Entry-Level Doctorate in Physical Therapy Program

Education in the health professions has been central to the mission of Stony Brook University since 1963 when the Muir Commission recommended that an academic health center be located on the campus to address regional health manpower shortages. The Health Sciences Center at Stony Brook University established in 1972 is Long Island’s only comprehensive academic health sciences center. The Health Sciences Center includes schools of Dental Medicine, Social Welfare, Nursing, and Health Technology and Management. The physical therapy program is one of seven professional programs within the School of Health Technology and Management.

Stony Brook University graduated its first class of physical therapists in 1973 with baccalaureate degrees and proudly celebrated its 30-year reunion in July of 2004 with a well-attended alumni gala. Stony Brook’s physical therapy program prides itself on graduating more than 1000 innovative clinicians with exceptional leadership skills who maintain strong ties to the academic program and profession. Graduates of this program can be found working throughout the United States in a variety of clinical practice settings. Many have assumed leadership positions in their practice setting, administration, research, teaching and within professional associations. Many graduates continue their relationship with the program serving as clinical instructors in practice settings, adjuncts in lab courses and teaching assistants in lecture courses.

The scope of practice of the physical therapist has changed significantly since the early days of the profession. New graduates must meet the health care challenges of the 21st century including functioning as independent practitioners. Since 2001, the terminal degree earned through the Stony Brook University program is an Entry-Level Doctorate in Physical Therapy (DPT). A bachelor’s degree is required prior to matriculation and provides the contemporary applicant with greater depth and breadth of preparation in foundational sciences as well as the liberal arts. The current three-year entry-level graduate program focuses on the acquisition, integration and application of profession-specific theory and knowledge, fundamental concepts and skills, and evidence-based clinical decision-making for effecting desired patient outcomes.

Stony Brook’s physical therapy program has direct access to the largest tertiary care hospital in Suffolk County (University Hospital) and the Long Island State Veterans Home. Both facilities are on the Stony Brook Campus and only a short walk from the physical therapy program. Clinical staff from both facilities, residents from the nursing home and patients from University Hospital and its outpatient department participate in classroom demonstrations and case study integrative weeks. The close relationship with these facilities as well as St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson and other local physical therapy practices provides an environment for sharing clinical expertise between clinicians and educators.

In the 2007-2008 academic year, the Physical Therapy Program will launch a Human Performance Research Laboratory on the grounds of Stony Brook University’s Gyrodyne Research Campus. Stony Brook University, rated number three in the country for public research institutions, places a high priority on collaborative research within the university community. This new facility places the physical therapy program in an ideal position to develop and participate in research teams that investigate important educational, clinical, and management questions in health care.

As technology and science contribute to an ever-changing environment for the practice of physical therapy and all health care, educating new professionals to serve the public and the health care system remains our greatest priority. We welcome the next generation of Stony Brook Physical Therapy colleagues!