Technical Standards

Student physical therapists must meet the technical standards required of most physical therapist practice settings. To complete the program, all students must meet these criteria with or without reasonable accommodations. 

These technical standards are necessary for both academic courses and clinical education components of the DPT curriculum. 

Communication Skills

Students must be able to communicate effectively. Effective communication includes the ability to receive, interpret, use and disseminate information in a comprehensible manner via verbal, nonverbal and written communication. Effective communication skills are required to interact with faculty, peers, coworkers, clients, patients and other members of the healthcare team. 

Students must communicate using the English language at a level permitting competent, professional practice. They must also sensitively communicate with individuals with disabilities and from different social and cultural backgrounds.

Observation Skills

Students must be able to accurately observe client/patient activity and behavior throughout the clinical encounter. Indicators of change in client/patient status such as facial expression, muscle tone, postures, movements, skin temperature and color, heart rate, breathing pattern and rate, or breathing sounds require close observation. 

Students must be able to observe and interpret demonstrations in the classroom, projected slides, overheads and imaging. They must also be able to monitor dials on equipment with or without reasonable accommodations.

Psychomotor Skills 

Students must practice, develop and demonstrate proficiency in tasks required for clinical practice. They are expected to physically maneuver to, from and within the classroom, lab and clinical settings in a timely manner. Students must also demonstrate the ability to respond quickly to emergency situations, such as preventing a patient’s fall, responding to emergent changes in patient status or performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. 

Students must be able to safely and effectively manipulate or maneuver another person’s body and body parts to perform examinations and intervention techniques (for example, patient transfers, gait training, exercise, mobilization, application of electrotherapy, and use of tools such as goniometer, blood pressure cuff and stethoscope).

Students must be able to perform the physical demands required by the clinical settings where physical therapists practice. These demands include the ability to:

  • Complete repetitive motions such as simple and firm grasp tasks requiring manual dexterity, including gross and fine motor hand coordination
  • Stand, walk, climb stairs, squat, twist, bend, lift, kneel, crawl and reach above shoulder level
  • Exert push/pull forces to maneuver adult-sized patients and rehabilitation equipment
  • Safely maneuver self and patient in tight spaces 

Cognitive/Intellectual Skills 

Students must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize and apply large amounts of information in a short period of time. They must understand and apply principles, theory and research to physical therapy practice. Students must demonstrate the ability to think critically, problem-solve, accurately self-assess and reflect on their own performance.

Behavioral/Affective Skills 

Students must demonstrate good judgment and effectively handle physically, emotionally and intellectually stressful situations. This includes the ability to adjust and adapt to changing situations or uncertainty in academic and clinical environments. Students must demonstrate a commitment to respectfully working with individuals of various ages with physical and cognitive deficits and from different cultures and socioeconomic statuses without discrimination. 

Student Accommodations

Students who may need reasonable accommodations for a disability, medical condition or temporary injury/condition should contact ßÙßÇÂþ»­â€™s Services for Students with Disabilities Office (SSD). The SSD Office will assist the student in identifying disability-related needs and determining reasonable equal access accommodations.

Students requiring pregnancy-related accommodations should contact the Title IX Office.

Each situation will be evaluated individually to determine whether reasonable accommodations can be made. Accommodations may be short-term or permanent, and they may apply to academic and/or clinical education. 

Questions