UNIQUE FEATURES OF THE PROGRAM

1. Areas of Curricular Concentration

The DPT program at Columbia seeks to train the physical therapist for generalist practice. However, the faculty recognizes that many career opportunities await our graduates, which require some additional advanced competencies. To that end, the faculty has committed to developing four areas of concentration within the curriculum; orthopedics, adult neurology, pediatrics and cardiopulmonary. Students have the opportunity to select an advanced topics course, electives, the capstone project as option of honor research and clinical internship related to an area of interest.

The advanced topics and elective courses provide a dynamic complement to the required curriculum. By exploring aspects of physical therapy that extend beyond traditional entry-level education, the students' sample new and innovative techniques as well as upcoming trends in the profession of physical therapy services. The faculty is afforded a great deal of curricular flexibility to examine the above 4 specialty areas in greater depth and breadth than what is expected from an entry-level program.

2. Capstone Project

The investigational component of the DPT requires the completion of a project whereby the student, under the direct supervision of a faculty member has an opportunity to explore clinical, administrative, educational or research aspects of physical therapy. The capstone project grants the students an occasion to delve into an area of professional interest thus enabling the students to customize their education to fit individual needs. Each student's project will take on a slightly different character depending on the area of interest and type of scholarship output developed. Students interested in a more intensive research experience can elect honors research in addition to the capstone project. Working directly with a faculty member on a specific research project, students will collect, analyze and interpret data that will be showcased at a national meeting.

3. The White Coat Ceremony

The White Coat Ceremony was initiated by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a public not-for-profit organization established in 1988 by Drs. Arnold and Sandra Gold, several colleagues at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, as well as dedicated community leaders and philanthropists whose mission is to encourage humanism in medicine. Elements of the ceremony are designed to help create an atmosphere that cultivates a psychological contract for professionalism and empathy in medicine. Initially developed for medical students, the ceremony was expanded by the Gold Foundation to include physical therapy students in 1999. The Columbia Program is honored to take part in this symbolic ceremony.

In front of family, friends, invited guests of the program and administrative officials, the students partake in a ceremony to welcome the beginning of their transition in becoming empathetic practitioners. An address by an eminent role model such as the president of the APTA further serves to celebrate the students' choice of career and emphasize the importance of humanism. Each student is physically cloaked in their first white coat by a faculty member and recites the Code of Ethics for Physical Therapists.

4. Mentorship Program

During the first half of the fall semester, year two, students are paired with physical therapists from Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and other affiliation sites in New York City. The therapists serve as clinical mentors and act as professional role models. The students and mentors meet regularly, one day per week, at the clinical sites. Students have the opportunity to practice skills and procedures presented in previous and concurrent courses, attend various clinics, rounds and inservices. The goal of the mentorship is to ease the transition into the first full-time clinical education experience, which immediately follows in the latter part of the semester.

5. Clinical Internship

The Clinical Internship developed for the DPT Program has different expectations than those for traditional clinical education experiences. Occurring during the last semester of the curriculum (Spring, Year III), students devise their own goals and objectives under the guidance of their faculty advisors and clinical mentors with oversight from the program's Director of Clinical Education. The clinicians involved in the Clinical Internship, serving as clinical mentors, facilitate the development of the students' learning activities and evaluate students' progress toward the achievement of their goals and objectives. The clinical mentors are considered clinical specialists who, by virtue of advanced credentialing, are able to guide and facilitate appropriate student learning experiences.

6. Medical Spanish Lessons

Students have the opportunity to take 12 hours of medical Spanish during the summer semester of year one. The purpose of the lessons is to provide understanding and communication with the Spanish-speaking population that makes up a large percentage of the patient caseload in New York City hospitals. Beginning and intermediate classes are provided by a private tutor. The program pays half the cost thus making the classes very affordable to interested students.

7. Health Science Campus

Columbia University's Physical Therapy program is housed in one of the nation's finest research institutions with patient care facilities, medical and graduate schools and research centers all located on the same campus. This allows for continual scholarly and clinical growth for both the faculty and the students. Attendance at grand rounds and lectures is permitted to all members of Columbia University, which enhances the student and faculty's knowledge base of cutting edge examination and intervention procedures along with recent research findings. Since the hospital is adjacent to the school, both faculty and students have the opportunity to see patients under a variety of contexts both formally as part of class projects and assignments or with their mentor.