hybrid dpt delivery model information

We will be holding intensive lab sessions after a period of online learning. Franklin Pierce’s DPT program operates on the quarter system of 12-week terms.  At the beginning of the program, there will be a three-day orientation session in Goodyear, AZ. Terms 1 and 2 will have three intensive labs. In the remaining terms there will be two intensive labs. Intensive labs will occur on the Goodyear Campus and last between three and five days. All other times will be held online with a mix of synchronous (via Zoom) and asynchronous times for didactic material.

Online portions: You will be completing online reading, assignments and individual projects during the weeks of the online sections on your own time (asynchronous activities). There will be synchronous sessions scheduled during the online portion (attendance online required). You will know about these weekly times before the beginning of each term for your scheduling purposes. During these synchronous times, the faculty will be leading discussions and monitoring group and individual learning activities.

Intensive Lab portions: These will be three or five day sessions on-site in our labs in Goodyear, Arizona. These are mandatory sessions and serve as the key learning and assessment of clinical competence and preparation for clinical experiences. These sessions will include long days including evenings and may run over a long weekend. You are expected to come to these labs with significant learning from the online portion, so that lab can focus on practicing clinical skills and performing evaluations/treatments. We are committed to having live patients for you to work with at our clinic at specific times during these sessions.

This is a full-time intensive graduate program. Full-time work is strongly discouraged and may not be conducive to program success. Part-time flexible work may be possible, but you will need to be sure you can be available for the synchronous times and the on-campus labs. Because of the intensity of the labs, missing just one portion of a day may be detrimental to success in the program.

You will learn in a combination format of online and in person sessions. We believe that this will prepare you best for lifelong learning as you work to advance your professional knowledge following licensure. Faculty will be available to assist with difficult areas of understanding. In addition, you will have graduate assistants from the class prior to you to assist you through the understanding of the material. Faculty will also have virtual office hours for you to attend at your own convenience.

Network Monitoring System:  We are initiating an alumni mentoring program for students to have a practicing physical therapist as a mentor in their local community to assist with the learning and understanding of the physical therapy skills. The student may also chose a local mentor or the faculty will work with the student to find an alumni or clinical partner in the student’s area to serve in this capacity.

All clinical sites must be vetted by our clinical education team, and we will begin that process early in your program if you have sites in your area that are not already approved. We have clinical sites all over the country, so we may already have sites near you. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to stay at your home location for all clinical experiences. You will benefit from a variety of settings during your three clinical experiences, and these may be outside of a commutable distance from your home.

FPU will provide you with an iPad loaded with tools to help you be successfully in this program. We are committed to having all electronic books available to you through this device. You may still purchase hard copy books, but you will be able to travel lightly with the material available through cloud internet storage. A fee will be charged in term one for this device and you will be able to keep the device following graduation. This will significantly reduce the amount needed for books and materials.

If you are in the local area or choose to move to the local area, the Goodyear facility will be accessible for your study. You can have access to study with peers or be in person for the synchronous sessions.
In addition, it is two-year and 6-week full-time program. This allows you to complete the program in less time and begin your career more rapidly. Our goal is to reduce the cost of education for you. You will graduate in October of 2024.

FPU is a fully accredited program through 2026 with a strong record of success. CAPTE has reviewed and approved this program. The current curriculum is being maintained with slight changes to allow a shortening of the program. The faculty have carefully reviewed and found several areas to reduce the length of the program. These include reduction of clinical weeks from 38 to 30 which meets the CAPTE requirement, use of evidence-based practice as the core of research rather than a full research project, and integration of the elective objectives into the required requirements. We believe that we have designed a curriculum that will continue excellent education.

We will be accepting students into this cohort beginning in November until we fill the class. We have increased the class size from 36 to 56 as approved by CAPTE.

We are keeping the cohort size small to provide for more interactive learning. We believe that this small class size will allow our faculty to provide more direct individualized attention to each student as they progress through the program.

Our current deposit to hold a seat is non-refundable $500.