Doctor of Physical Therapy Program | Bowling Green State University

Learn More About Pursuing Your DPT At BGSU.

Next cohort starts in August 2025 | Applications due March 3, 2025







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Learn More About Pursuing Your DPT At BGSU.

Immersive

Engage in immersive and experiential education, with a blend of online learning, on-campus lab immersions, and clinical education.

 

Collaborative

Apply your learning as part of an interprofessional health care team, collaborating with BGSU athletics, nursing, exercise science, and other allied health programs.

 

Distinctive

Experience the unique value of a hybrid, accelerated program, with the distinctive opportunities offered by a large, public university.

 

The BGSU DPT Experience

The mission of BGSU’s DPT program is to develop Doctors of Physical Therapy who create positive change in the lives of their patients and communities. We achieve this through competence, innovation, application, research, inclusion and collaboration. Here’s more about what you can expect in your accelerated DPT journey at BGSU.

 

Successful Outcomes Of Hybrid Accelerated DPT Models

Successful outcomes reported by other current accelerated, hybrid programs include:

 

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Graduation Rate

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PT Licensure Exam Pass Rate

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Employment Rate

Your First Year At BGSU

  • Participate in hybrid learning activities that include live online sessions, independent online learning, and on-campus lab immersions.
  • Practice hands-on skills in state-of-the art lab experiences.
  • Develop deductive and clinical reasoning skills.
  • Build a framework and solid foundation for your clinical education experiences.

 

YEAR 1

Your Second Year At BGSU

  • Begin your clinical education experiences in inpatient and outpatient settings.
  • Apply your clinical student framework to real-world practice.
  • Collaborate in experiential learning activities within an interprofessional health care team.
  • Integrate your clinical education with real-world patient cases, in a supported, supervised setting.

 

YEAR 2

The BGSU DPT Curriculum

Browse our SAMPLE course descriptions by semester.

 

  • Year One, Fall
  • Year One, Spring
  • Year One, Summer
Year One, Fall
  • Anatomy Bootcamp
  • PHYT 7121 Clinical Medicine I
  • PHYT 7503 Mindful Patient Management
  • PHYT 7501 Professional Competencies I
  • PHYT 7301 Evidence-Based Practice
Year One, Spring
  • PHYT 7112 Human Anatomy
  • PHYT 7201 Physical Therapy Fundamentals
  • PHYT 7103 Human Physiology
  • PHYT 7203 Therapeutic Interventions I
  • PHYT 7205 Health Promotion & Fitness Mgt
  • PHYT 7122 Clinical Medicine II
Year One, Summer
  • PHYT 7412 Musculoskeletal Practice I-II
  • PHYT 7104 Clinical Neuroscience for the PT
  • PHYT 7405 Bracing, Prosthetics, and Orthotics
  • PHYT 7202 Movement Science
  • PHYT 7204 Therapeutic Interventions II
  • Year Two Fall I
  • Year Two, Spring
  • Year Two Summer
  • Year Two, Fall II
Year Two Fall I
  • PHYT 7207 Integrative Pain Sciences
  • PHYT 7434 Musculoskeletal Practice III-IV
  • PHYT 7467 Neuromuscular Practice I-II
  • PHYT 7409 Cardiopulmonary Practice
Year Two, Spring
  • PHYT 7971 Physical Therapy Practice I
  • PHYT 7411 PT Management of Complex Patients
  • PHYT 7410 PT Management of Pediatric Patients
  • PHYT 7408 PT Management of the Aging Adult
Year Two Summer
  • PHYT 7972 Physical Therapy Practice II 
  • PHYT 7504 Business Mgt & Entrepreneurship
  • PHYT 7413 Primary Care for the PT
  • PHYT 7412 Advanced Diagnostics for the PT
  • PHYT 7206 Advanced Therapeutic Interventions
Year Two, Fall II
  • PHYT 7973 Physical Therapy Practice III
  • PHYT 7502 Professional Competencies II
  • PHYT 7910 Capstone 

 

 

Prerequisites

  • Biology with laboratory (8 semester hours/12 quarter hours)
  • Chemistry with laboratory (8 semester hours/12 quarter hours)
  • General Physics with laboratory (8 semester hours/12 quarter hours)
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology with laboratory (8 semester hours/12 quarter hours) Applicants must complete Anatomy and Physiology courses within the last eight years, prior to application, or demonstrate ongoing work experiences that have kept this knowledge current (e.g. physical therapist assistant, athletic trainer, etc.).
  • Statistics (3 semester hours/4 quarter hours)
  • Any Psychology (3 semester hours/4 quarter hours)
  • English Composition or Writing (3 semester hours/4 quarter hours)
  • Applicants must complete anatomy and physiology courses within the last eight years, prior to application, or demonstrate ongoing work experiences that have kept this knowledge current (e.g. physical therapist assistant, athletic trainer, etc.).

Courses must be completed before matriculation into the DPT program, but applications will still be accepted as long as courses are in progress or will be completed prior to matriculation. At the time of application submission, prospective students must have at least seven of the 11 required pre-requisites complete in order to be considered for admission, as reflected by submitted transcripts. All pre-requisite courses will be assessed for fit on a case-by-case basis. Introductory-level science courses are not accepted.

 

Admissions Requirements

Preference will be given to those applicants who complete the majority of their coursework at and earn their bachelor degree from Bowling Green State University and to those who have taken honors courses.

  • No GRE Required!
  • Complete a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution prior to class beginning. Admission may be granted pending completion of the degree.
  • Complete all required prerequisite courses with a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) and prerequisite course GPA of 3.00 or greater on a 4.00 scale.
  • Grades Below “C” in prerequisite courses will not be accepted
  • If a prerequisite course is repeated, the credit hours assigned to the course may be counted only once in fulfilling the required number of hours. The pre-requisite GPA will be determined using the highest course grade achieved; however, both grades will be calculated into the cumulative GPA.
  • If cumulative GPA is less than 3.00 on a 4.00 scale, an applicant may still be eligible for admission if a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or greater has been achieved over the last 60 semester or 90 quarter hour credits of coursework.
  • Submission of three references.
  • Completion of a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer or work experience with a licensed physical therapist is required.
  • For all applicants for whom English is not their first language or those who have completed a degree and prerequisite courses in a foreign country, demonstration of English language proficiency is required through completion of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam.
  • Ability to fulfill the technical standards and essential functions of the DPT program for admission.

 

Bowling Green State University has obtained approval from the Ohio Department of Higher Education and regionally through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) to offer the DPT degree.

Effective May 10, 2022, the Bowling Green State University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program has been granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; phone: 703-706-3245; email: accreditation@apta.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call 419-216-0002 or email dpt-admissions@bgsu.edu. Candidate for Accreditation is an accreditation status of affiliation with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education that indicates the program may matriculate students in technical/professional courses. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status does not assure that the program will be granted Initial Accreditation.

Candidacy is considered to be an accredited status, as such the credits and degree earned from a program with Candidacy status are considered, by CAPTE, to be from an accredited program. Therefore, students in the charter (first) class should be eligible to take the licensure exam even if CAPTE withholds accreditation at the end of the candidacy period. That said, it is up to each state licensing agency, not CAPTE, to determine who is eligible for licensure. Information on licensing requirements should be directed to the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT;www.fsbpt.org) or specific state boards (a list of state boards and contact information is available on FSBPT’s website.