DPT/PhD Dual Degree Program
The dual degree DPT/PhD Program is intended for students interested in a career pathway in academic physical therapy. The program is designed to be completed in 6 years. In addition to completing all DPT coursework and clinical education experiences, dual degree students will complete graduate coursework and a research dissertation project within one of WVU’s Biomedical Sciences programs:
Admissions
Students will apply to the program via PTCAS following the program's standard application process. The program-specific portion of the application includes a section where students can indicate their intent to apply as a dual-degree student.
Curriculum
During the first two years, students complete the first 6 semesters of the DPT program. During the third year, students begin full-time DPT clinical education and begin taking PhD coursework. During the final two years, students compete their final DPT clinical education experiences and work on their PhD dissertations.
After the first two years of the program, dual degree students have the opportunity for funded graduate assistantships/stipends.
Academic Standards
Once accepted into the dual-degree program, students must maintain at least a 3.0 (cumulative and semester) GPA and pass the DPT program's comprehensive clinical readiness examination at the end of the second year.
Graduation Requirements
In addition to meeting all requirements for the DPT program, successful completion of the PhD requires:
- Successful completion of all PhD coursework.
- Successful passage of the DPT comprehensive clinical readiness and board readiness exams.
- Successful passage of the dissertation proposal.
- Successful defense of the final dissertation.
- First-author manuscript: at least one manuscript based on dissertation research must be published or in-press.
More Information
For more information on the dual-degree DPT/PhD program, please contact Dr. Valeriya Gritsenko, PhD: https://directory.hsc.wvu.edu/Individual/Index/35252.