Overview: 
The Professional DPT Program at NSU-Tampa Bay is a 4-year blended DPT program designed for educationally mature individuals seeking flexibility in attaining their DPT degree because of financial, geographical, or personal reasons. The Tampa Bay campus is located in Clearwater, Florida and features state-of-the-art PT facilities and equipment, including a simulation lab. The DPT-Tampa Bay program has dynamic, experienced physical therapy faculty with recent clinical experience and intensive training in on-line education. The program received 10-year re-accreditation from CAPTE* in 2021. One cohort of 46 students is accepted yearly with classes beginning in the summer term (late May) each year.

Delivery: 
The program uses interactive online classes for 3.5 weeks followed by a 4-day on-campus institute each month. Students learn online through high quality demonstration videos teaching clinical skills, lectures, online class meetings, and discussions. On-campus institutes are held every fourth week throughout the semester on our Tampa Bay campus, located only miles from the beautiful west coast beaches of Florida. The on-campus institutes are intensive, 8-10 hour days, Thursday through Sunday. During the institutes, students practice hands-on skills with intensive faculty feedback, apply learning to clinical case studies, interact with real patient volunteers, and participate in review sessions and group activities. The blend of online and on-campus instruction allows more flexibility so that students can work or attend to other issues in their lives.  However, the program is rigorous. Students in the blended program must be engaged and self-directed learners who enjoy interaction both online and in the classroom. The rigor of this program requires strong study and organizational skills. 

Clinical Education: 
Clinical education experiences begin at the start of the 2nd semester by integrating actual patient experiences into lab classes so that students can apply what they are learning to real patients each semester.  Patient experiences are an integral part of student learning and occur in many lab-based classes.  In the 3rd year, students spend 1 week in an out-patient clinic or participate in an outreach mission. The 4th year of the program consists of full-time clinical experiences (35 weeks) in geographic locations chosen by the student with input from the program and based on availability of clinical sites.  This blended model allows students to continue working until they start their clinical experiences. 

Please note, if you are interested in completing a clinical experience in the state of California, clinical placement there is unlikely. California is not a member of SARA (State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement).  This has resulted in California facilities declining requests for clinical experiences from out-of-state programs.

Application Process:
After completing the PTCAS application and the Nova Southeastern University Supplemental Application, selected applicants will be invited to a face-to-face interview in February. On interview day, applicants will have a tour of the campus, a peek inside the online classrooms through presentations by current students, and participate in interviews. 

*The Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314; telephone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org; website: http://www.capteonline.org.

After completing the PTCAS application and Nova Southeastern University Supplemental application, selected applicants will be invited to a face-to-face interview in February. On interview day, applicants will have a tour of the campus, a peek inside the online classrooms through presentations by current students, and participate in interviews. 

* The deposit includes an Acceptance Fee of $500 and a Deposit Fee of $500 for a total of $1000.  

* Acceptance Fee - $500.00: This fee is required to reserve the accepted applicant's place in the entering first-year class. 

* Deposit Fee- $500.00: This fee is due by March 30 and is under the same terms as the acceptance fee.

The deposit of $1000 is NON-REFUNDABLE: 
This advance payment will be deducted from the tuition payment due on registration day but is non-refundable in the event of a withdrawal. Accepted applicants will have two weeks after receiving notification of acceptance to pay the acceptance fee.  

This program does not require students to relocate to the Tampa Bay area. The blended format requires that students be in Tampa Bay for only four days/month. Students are not required to be in Tampa Bay during Clinical Internships.