Physical Therapy Professor Receives Grant to Study Texas DPT Programs
UTEP Study to Look at Texas DPT Programs
UTEP Clinical Assistant Professor Rhonda Manning, DPT, received a grant from the Texas Physical Therapy Foundation (TPTF) to examine the appropriate length of time for clinical education in Doctor of Physical Therapy programs in Texas.
Manning, director of clinical education in UTEP’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program, will survey Texas licensed physical therapists who have served as DPT clinical instructors to determine the length of time for DPT students to be proficient and skilled in simple and complex tasks for highly skilled examinations, interventions and clinical reasoning.
The study will help to standardize physical therapist clinical education across the state.
Manning, a UTEP faculty member since 2007, plans to follow up the year-long project with a nationwide study of DPT programs.
The TPTF, formerly known as the Texas Physical Therapy Education and Research Foundation, was founded in Texas in 1994. The object of the foundation was to raise money and distribute grants for research and education to Texas therapists.