The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) has granted candidacy for accreditation to the new doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program at Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University (FranU), the university announces.

In the late spring of 2018, CAPTE authorized FranU to admit qualified candidates into the program. The first cohort will begin this fall.

“This represents a significant step in the evolution of physical therapist education in the state of Louisiana,” says Tina Holland, PhD, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University president, in a news story.

“We are the first new program to be developed in Louisiana in over four decades, and the only private institution in the state with a DPT program.”

Currently, the only other DPT programs in the state of Louisiana are LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and Shreveport.

FranU has also announced that it will be participating in the Physical Therapist Centralized Application Service, or PTCAS, for DPT admissions. By joining this discipline-specific application service, the university will benefit from an expanded applicant pool and a more streamlined application review process.

“The DPT program is excited to join PTCAS. This new admissions process will make it much easier for individuals to apply to our program and will increase our visibility to high-caliber applicants nationwide,” states T. Kirk Nelson, PT, PhD, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University DPT program director, in the news story.

Applicants applying to the FranU DPT program for the 2019 entering class can apply online using the PTCAS application beginning in July 2018.

[Source: 90 WAFB]