School of Physical Therapy

The doctoral program at TWU is designed to develop future educators and clinical researchers. It emphasizes the scientific basis of clinical practice and allows each student an opportunity to work closely with a mentor in their area of clinical interest. We are proud to have a large faculty with over 18 PhD-trained and 5 board certified specialists through the APTA's specialization process.  With this in mind, the TWU PT faculty across both campuses have a broad range of research interests and teaching expertise.

The faculty at TWU is committed to assisting the students in learning advanced research skills, laboratory development, and grant and manuscript writing skills, which will allow them to function successfully in the academic setting. A major requirement for the student is to perform clinically based research and to write a dissertation. Initial core course work can be taken on a part-time basis while the student is employed full or part-time since the majority of these classes are held on weekends or in the evening. However, the goal of the faculty is to work with doctoral students on a full-time basis.

The post-professional Ph.D. degree program at TWU is characterized by an initial flexible time period to complete core, statistics and computer courses. However, students are expected to spend at least 50 percent (and often up to 100 percent) of their time on campus for one or two semesters based on individual objectives, practice and research requirements. This time period satisfies the residency requirement. The core courses provide methods for critically designing and analyzing research studies, and for developing skills, computer knowledge and programming abilities. Specialized areas of concentration are developed through practicum, independent study, dissertation and elective coursework.

PhD admissions
PhD graduation requirements

For Post-professional Student Handbook, please click here.