Doctor of physical therapy programs aren’t all the same. Ours has one focus: You.

Have you set your sights on a physical therapy career? At Wingate University, you can earn a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in three years. During that time, you prepare for the field by attending three semesters per year. Right from the start you’ll notice our student-centered approach that sets this program apart from other doctor of physical therapy programs.

At the end of your first week, you participate in a Professional Commencement Ceremony signifying the beginning of your professional career by donning your student’s white coat. From that point on, you and the other members of your cohort learn from faculty members who are distinguished practitioners with one goal: Your success.

Hands-on Learning

The curriculum provides you with the foundation of knowledge you need to perform the essential functions of a physical therapist. It’s a hands-on approach, and our facilities are designed to support your hands-on experience. You can learn about the human body in the Human Anatomy Lab and practice physical therapy techniques on members of your cohort in interactive labs. You gain stronger practical skills with 43 weeks of training in four different types of clinical settings. This program is designed to get you ready for the National Physical Therapy Exam when it’s time for you to take it.

Postgraduate Training

Wingate University offers two residency programs for postgraduate training for qualified physical therapists who hold membership in the American Physical Therapy Association and earned their degree from a CAPTE-accredited institution. The Faculty Residency is designed for those who intend to work within an academic setting. The Neurologic Residency is intended for those who seek advanced knowledge as they work to become leaders in the field of physical therapy.

Take the Next Step

But first things first: If you’re interested in joining our program, review the admission requirements for the program and then complete your PTCAS application when you’re ready.

Do you have more questions about the program? You’ll find answers on these pages. We also encourage you to schedule a visit to tour the facilities and meet students and professors during our information sessions.

We believe that the process of becoming a physical therapist should place the student at the center. Let us put you there.

How serious are we about making sure every one of our physical therapy students is successful? In every classroom, on every office wall, you’ll see a plaque that says:

“We all should be able to say at the end of each day that we have done everything within our power to make every student successful. If we can’t honestly tell ourselves that, then we have failed our students and our mission.”

We’re with you every step of the way, from the day you first put on your white coat at the Professional Commencement Ceremony to the day you walk across the stage to receive your hood and your diploma. You are our focus throughout the three years of your education. Our program’s philosophy emphasizes your active participation in hands-on learning opportunities in classes and clinical settings.

Want to learn more about how our successful student-centered approach helps you on your journey to becoming a physical therapist? One of our students has created this video to share with you what it’s like to be a physical therapy student.

https://youtu.be/roJRONLEcwQ

Since you’ll be hands-on as a physical therapist, we designed our physical therapist education to be hands-on too.

Our Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curriculum is a bit different than the physical therapist education you may find at other schools. Our students take courses for three years, nine straight semesters, summers included. This makes it easier for you to learn and retain vital practice concepts. And you earn your doctoral degree that much sooner.

Plus, you complement the valuable hands-on learning you receive in our Human Anatomy Lab with 43 weeks of clinical experience. That’s three more weeks than the national average. During this time, you familiarize yourself with a number of specializations by working in four different settings:

• Hospital
• In-patient setting
• Out-patient setting
• Setting of your choice

The Curriculum

We’ve designed our academic schedule in a way that makes sense. You learn critical concepts in your courses and build on those concepts in the labs. The result is a curriculum that prepares you to succeed. This is your course of study for the next three years:

Year One:

• Human Gross Anatomy
• Human Physiology
• Clinical Practice 1: Screening and Examination
• Research 1: Search and Appraisal of Literature
• Physical Therapist as a Professional 1
• Principles of Pharmacology
• Applied Kinesiology
• Neuroanatomy
• Neurophysiology
• Research 2: Design and Stats
• Pathophysiology
• Clinical Practice 2: Evaluation, Diagnosis and Introduction to Intervention
• Clinical Integration 1: Application
• Diagnosis and Management of Integumentary Conditions

Year Two:

