Sc.D in Physical Therapy: The Profession

The Doctor of Science (ScD) in Physical Therapy degree provides a gateway into professional clinical leadership, mentoring, teaching and research opportunities. The ScD degree is specifically aimed at transforming the physical therapist’s knowledge base and clinical reasoning to allow that clinician to manage complex patients. This transformation creates a clinician that is ideally suited to serve as a first-contact healthcare provider for patients with musculoskeletal complaints or disorders. As result, clinicians will find this capability useful when transitioning into leadership and mentoring roles as they teach and guide colleagues in the clinical setting. Moreover, this experience provides the toolsets necessary for clinical and academic teaching and collaborative research that help to advance the physical therapy profession.

The ScD Program in physical therapy has equipped graduates with advanced skill sets that have allowed them to function:

1. As full-time educators in a graduate education setting, teaching clinical skills and science.
   
   
2. As post-professional educators in a clinical setting, providing practitioners with advanced clinical knowledge and skills that allow them to function in the ever-changing practice setting with competency and expertise.
   
   
3. And once they earned the appropriate post-professional credentials, as post-professional residency and fellowship directors.