The Clarkson family crest in stained glass occupies the window of the second floor staircase landing in Holcroft House.
Accreditation Status:   The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) accredited Clarkson University's graduate physical therapy professional curriculum on October 24, 2001. The State Education Department of the University of the State of New York approved Clarkson University's graduate physical therapy as the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) on May 1, 2005.
Students taking classes outside on the Clarkson campus

Philosophy of the Physical Therapy Program

Engage in a Helping & Healing Profession

The philosophy of our DPT program underpins how we teach and plan your curriculum and is fundamenal to your success not only as a student, but also influences your contributions as a caring and healing health professional.  Upon graduation, you will be confident in your ability to make a difference in the lives of others and to maximize new technologies and techniques for the benefit of humanity.

We believe that the:

  • Core values1 of the physical therapy profession are accountability, altruism, compassion/caring, excellence, integrity, professional duty, and social responsibility;
  • Pillars of autonomous practice2 are professionalism, practice based upon a post-baccalaureate degree (DPT), direct access for patients to physical therapy services, access for patients to providers of their choice, and practice based on evidence; and
  • Existence of the Department of Physical Therapy at Clarkson University facilitates awareness of, and appreciation for, health professions and health education within the University and local community. We take our role as members of broader university community seriously and span boundaries across disciplines to enrich the research of other scholars as well as our own preparation. 

We believe that graduates of Clarkson University's Department of Physical Therapy will be competent and autonomous professionals who are:

  • Effective contributors to the profession through clinical practice, research, education, and professional service;
  • Effective communicators in a variety of environments, capable of using various modes of communication;
  • Reflective practitioners, who examine their practice to ensure the highest quality of service;
  • Practitioners who are aware of the values, beliefs, and capabilities, of themselves and others, as a basis for optimal health care delivery;
  • Committed to having the knowledge, skills, and integrity, necessary to meet health and wellness needs of a diverse community in a changing society; and
  • Technologically competent to fulfill their professional roles effectively.

We believe that our Problem-Based Learning education model:

  • Provides a quality, technologically rich, academic and clinical learning environment;
  • Emphasizes active learning experiences that facilitate critical thinking abilities, and values clarification;
  • Develops collaborative skills for the interdisciplinary nature of health care;
  • Stimulates autonomous, self-directed, life-long learning and problem solving skills;
  • Emphasizes a linkage between didactic and clinical learning experiences;
  • Facilitates relationships among the Department, University, and community;
  • Integrates foundational sciences, clinical sciences, and professional practice throughout the curriculum;
  • Instills an awareness of critical social, ethical, and environmental issues inherent in our pluralistic world;
  • Promotes scholarly activity as an integral component of the physical therapy profession; and
  • Provides mentoring relationships for faculty, students, and clinicians.

We believe that the physical therapy faculty, as educators/scholars/clinicians:

  • Develop and implement an innovative curriculum that continually evolves to reflect changing knowledge and needs of the physical therapy profession;
  • Mature in the ability to participate in scholarly activity, clinical practice, and service to the academic, professional, and public communities;
  • Promote and participate actively in the APTA on local, regional, or national level(s); and
  • Model and promote the core values 1 and pillars 2 of autonomous physical therapy practice.

We believe that students who enter Clarkson University's physical therapy professional curriculum have:

  • A baccalaureate degree in a self-selected major;
  • Explored health professions as potential career choices, and demonstrate knowledge of, and commitment to, physical therapy as a profession;
  • Learning experiences that foster thinking processes needed for problem-solving, critical thinking, and independent and self-directed learning;
  • Skills in collaboration, teamwork, and technological competency sufficient to permit successful participation in a Problem-Based Learning curriculum;
  • Values, such as caring, diligence, diversity, integrity, growth, service, teamwork, and vision, which provide a foundation for the core values1 of the profession.

1 American Physical Therapy Association. A Normative Model for Physical Therapy Education: Version 2004. Alexandria, VA, 2004, p. 133.

2American Physical Therapy Association.