• Clinical Practice 3: Prognosis and Intervention Across Systems
• Motor Development and Motor Behavior
• Research 3: Outcomes Assessment and Capstone
• Diagnosis and Management of Musculoskeletal Conditions 1
• Diagnosis and Management of Neurological Conditions 1
• Clinical Internship 1
• Diagnosis and Management of Musculoskeletal Conditions 2
• Diagnosis and Management of Neurological Conditions 2
• Clinical Integration 2: Reasoning
• Diagnosis and Management of Cardiopulmonary Conditions 
• Clinical Integration 3: Synthesis
• Research 4: Capstone
• Physical Therapist as a Professional 2
• Diagnosis and Management of Special Populations
• Differential Diagnosis for the Physical Therapist

Year Three:

• Clinical Internship 2
• Wellness and Prevention
• Orthotics and Prosthetics
• Patient as a Learner
• Psychosocial Implications in Rehab
• Diagnostic Imaging in Rehabilitation
• Management and Administration in Healthcare
• Clinical Internship 3
• Comprehensive Seminar 1
• Clinical Internship 4
• Comprehensive Seminar 2

You’ll also find more information in the 2016 Physical Therapy Doctoral Candidate Handbook.

We invite you to call or email us if you have questions.

We want you to excel in your physical therapy career. That begins with knowing the human body from the inside out.

Some physical therapy programs share their cadaver lab with other medical professional programs. Not at Wingate University. Our students dissect a human body in a designated Physical Therapy Human Anatomy Lab located in Burnside-Dalton on the Wingate, NC campus.

You and three to four colleagues are assigned a body that your group dissects from head to toe over the course of your first year. Our program is student-centered, and dissecting enables you to learn as much as you can about how the human body works. The state-of-the-art lab also features two high-definition cameras that make it possible for students to see every detail of the instructor’s work on one of several monitors spaced around the room. That’s because one offers a bird’s-eye-view and one is at an angle to provide students with the best view of what’s happening.

Want to learn more about our hands-on approach to learning, our facilities and how we prepare you for a professional physical therapy career? Just call or email us to let us know how we can answer your questions.

Applying for admission to physical therapy graduate schools? Here’s what you need to know about the requirements for Wingate University’s program.

You’ve worked hard for your dream and are now considering which doctor of physical therapy graduate schools to attend. We know that students always wonder whether or not they are qualified. You don’t have time for guesswork. That’s why we’ve made it easy by outlining our admission requirements.

If you’re interested in applying to our program, your application must be verified by PTCAS and available for review by our admissions committee no later than May 15, 2017. The earlier you complete the requirements, the better. Because of our rolling admission process, the early applications are reviewed first.

PTCAS Application

Wingate University uses the Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service (PTCAS) for all applications to the physical therapy program.

Submit an Official Degree Transcript

You must earn a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution by the time you begin the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. You must submit an official degree transcript for confirmation. International degrees that have been evaluated as a United States equivalent will not be considered for admission. If you’re admitted into the program with your baccalaureate degree pending, you’ll be considered provisionally admitted until your degree is awarded.

Prerequisites

Each applicant must complete the following 11 prerequisite courses to be considered for the Wingate University DPT program. For applications to be eligible for consideration, applicants must be within two outstanding prerequisites.  These must be completed even if they were not part of your baccalaureate degree course of study. No exceptions. All prerequisite coursework should have a grade of “C” or higher.

If you’ve attended an institution that awards a quarter or other means of reporting coursework hours, you must have completed what our admissions committee deems to be an approximate equivalent to the semester hours shown for each course.

