South Dakota physical therapy has ventured to the online frontier.
USD will now offer an online transitional doctorate of physical therapy degree (tDPT) through the School of Health Sciences.
This is the first online doctoral program in the South Dakota Regental System, according to USD’s Web site. There are 21 other online-only tDPT programs in the U.S., said Patrick Cross, USD tDPT program director and assistant professor.
There are 15 students, five from South Dakota, expected to enroll in classes this fall for the 25-credit hour program. Students from six states were accepted, and the program is designed to last for five semesters.
Beth Vilhauer, a physical therapist in Sioux Falls and mom, said the program allows her to continue practicing at her clinic while increasing education in her field.
“Best of all worlds, continue to do what I love to do, to be a mom, to be a clinician, to contribute to my profession and to my city and to grow professionally,” Vilhauer said.
Scott Tebeau of Olympia, Wash., said he chose the USD program after comparing options at other schools because of affordability, course content and the fact that it was offered by a major university. He enrolled in the program to improve his healthcare knowledge and have more options in education.
“I also was very impressed with the excellent and timely communication from the recruitment coordinator, Meredith Schroder and Pat Cross, the tDPT program director,” Tebeau said.
The new online degree was built from curricular models by the American Physical Therapy Association and includes unique elements, such as a focus on rural health, Cross said.
USD physical therapy department Chair Lana Svien envisioned the online program, Cross said.
The program was also created to be affordable because many practitioners do not get direct pay raises for completing tDPT programs, Cross said.
Designed to be completely online and flexible for students, practitioners could ideally complete the program without leaving their professional positions, Cross said. Most other schools that offer the online degrees require travel to campus, he said, and cutting out travel in the USD program will save students money.
Cross said the degree is targeted at already-practicing physical therapists who either hold a certificate in physical therapy and have a bachelor’s of science degree in a select field with 20 years experience in the field, a Bachelor’s of Science degree in physical therapy along with 10 years of experience or have obtained a Master’s Degree in physical therapy and have two years of experience.
“Our initial marketing focus was with physical therapists in the state of South Dakota and our clinical instructors,” Cross said.
Since these students are already practicing physical therapists, Cross said, they are allowed the same opportunities, if not more than, the current in-classroom students are given throughout their courses.
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