School of Public Health - Physical Therapy DPT

Physical Therapy DPT - Doctoral Projects

THE DOCTORAL PROJECT:
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PROFESSIONAL SPECIALIZATION

The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree at New York Medical College is a clinical doctorate. As such, students are expected to carry out a culminating doctoral project. Students may choose to work on a clinical research project, may choose to complete a public health project, or may take part in a mentored teaching practicum. The model for the doctoral project process is one of apprenticeship and mentorship. In the spring of the first year, students are provided a list of doctoral project offerings by School of Public Health faculty. In some cases, external clinical faculty may co-advise. Students work in teams of 3 students and submit a multiple-author Doctoral manuscript. All students present their work in an open oral presentation and defense in the last semester of study.

The type of Doctoral Project the student carries out will fall into one of three areas: Clinical Research, Education, or Public Health Service. For some projects, the primary information and activity will be a clinical research question that involves the collection and analysis of primary data. For others, the activity and outcomes analyzed will focus on the educational experience of a mentored teaching practicum. A third potential area is the identification of a public health issue and the generation of a program or mechanism for addressing that issue. Activities in this domain may include the gathering of data associated with a public health issue, the development of an educational program to address a public health issue, activities carried out in collaboration with a public health organization or public institution, or the analysis of national data sets or previously collected data. The expectation is for the eventual publication and/or presentation of many of these projects in a professional forum.

Course Syllabus

Current Doctoral Project Descriptions: