The master of physical therapy (MPT) program at the College of Rehabilitation Sciences received approval for a 20 per cent increase in seats, with an additional five seats this year and five more in 2025, bringing the total number of students per year from 50 to 60.
“The expansion comes with funding for additional instructors and equipment, and faculty are busy with all aspects of planning, implementing and managing this significant increase in class size. This includes designing creative ways of using cutting-edge audio-visual technology to more efficiently utilize the new lecture and clinical skills lab spaces. It’s a challenging, exciting time in the history of the program,” said department head Dr. Mark Garrett.
The master’s-level program succeeded the previous bachelor’s program 12 years ago, so faculty are also working on curriculum renewal with a target launch date of 2027.
“The new curriculum will feature a completely redesigned sequence of academic and clinical placement components to align with current pedagogical approaches and the changing reality of client care,” Garrett said.
“Now that the sequencing of the placement and academic sections of the program has been established, faculty have begun to populate the academic blocks between the clinical placements with scaffolded, related content areas that are informed by the latest national and orthopedic curriculum guidelines.”
The program is also overhauling the structure of its clinical education component by standardizing clinical placement length and de-siloing course descriptions to better fit with today’s health care.
“This increased flexibility will greatly enhance the ability of faculty to craft each student’s clinical experiences to ensure they meet accreditation requirements across all clinical areas,” Garrett said.