Clinical Education Overview

Clinical education provides students the opportunity to train in a variety of physical therapy practice settings and with a wide range of patient populations across the lifespan. These full-time experiences take place during the second year of study and immerse students into clinical settings as they learn to perform as Doctors of Physical Therapy. During clinical education experiences, students apply their knowledge and skills to clinical situations under the direct supervision and guidance of experienced physical therapist clinicians. In clinical learning environments, students practice safe and effective skills in all aspects of patient care while also developing the ability to work as part of an interdisciplinary healthcare team.

At Baylor University, our extensive clinical education team works individually with students to identify clinical education experiences.

Our unique approach to clinical education placement incorporates a high-level of student input along with an attentive focus toward each student's personal goals and professional aspirations.

Clinical Education Curriculum

Baylor DPT Student Practicing Ankle Therapy

Students complete 31 weeks of full-time clinical education, which include both inpatient and outpatient experiences as well as possible specialty-focused experiences. During each clinical experience, students receive mentorship and guidance from a clinical instructor as they provide direct patient care. They will also spend approximately 2-4 hours/week in concurrent didactic coursework.

Prior to the first clinical education experience, students complete all foundational patient management coursework, ensuring that they are fully prepared to treat patients with musculoskeletal, neurologic, and cardiopulmonary dysfunctions in a variety of practice settings.

Baylor's DPT clinical education curriculum includes:

8-week clinical experience in the 4th academic term
8-week clinical experience in the 5th academic term
15-week clinical experience in the 6th academic term

Students receive training in a variety of practice settings that represent the physical therapy profession. Through intentional placements, students will experience a minimum of two clinical practice settings, which include general outpatient physical therapy practice and a setting within the inpatient continuum of care, such as acute hospital, post-acute, rehabilitation, skilled nursing, home health, etc. Students may also experience a variety of specialty areas, such as orthopedics, neurologic, pediatrics, geriatrics, sports medicine, aquatics, women's health, cardiovascular and pulmonary, and wound care.

Clinical Education Highlights

Baylor Physical Therapy Student Checking Neck

Integrated Curriculum:

Didactic courses taken concurrently during clinical education allow students to "bring the classroom into the clinic, and the clinic into the classroom." Students directly apply the concepts learned in these didactic courses to their patients.

Career-Focused:

The opportunity to have clinical rotation experiences in a variety of settings as well as possibly a specialty concentration allows students to align their clinical education with their professional practice goals. These clinical experiences fully prepare students for entry-level practice in a clinical practice setting of their choosing and/or post-professional residency opportunities that they might choose to pursue.

Post-professional Residency Opportunities:

Baylor University’s hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy program graduates are well-prepared to apply for and excel in post-professional residencies. If this is of interest, faculty will help prepare you for residency expectations and the competitive application process. One benefit is that you can potentially complete the entire DPT curriculum and residency in approximately three years—the normal timeframe for most DPT programs alone.

Clinical Instructor Faculty:

Clinical instructor faculty are an integral part of clinical experiences for students. Some of Baylor's clinical instructors are graduates of the Baylor DPT program, while other clinical instructors assist in lab immersion sessions as associated faculty. Many of the clinical faculty are specialists in their field, some have completed residency or fellowship training, and all are chosen for their expertise and dedication to working with students.

Clinical education is a key component in preparing our graduates for successful entry into the profession of physical therapy.

Baylor's clinical education program is committed to providing opportunities that will allow our students to work in a wide variety of settings and be prepared for licensed practice upon graduation. We are focused on preparing graduates who will excel as practitioners and become leaders within the physical therapy profession!