PTA to DPT Bridge Program

Curriculum

The PTA to DPT Bridge Program is designed for Physical Therapist Assistants who are able to work a maximum of 20 hours per week while enrolled in the program. Applicants must already have a Bachelor's degree and a current Physical Therapist Assistant license with two years of work experience and 44 semester hours of prerequisites required for admission before entering the program.

The PTA to DPT Bridge program is a full-time program that is in hybrid format requiring 2-3 onsite intensives each semester. The intensives are typically 3-8 days in length. Four clinical rotations are embedded in the curriculum. Each clinical is either 7 or 8 weeks in length and are in semesters 4-7. Most clinical sites are in Texas. Personal circumstances are not factors in clinical experience placement.

Students most likely will not be able to do all of their clinical experiences in one geographical area and must be prepared mentally, emotionally, physically, and financially to move for the duration of the clinical rotation. Relocation and travel are at the student's expense. Housing and stipends are offered by very few facilities. It is important to consider that facilities may cancel clinical slots due to staffing or administrative changes. Clinical placements and procedures are subject to change. No clinical placements are offered in California or Colorado.

Admissions Requirements

Application Deadline: October 1

To be considered for admission to the PTA to DPT Bridge program, applicants must present official documentation of the following student competencies:

Application Process

1. Complete and submit your PTCAS application. Note: Your application will be considered incomplete if there is missing information, including GRE scores, and/or documentation by the published deadlines, and will not be processed due to the volume of applications received.
2. Complete and submit your supplemental application once UTMB Enrollment Services receives and processes your PTCAS application. Applicants will also need to send payment. Once both are received, applicants will be given a UTMB ID number for access to MyStar.
3. The UTMB Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences will notify all applicants via email when their applications have been received and when the admissions decision has been made. Please allow several weeks for processing.
4. UTMB has a rolling admissions process; therefore, your application is open until you hear from us with a final decision. If you do not hear from us by December 1, please contact us 409-772-3068 or email utmbdptp@utmb.edu to inquire about the status of your application.
5. Once accepted, all selected students will be required to undergo a background check for security clearance and pass a drug screen in order to matriculate at UTMB and other off-campus clinical training facilities.
6. Admissions decisions are final; unsuccessful applicants may contact the Admissions chairperson for advice on how to strengthen their application and reapply in subsequent cycles/years. Requests for review will be assessed between April-June of each year. Email us at utmbdptp@utmb.edu.
7. All applicant communications with admissions staff may be considered as part of the application review, including email correspondence and phone calls.