By Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
The U.S Army-Baylor Doctor of Physical Therapy program climbed into the top 10 of U.S. News Rankings this year, joining several other rankings within the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences.
Military graduate programs at Baylor offer studies in several disciplines, including nutrition, occupational therapy, physical therapy and a physician assistant program.
“There’s been an Army-Baylor Physical Therapy program since 1974,” Dr. David Boland, program director, said. “The program actually started in World War II with what was called Reconstruction Aids.”
Despite its early origins, the Army-Baylor PT program recruits from the civilian sector and those in active duty, according to Commander Rachel Condon, associate professor and director of clinical education.
“I think service in the healthcare field with the military is such a unique opportunity to serve those who served,” Condon said. “One of the really unique things about our program is that we’re training all of our future coworkers.”
Condon explained that students in the PT program will complete a national licensure exam and cover all topics included in a general physical therapy graduate program, but they receive exclusive experience due to the military component.
“In the military, physical therapists have access to an advanced set of credentials and scope of practice that exceeds the civilian sector in many ways,” Condon said. “Our students are certainly getting the national standard for education for physical therapists.”
The PT program goes a “step above” in education, Condon said, relating back to the key military component setting it apart from PT programs across the nation.
“All of our graduates have a minimum five-year commitment after graduating,” Condon said. “So our PTs go directly into uniformed service; sometimes they’re deployed or sometimes they’re going directly on carriers or special operations units.”
Condon said the program is split into three parts: a junior and senior year in didactics, and then a clinical internship which almost doubles the accreditation requirements for clinical education.
“They are spending a whole year in military treatment facilities under the supervision of both civilian and active duty physical therapists who have expanded the scope of that practice,” Condon said. “So they are not only learning how to be PTs that can pass a national licensure, but they are learning and practicing that higher level of care they will do in the military.”
Out of 32 total students, there are four U.S. Navy, three U.S. Air Force and the other 25 are U.S. Army. Despite having students from different branches, Condon is the only U.S. Navy faculty member and highlights their commitment.
“I can tell you that our Navy graduates from this program tend to go a decade or longer of service,” Condon said. “Our graduates tend to have a pretty strong institutional commitment to the organization.”
Despite the military focus, Condon emphasizes that one doesn’t necessarily need to come from a long military family legacy to apply for this program — just a servant heart.
“You’ll often hear in the military that you are an officer first and a physical therapist second,” Condon said. “So we are looking for people who are comfortable and interested in leading and have a sincere desire to serve those who serve.”