1. Human Anatomy and Physiology I (or Human Anatomy) with lab – 4 semester hours minimum
2. Human Anatomy and Physiology II (or Human Anatomy) with lab – 4 semester hours minimum
3. Physics I with lab – 4 semester hours minimum (may be calculus- or non-calculus-based)
4. Physics II with lab – 4 semester hours minimum (may be calculus- or non-calculus-based)
5. General Chemistry I with lab – 4 semester hours minimum
6. General Chemistry II with lab – 4 semester hours minimum
7. General Biology I with lab – 4 semester hours minimum
8. Upper-level (300 or above) Biology or Physiology – 3 semester hours minimum (Exercise Physiology may fulfill this requirement.)
9. Human Psychology – 3 semester hours minimum (may be normal or abnormal)
10. Math – 3 semester hours minimum
11. Statistics – 3 semester hours minimum

Submit Your Official GRE Score

All applicants must complete the Graduate Review Examination (GRE) within five years of the anticipated date of enrollment and report their score to our program through PTCAS. The Wingate University physical therapy program GRE code is 0747.

Two Letters of Recommendation

You must submit at least two letters of recommendation to apply to the program. At least one of these letters must be from a currently licensed U.S. physical therapist.

Fifty Hours

Each applicant must complete a minimum of 50 hours observing a licensed physical therapist. This observation may be in any setting, and may be paid or unpaid.

Essential Functions

Are you cut out to be a physical therapist? Each applicant must possess certain abilities and skills necessary to complete the education, training and clinical practice. Review these essential functions before applying to the program.

Submit a Tuition Deposit

If you’re admitted to the program, we make a personal call to share the good news. We follow up the call with a letter mailed to your preferred address.

To confirm that you accept the admission offer, we require a $1,500 non-refundable deposit within 30 days of the initial acceptance notification. This deposit is applied to tuition in the initial semester of study.

The expiration date of the offer of admission will be stated in the letter we mail to you. Failure to pay the $1,500 deposit by the expiration date stated in the letter will forfeit your place in the program.

There are no waivers or exceptions to any of these requirements. The Wingate University Doctor of Physical Therapy program offers no advanced placement or any other type of transfer credit from any prior enrollment in any health sciences, medical or related program. A qualified applicant previously enrolled in another CAPTE-accredited DPT program can be considered for admission only after consultation with the director of the former program of study.

The Carolinas HealthCare System and Wingate University Clinical Residency in Neurological Physical Therapy can prepare you to be a leader in the field of physical therapy.

The Carolinas HealthCare System and Wingate University Clinical Residency in Neurological Physical Therapy has been granted candidacy by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE).  The purpose of this clinical residency is to:

• Train physical therapists in superior post-professional clinical skills
• Provide physical therapists with advanced knowledge in the specialty area
• Produce leaders in the field of physical therapy

Neurologic Residency Mission

Our mission is to provide a post-professional clinical education experience that accelerates and facilitates the attainment of advanced knowledge and skills in neurologic physical therapy. We seek to foster a growing body of skilled physical therapy providers that elevates our entire clinical enterprise and the quality of rehabilitative services we provide to the community.

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2016 for the January 2017 start of the residency.

Admission criteria include:

1. Complete the RF-PTCAS application and submit all supplemental materials.
2. Provide proof of U.S. citizenship or Permanent U.S. Resident status.
3. Hold a DPT degree from a CAPTE-accredited institution.
4. Show that you’re licensed to practice physical therapy in the United States and eligible for licensure in North Carolina. License to practice in North Carolina must be obtained prior to the start of the residency.
5. Hold membership in the American Physical Therapy Association.
6. Submit three letters of professional recommendation.
7. Write an essay.
8. Provide transcripts from the institution where you earned your DPT degree.
9. Meet all Essential Functions of a Physical Therapist as defined by Carolinas HealthCare Systems.
10. Pay the application fee.
11. Complete an in-person or electronic interview.

Want more information?

For additional information, please email Diane Wrisley, PT, PhD, NCS, Director of Post-Professional Programs at Wingate University or call her at 704-233-8045. You can also email Jacqueline LaBarbera, PT, DPT, NCS Residency Co-director at Carolinas HealthCare System or call her at 704-355-4461.