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The University of the Incarnate Word School of Physical Therapy is located in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio is the seventh-most populated city in the United States and the second-most populous city in Texas. San Antonio is known as a favorite vacation destination and attracts over 32 million people each year. San Antonio attractions include the historic Alamo, Riverwalk, amusement parks, plenty of shopping, and some of the most delicious Mexican food you will find. 

The first Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word came to San Antonio in 1869 to minister to the sick and the poor. Their spirit of Christian service is perpetuated in the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) primarily through teaching and scholarship, encompassing research and artistic expression. Committed to educational excellence, the University aims to educate men and women who will become concerned and enlightened citizens. It promotes life-long learning and fosters the development of the whole person. The faculty and students support one another in the search for and the communication of truth. The university is open to thoughtful innovation that effectively serves people's spiritual and material needs. The curriculum offers students an integrated program that includes a global perspective and an emphasis on social justice and community service. UIW is a Catholic institution that welcomes its community persons of diverse backgrounds in the belief that their respectful interaction advances the discovery of truth, mutual understanding, self-realization, and the common good. 

The UIW School of Physical Therapy is committed to innovatively educate physical therapists who, through skilled, reflective, patient-centered practice, optimize movement and wellness for the common good of society. The faculty of the School of Physical Therapy is committed to graduate physical therapists recognized as confident, caring, mindful, adaptable, compassionate, knowledgeable, community-oriented practitioners who apply evidence-based decision making, lifelong learning, ethical values, legal principles, and critical, independent thinking to address patient needs and societal issues.

The UIW DPT Program will use a problem-based learning (PBL) approach; a rigorous, highly structured teaching methodology that places the student in a position of active responsibility for learning and mastering content. In a group of 7-8 peers, where a faculty member serves as a tutorial facilitator, the student learns new material by confronting and solving problems in the form of a clinical patient case. Rather than listening to a lecture on a given topic (teacher-centered learning), students are presented with a patient case that typically integrates previously learned information with a great deal of new content (Physical Therapy Clinical Reasoning). The group must reach a consensus about what they would need to know to manage the patient's case. They do this by developing learning issues or topics which represent questions about the case. On an individual basis, students then research the topics by using textbooks, review articles, peer-reviewed research, and electronic databases. Later in the week, students regroup to discuss their findings and apply them to the patient case at hand. The faculty member facilitates discussion and asks questions to ascertain that students are learning the material to the appropriate breadth and depth required of an entry-level physical therapist. Carefully crafted cases are the anchors around which other content is taught. The curriculum includes extensive laboratory experiences (Patient/Client Management and Foundational Sciences) and special topic seminars (Professional Topics), which complement and reinforce content learned in PBL sessions.

Following a holistic review of candidates, the Admissions Committee will invite those deemed most competitive to an on-campus or virtual interview. Interviews are typically held on Saturdays throughout the fall and early spring semesters (October, November, February). During the interviews, applicants will have the opportunity to meet administrators, faculty, staff, and current students. 

Students will receive $400 of the total deposit toward the Fall tuition of their first year. The deposit is non-refundable.

The UIW School of Physical Therapy admitted its first class in August 2012. The School seeks a diverse class every year so as to fulfill its mission.

The University of the Incarnate Word is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, telephone 404-679-4500, web site: www.sacscoc.org.