 1200/1205 and BIOL 1400/1405 or equivalent)

Chemistry- One year of chemistry with labs (CHEM 2110/2115 and CHEM 2120/2125 or equivalent)

Physics- One year of physics with labs (PHYS 2110/2115 and PHYS 2120/2125 or equivalent)

Anatomy/Physiology- One year of anatomy and physiology (A&P I and A&P II) with labs (BIOL 2150/2151 and BIOL 2180/2185 or equivalent) OR one course in anatomy with lab (BIOL 2150/2151 or equivalent) AND one course in physiology with lab (BIOL 2180/2185 or equivalent)

Psychology- General Psychology or Introduction to Psychology (PSYCH 1100 or equivalent)

*Students applying to meet the fall admission deadline may have no more than 2 prerequisite courses to be completed in the following spring semester. Admission to the DPT Program will be contingent on successful completion of these courses no later than the end of the spring semester. For Stockton course descriptions, please visit The College's Course Catalog.

In addition to completion of the above prerequisite courses, applicants must have:

• an overall GPA of at least 3.0 or above (based on a 4.0 scale);
• completed a minimum of 64 credit hours of undergraduate education at an accredited college or university at the time of application. 
• a minimum of 80 hours of physical therapy field experience;
• completed the SAT or GRE and have official scores mailed directly to PTCAS (visit www.PTCAS.org for more details). 

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DPT Curriculum Worksheet- 104 credits

Year 1- Fall Semester	Year 1- Spring Semester
BIOL 4230 Neuroscience	BIOL 4150 Advanced Physiology
BIOL 4231 Neuroscience Lab	Statistics
PHTH 5010 Human Gross Anatomy	PHTH 5001 Kinesiology/Primary Physical Therapy Exam Techniques
PHTH 5020 Pathology
Year 2 - Fall Semester	Year 2- Spring Semester
PHTH 5500 Musculoskeletal PT I	PHTH 5520 Musculoskeletal PT III
PHTH 5510 Musculoskeletal PT II	PHTH 5530 Musculoskeletal PT IV
PHTH 5600 Research I	PHTH 5610 Research II
	PHTH 6610 Physical Therapy Management
Summer Session- 10 weeks full-time off-campus	PHTH 5805 Pre-Clinical Experience I
PHTH 5810 Clinical Experience I
Year 3- Fall Semester	Year 3- Spring Semester
PHTH 6500 Neuromuscular PT I	PHTH 6810 Clinical Experience II (10 weeks full-time off-campus)
PHTH 6510 Neuromuscular PT II	Last 6 weeks of semester on-campus
PHTH 6520 Cardiopulmonary PT	PHTH 6530 Other Systems in PT
PHTH 6805 Pre-Clinical Experience II	PHTH 6650 Issues in Health Care
	PHTH 6640 Education Practicum
	PHTH 6660 Health & Wellness Practicum
Summer Session- 10 weeks full-time off-campus	PHTH 6620 Research III
PHTH 6820 Clinical Experience III	PHTH 6815 Pre-Clinical Experience III

The Post-Professional (transitional) Program (tDPT)
Stockton also offers a post-professional (transitional) DPT program that is designed to prepare licensed physical therapists to be contemporary physical therapists who use an evidenced-based approach to meet the current and future physical therapy needs of the patient/client and profession. The mission of the program is to augment the professional education of licensed physical therapists to achieve a standard education for the doctoring profession of physical therapy. The transitional (tDPT) is primarily an online program.

Apply today.  If you have further questions, Request More Information, view Frequently Asked Questions, visit the Physical Therapy Program Web site, or please call the Graduate Admissions Office at (609) 626-3640 or E-mail gradschool@stockton.edu.

Thomas P. Nolan Jr., PT, DPT, MS, OCS
Director, Associate Professor
Doctor of Physical Therapy Program

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