Applications are open for Binghamton University’s new Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program.

First established in 2019 within the Decker School of Nursing, the DPT program achieved “candidate for accreditation” status from the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) in late 2022. According to BingUNews, this development means BU can begin implementing the program and accepting applications for the first cohort of doctoral students. During this phase, annual reports must be submitted to CAPTE, who will complete the full accreditation process before the graduation of the first cohort.

Previously, the program — developed within the DPT in Decker School of Nursing — was approved by SUNY and the New York State Education Department (NYSED). Michael Buck, the founding chair of the DPT program and associate professor of physical therapy, described the accreditation process and the rigorous standards applied by both CAPTE and New York state.

“Physical therapy education is at a unique time where there are opportunities to respond to calls for excellence and innovation in how we prepare future physical therapists,” Buck wrote in an email. “Change in academia can be slow and difficult due to the oversight that occurs at the institutional and state level. Being a new program, there is ample opportunity to innovate without having to change an existing program.”

The expansion of the Decker School of Nursing into a full-fledged school of health sciences was prioritized in BU’s “Road Map Renewal” process in 2017. According to interviews with BU President Harvey Stenger and Provost Donald Nieman, the idea was to move Decker School of Nursing away from solely nursing and pharmacy, instead expanding the school into a coordinated, allied health curriculum.

The process of expanding the offerings at the Decker School of Nursing made progress in September 2020 when BU announced the hiring of new staff within Decker College.

The Pre-Occupational and Physical Therapy Association (POPTA) expressed interest in the prospect of the expanded School of Applied Health Sciences. Dana Kurthy, POPTA’s public relations chair and a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, gave her thoughts about how the expanded curriculum would affect the organization going forward.

“As a pre-PT student, I am thrilled that [BU] now offers a curriculum geared toward my future,” Kurthy wrote in an email. “My educational experience at [BU] has evoked authenticity, collaboration and diligence within myself by providing an environment that helped to shape my goals and aspirations. I am excited for future members of POPTA to have such an incredible opportunity within our University, and I believe this program will help produce the next generation of physical therapy students.”

Earning a DPT at BU is a three-year process requiring a combination of classroom instruction, laboratory experience and real-world clinical experiences. The course load amounts to 115 credits. Accepted applicants will begin the program this summer.

Antonia Canosa, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, connected her feelings about the future of the Decker School of Nursing with how COVID-19 has changed the health care landscape.

“I think it’s great,” Canosa said. “I think what [COVID-19] showed us is that we need more health professionals. Young people want to work in health care, and we should be opening new routes to do that.”

Buck addressed how the Decker School of Nursing will be strengthened by the diversification of its curriculum, and how students will benefit as a result.

“The health care of tomorrow requires providers to practice within the interprofessional team,” Buck wrote. “That means that the educational preparation of these future clinicians must be within a setting that has programs in multiple allied health clinical degree programs. The growth of Decker [School of Nursing] and [BU’s] commitment to interprofessional education and the experiences we will provide our students will be an asset to our graduates and their future patients.”