Radford University
Clinical Education
The clinical education program supports the program’s mission in the following ways:
- Provides opportunities for students to practice and hone skills and abilities learned within the program’s didactic coursework
- Clinical experiences are required to be diverse
Students are required to participate in three (3) unpaid 12-week full-time clinical experiences as part of their professional education as shown below:
- Year 1: 12-week placement mid-May to early August
- Year 2: 12-week placement mid-May to early August
- Year 3: 12-week placement generally January to mid-April
The program currently has clinical agreements with clinical sites throughout the United States and internationally. Students will be required to seek accommodations outside of the immediate Roanoke area for their clinical placements and should plan accordingly for housing and travel expenses. It is recommended that students budget an additional $3,000-$5,000 for clinical travel, accommodations, etc.
Policies and Procedures
Student clinical experiences will follow cognitive, psychomotor, and affective preparedness and predetermined curriculum milestones to assure students are prepared for the area they will be asked to practice as students of physical therapy. Students will be required to complete three diverse 12-week full time clinical experiences at the end of each curricular year.
Clinical experiences may include but are not limited to skilled nursing home facilities, in-patient rehabilitation, outpatient rehabilitation, acute care, hospital, home health, and school settings. In their last clinical experience, students will have the option of exploring specialty areas of practice including neurology, pediatrics, research, community health, sports medicine, geriatrics, industrial rehabilitation, wound care, women's health, hippotherapy, lymphedema management, and aquatic therapy. Students will demonstrate entry-level practice by the end of the final clinical experience and before graduating with an entry-level DPT degree.
Educator Resources
A consensus conference was convened in 2003 through APTA's Education Division and Research Department to identify research questions related to education. The conference outcome was a document that served as the blueprint for the development of a survey disseminated to a variety of stakeholders within the physical therapy education community. The final product from the conference and survey was used to define a set of priority ranked and categorized researchable questions.
"I chose Radford University's D.P.T. program because of the 12 week clinical rotations that are completed throughout the curriculum versus all at the end because it allows for growth and development of confidence as a clinician. After completing my first rotation in an outpatient clinic, I am assured that physical therapy is the right field for me."
Additional Information
For further information on Clinical Education, please contact:
Renée Huth, PT, DPT
Director of Clinical Education
- Phone:
- 540-224-6673
- Fax:
- 540-224-6660
- Address:
-
101 Elm Ave
Roanoke, VA 24013
- Location:
-
Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital
8th Floor, Room 829
- Email:
- rhuth@radford.edu