Chapman University’s Physical Therapy Program receives 10-year Accreditation

Chapman University’s Department of Physical Therapy (DPT) program has received a 10 year reaccreditation by its accrediting body, the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).

“A 10 year accreditation reflects the program’s deep commitment to physical therapy education and the resulting reputation DPT has in the region for graduating extraordinary clinicians,” said Janeen Hill, Ph.D., dean of Chapman’s Crean College of health and Behavioral Sciences.  “This accreditation reflects sustained effort by DPT to produce a strong self-study and to demonstrate excellence to the site visiting team from CAPTE.  Many congratulations to the DPT faculty and staff for this achievement.”

The notification letter included the following commendation:

The Commission commends the program for the quality of its Self-study Report.  The program submitted a well-written, thorough, concise and comprehensive Self-study Report that clearly conveyed the nature and scope of the educational experience.

Chapman’s physical therapy program enjoys the title of the oldest continually accredited program in California. Since 1928, Chapman’s Department of Physical Therapy is one of the longest running physical therapy programs in the United States. All of the faculty are licensed practitioners with advanced degrees, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 12:1, providing a highly personalized education. In 2017, the program received 1,450 applicants for a coveted 80 openings. Chapman’s first-time licensure pass rate for PT graduates in 2016 was 100 percent, in addition to our overall pass rate for the past five years also being 100 percent, making the PT program one that aggressively prepares our graduates for success in the work force.

The graduate program offers two degrees: the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree for students interested in becoming a physical therapy professional; and the Transitional Doctor of Physical Therapy degree for physical therapists with baccalaureate or master degrees seeking to further their education to achieve the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree.

Chapman’s brand new, state-of-the-art health science campus offer’s students access to top-of-the-line labs and physical therapy equipment, including a traditional motion analysis lab, an anti-gravity treadmill, and a state-of-the-art 180 degree Virtual Reality (VR) Gait Real-time Analysis Interactive Lab (GRAIL) by Motekforce. The VR motion analysis laboratory comes with a dual-belted instrumented treadmill with a self paced option and 6-degrees of freedom, integrated 10 camera and EMG systems. The GRAIL provides the DPT program faculty instrumentation to conduct cutting edge human movement system intervention studies.