The University of Findlay will offer a doctor of physical therapy program beginning in the fall of 2008. The first doctor of physical therapy degrees will be awarded in 2011.
    
The doctor of physical therapy is the second degree program of this level at the University. The six-year pharmacy program was initiated four years ago, and the first doctor of pharmacy degrees will be awarded in 2010.
    
The physical therapy program at The University of Findlay has been a bachelor’s and master’s program. Students took basic sciences and related courses for the first three years, and began the professional phase of the program in the fourth year. Students received a bachelor’s degree after four years and a master’s degree after five years. The doctor of physical therapy will be a 3+3 program with basic science and related courses during the first three years and then three years in the professional phase of the program. Much of the final year will be devoted to clinical work at hospitals and other medical sites throughout the country.
    
Findlay has both traditional weekday and non-traditional weekend physical therapy programs. The weekend physical therapy curriculum is designed for those who have worked in physical therapy and who want to earn a graduate degree in their field. Students in the non-traditional program spend every other weekend on campus for two years during the class phase of their program and about a year of clinical work.
     
Thirty-five students are accepted into each physical therapy class, both traditional and non-traditional. Graduates have performed well on the national physical therapy licensure examination, and typically have a good selection of job opportunities and 100 percent employment within 30 days of graduation.
    
The physical therapy program at The University of Findlay has been endorsed and accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy, and accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.