Program Overview

Pacific Lutheran University Partnership with PNWU

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences School of Physical Therapy (PNWU-SOPT) has agreed to admission interviews for qualified PLU graduates interested in receiving a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT).

PNWU-DPT Admission Partnership with PLU

PNWU-SOPT will waive the $50 application fee for these PLU applicants. Qualified PLU graduates must meet the following requirements:

• Minimum admission requirements
• A composite GRE score (quantitative and verbal reasoning) of 300 or higher and a GRE writing score of 4 or higher
• 3.2 GPA or higher in each of the following:
  • Cumulative undergraduate GPA
  • GPA in the 10 required prerequisite courses
  • GPA in the last 60 credits taken

PNWU Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program

The Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences DPT program's curriculum emphasizes a rural-focused curriculum consisting of didactics, labs, simulated experiential learning, full-time clinical experiences, community-based service-learning projects, and a culminating capstone project. Students can learn and participate in community-based research with faculty at the Center for Applied Movement Sciences (CAMS) laboratory and serve Yakima's uninsured community members during two off-campus Integrated Clinical Experiences courses at the Yakima Union Gospel Mission. Students also participate in two on-campus Integrated Clinical Experiences courses as part of the CAMS laboratory.

The program details are as follows:

• Starts in the fall
• Three-year, in-person program
• Accepts up to 50 students for each new cohort
• Approximately 92% of MAMS graduates go on to a health professional school (i.e., DO, MD, PT, OT, PA, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Optometry, Podiatry)
• PNWU's DPT program partners with numerous hospitals, clinics, and health agencies in the five-state Northwest region to provide students with clinical experiences and regional graduate health science programs to provide a cross-discipline interprofessional learning environment
• Nationwide, the average salary for a physical therapist is $91,680 per year, while the average starting salary for a new physical therapy graduate in Washington is $75,000

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Prerequisite Courses

The prerequisite courses for the DPT program are:

• Human Anatomy with lab: 4 semester credits or 6 quarter credits
• Human Physiology with lab: 4 semester credits or 6 quarter credits
• Biological Sciences (not botany): 8 semester credits or 12 quarter credits
• General Chemistry or Inorganic and Organic or Biochemistry all with labs: 8 semester credits or 12 quarter credits
• Physics with lab including mechanics, heat, light, sound, and electricity: 8 semester credits or 12 quarter credits
• Psychology: 3 semester credits or 5 quarter credits
• Statistics: 3 semester credits or 5 quarter credits

In addition to the prerequisites, accepted students must complete a Medical Terminology course prior to the start of the program to prepare them for the clinical science courses in the DPT program.

PLU Equivalent Prerequisite Courses

The equivalent prerequisite courses at PLU are:

• BIOL 205 & 206
• BIOL 225 & 226
• BIOL 330 (recommended)
• CHEM 105, 115, 116, 331 with accompanying lab (2 courses)
• MATH 140 (co-requisite for CHEM 115)
• PHYS 125 & 126 or 153 & 154 with accompanying labs
• PSYC 101
• PSYC 315 (recommended)
• STAT 231 or equivalent

Completion of the Pre-Physical Therapy Concentration of the Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology Degree (B.S.K.) satisfies these requirements. PLU offers an online medical terminology course that could be used to satisfy this requirement.