Physical Therapy DPT

	Michael J. Majsak, Ed.D., P.T. Associate Professor and Department Chair

Greetings from the Department Chair

Welcome to the webpage of the Department of Physical Therapy in the School of Public Health at New York Medical College. We are very proud of our Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, our students, our alumni, and all of our accomplishments. In this, our 10^th Anniversary year, we are pleased to say that our tradition of excellence continues to grow.

For the second year in a row, 100% of our DPT graduates passed the national licensure exam within 3 months of their graduation, with first-time passing rates exceeding both the state and national averages. This year’s graduates are all employed, and two of our graduates have already co-authored presentations of their faculty-sponsored doctoral projects at the 2006 American Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. Another of our faculty, Cathy Curtis, PT, EdD, was one of a panel of experts at that conference who spoke on the topic of integrating Genomics into physical therapy education. In fact, our program was the first in the country to offer students a distance-based seminar on the application of Genomics to physical therapy practice.

The bright and capable first-year students who joined us this past June are deep into their foundational science coursework.  Our second-year class is integrating these sciences into their clinical coursework and looking forward to continuing their clinical affiliations next spring. Our third-year class is completing their doctoral work as they hone their clinical skills on their final clinical affiliations.

We continue to enjoy the benefits of being an important component of the School of Public Health. There are so many issues physical therapists address that are not only issues of clinical practice, but larger issues of public health. Areas such as adolescent obesity, early intervention for children, women’s health issues, workplace injury prevention, sports training and conditioning, preventing falls in the elderly extend from the clinic to the public sector. We view contemporary physical therapy as not only treating people with injuries or disease, but also promoting healthy lifestyles and work environments, and preventing problems or detecting them at the earliest stages. The School of Public Health provides our students a perspective on physical therapy that does not occur in a traditional medical school environment. Our students are able to learn state-of-the-art screening techniques for risk factors and early indicators of illness, and how to design health and wellness programs. These skills complement those they learn for treating patients in acute-care settings, rehabilitation centers, home care and long-term care settings. Our ability to integrate the public health education of our students within the School of Public Health with medical and foundation sciences through coursework with faculty of the School of Medicine and School of Basic Medical Sciences is truly unique and unmatched by other programs in this country.

Being part of a major university medical center provides us access to faculty who are experts in their field, state-of-the-art facilities, and clinical environments that promote the integration of the theory and practice of physical therapy. Our human anatomy lab that allows our students to perform full body cadaver dissection and our spacious clinical lab areas are accessible to our students 24 hours a day. Close ties to area clinics and groups of individuals with disabilities allows our students to see and work with patients even while still in the classroom setting.  

The clinical research and scholarship of our program faculty is diverse, including areas such as neural protection strategies for Parkinson’s disease, rehabilitation following stroke, health and wellness screening and program development for healthy adults, overweight and obese adolescents, and school children with chronic disabilities. We have also carried out projects with collegiate dancers, physical therapists in school settings, and disabled athletes involved in road racing. These involve close ties to other institutions and groups that include Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, The Harkness Center for Dance Injuries, and The Achilles Track Club. We are proud to have developed these close relationships with research partners.

The first priority of our program continues to be excellence in the education of physical therapy students. Our foundational sciences are taught by university faculty that teach the medical students and basic medical science doctoral students. The clinical coursework in physical therapy is taught by program faculty assisted by expert clinicians from many of the excellent clinics located within the Hudson Valley. Students observe and work with patients in the classroom, at Westchester Medical Center, and while on field trips at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, Helen Hayes Hospital, and the Bronx VA Hospital. In addition, our program has one of the most well-established problem-based learning structures in the country. Our class size is small, our attention to student performance is high, and thus, our graduates excel in clinical practice.

We believe that close professional relationships between faculty and students is crucial for effective education at a doctoral level. Thus, our class size target remains limited to 30 students, despite the trend of many schools to increase their class size. Students are assigned to faculty members for professional development and advisement, and an open door policy exists between all students and faculty. With a small class size, high attention to student performance, and devoted faculty, our graduates excel in their education and eventual clinical practice.

Our applicants now come to us from across the entire nation, and from a host of foreign countries.  Sharing a strong academic background, our students bring with them undergraduate majors that are varied and colorful.  These include: anthropology, biology, business and marketing, exercise science, journalism, psychology, dance, education, and neuroscience.  At New York Medical College we appreciate and gather eclectic groups of students who possess a broad spectrum of personal talents.  Thus, our principal interest in the academic backgrounds of applicants to the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program is evidence of successful academic accomplishment and completion of the prerequisites that prepare students for our program. We believe that studying, learning, and growing with people of different cultural backgrounds and life experiences prepares students for the environments and communities in which they will ultimately practice physical therapy. 

We hope that you, either as potential faculty, potential students, or merely as friends of the college, will consider joining our professional family at New York Medical College. Please feel free to call, write, e-mail, or schedule a time to stop by to see wonderful things going on within the Department of Physical Therapy in the School of Public Health at New York Medical College.

Michael J. Majsak, PT, EdD

Associate Professor and Chair

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