Physical therapy clears hurdles, prepares for what's next

The Department of Physical Therapy is the newest department in the College of Health and Human Services, and was the first new department at WMU in more than ten years. The department opened its doors in the summer of 2019, launching its first cohort in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program with a cohort of 30 PT students. 

Now, as the department continues to work toward accreditation, faculty and staff welcomed their second cohort to campus this summer, while placing second-year students in full-time clinical rotations in the community.

"Our students have had a very busy first year with regular classes and clinical observations," says Dr. Stacie Fruth, chair of the department. "We have had them observing throughout Kalamazoo, like in the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital, and right here at WMU at the Center for Disability Services and Unified Clinics," says Dr. Fruth. "Our formal full-time clinical rotations for the first cohort started in June. I'm very excited to see our students out in the community, putting their classroom knowledge and skill into practice." 

In addition to the continuing work of the first cohort, the Doctor of Physical Therapy program admitted its second cohort in summer II 2020. While the department sorted through around 120 applications for its initial cohort, the 2020 cohort was selected from some 400 applications. "It's a dramatic increase in the number of applications," says Sarah Anderson, manager of recruitment and outreach for the department. "We expect another increase again next year as our program continues to establish itself."

Another factor in the number of applications is likely to be the program's accreditation status with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), the profession's accrediting body. The WMU program has achieved "Candidate for Accreditation" status through CAPTE. Dr. Fruth called achieving candidate status, "the first major step toward full accreditation," but notes that there is still much work to be done before the program is fully accredited.

"CAPTE requires more documentation as we go through this process," says Dr. Fruth. "And there will be another extensive site visit in summer 2021 before we hear anything regarding full accreditation."

Besides shepherding the program through accreditation and actually teaching classes, Dr. Fruth has managed to fully staff the department with three staff and eight faculty members, all of whom are working hard to fully establish the department and program at WMU.

Faculty are hard at work on research projects, from studying chronic knee pain to investigating the physiological mechanisms of balance issues. They have also quickly engaged with the greater Kalamazoo community, establishing numerous clinical partnerships with PT service providers throughout the region.

Though much is still in progress, Dr. Fruth remains optimistic. "I love the students we have and I'm excited about the students we just welcomed this summer," she says. "It's incredibly exciting to be a part of this growth for the department, for CHHS and for the University."