PT Procedures

This 15-week course during the second term of the DPT curriculum is a clinical science course with an emphasis on building foundational patient care skills as they pertain primarily to the acute care and inpatient rehabilitation settings.

This course focuses on developing basic knowledge and skills required to deliver physical therapy services in the earliest stages of recovery, from critical care to inpatient rehabilitation. Students will learn to combine data from multiple sources (including patient history, laboratory results, and patient examination) to produce a diagnosis and prognosis and develop an individualized plan of care. Students learn basic patient handling skills they will utilize throughout the remainder of the DPT curriculum, and they practice and demonstrate proper selection and use of common assistive devices. There is a concurrent focus on physical therapy documentation and the use of functional goal-writing to support clinical decisions and justify skilled care. Clinical decision-making is developed through role-playing, case study, and review of scientific literature. Emphasis will be placed on the physical therapist acting as part of an interdisciplinary team of providers, and the important role of patient-centered care.