General Questions
Pre-requisite courses/GRE
Clinical Observation Hours
Tuition/Financial Aid
Clinical Internships

General Questions

How many years does it take to complete the DPT?
The Mount’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program is 3 years in length and is equivalent to 8 semesters.

What percentage of Mount graduates pass the national examination?
In the last 3 years, 95.8% of Mount St. Joseph MPT graduates have passed the national examination with 83.5% having passed the exam on the first attempt.

What is the starting salary for a physical therapist in Cincinnati?
While we do not have data on the starting salary for physical therapists in Cincinnati, interested individuals can check the American Physical Therapy Association.

What percentage of Mount MPT graduates get jobs in physical therapy?
Students who have graduated from the Mount’s MPT program and passed the national examination have gained employment in physical therapy.

What is the job market outlook for physical therapy?
Currently the physical therapy job market is excellent. Job opportunities are received by the program regularly. These opportunities are posted on our job board within the department.

Prerequisite courses/GRE

What undergraduate major should I choose?
Prospective students may choose any major they desire.  We recommend they select an undergraduate major in an area of interest.  A question we frequently ask prospective students is “What would you like to study if you didn’t choose physical therapy?”

Which courses are recommended and which are mandatory?
Required courses for admission to the DPT include: 1 year each of anatomy & physiology, chemistry, and physics, all with laboratories; ethics, sociology, psychology, statistics, and three additional courses in the humanities and social sciences

Can I finish my pre-requisites after I apply–as long as it’s before class starts?
Yes, just indicate on the prerequisite form the expected date of completion.  Any invitation to the DPT class will be contingent on your successful completion of these courses.  Therefore, if you were unable to complete or fail (below a C) a prerequisite course, the acceptance would be revoked.

Are pre-requisites accepted if they are more than 10 years old? (more or less)
This scenario is dealt with case by case (on an individual basis).  If you have been working a field similar to the prerequisite course in the past 10 years, then the course will be accepted.  For example, we would accept chemistry from a commercial chemist, psychology course from someone working as a counselor.

What exactly do you mean by prerequisite course descriptions? How can I find them? 
Official course catalog descriptions for all prerequisite courses are required.  Typically, the descriptions are available in your college’s course catalog for the appropriate year.  Catalogs from every year are readily available at your college by contacting your registrar.  Also, most colleges and universities offer online catalogs.  Thus, you may copy actual catalog pages (only the relevant pages, please) and circle or highlight your prerequisite courses.  You may also “cut and paste” the prerequisite course descriptions in a Word document.  Please separate courses from different institutions with the name of the institution as a title.  

Is the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) required?
Yes, the Mount’s DPT admission requirements include submission of the Graduate Record Exam. Prospective students are to have scores sent directly to the College of Mount St. Joseph (our school code is 1129). This requirement is waived for Mount undergraduate students.

How much does the GRE count towards my acceptance?
The DPT program uses the GRE score as one element of the admissions process.  The overall GPA, prerequisite science GPA, interview and writing sample all factor into our decision making process.

How do I know if my psychology, sociology and ethics courses fulfill your requirement?
Psychology: Any course listed in your institution’s psychology department/program will fulfill the psychology requirement.  We suggest a lifespan or developmental psychology course but this is not required. 

Sociology:  Any course listed in your institution’s sociology department/program will fulfill the sociology requirement.  We suggest an introductory course.  However, if your institution does not require you to take an introductory course first, then any sociology course will fulfill the requirement.  Additionally, some anthropology courses will fulfill this requirement.  If you have concerns, please contact the DPT program at (513) 244-4890 before enrolling in a course.

Ethics:  Many institutions do not have an ethics program/department.  Typically, these types of courses are found in the philosophy program/department.  You may take any type of ethics course, for example, healthcare ethics, business ethics, bioethics.  If the course has ethics in the title, it will most likely fulfill our requirement.   Sometimes courses from theology/religion programs will also fulfill this requirement.  If you have concerns, please contact the DPT program at (513) 244-4890 before enrolling in a course.

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Clinical Observation Hours

Are there clinical observation hours required for admission?
The program requires 80 clinical observation hours.

Do I have to have exactly 40 hours at each of my two clinical observation sites?
No. However, you must have a minimum of 20 hours at each of the two distinctly different clinical sites. Therefore, the maximum split between hours at the two would be 60 hours at Clinic A and 20 hours at Clinic B. Most students have divided hours close to 40/40 and 30/50. If you choose to observe at more than two sites, you may have less than 20 hours at one of the sites. Fore example, Clinic A = 40 hours, Clinic B = 30 hours, Clinic C = 10 hours. In this way, you still meet all of the requirements: the total 80 hours, at least two different practice settings, and a minimum of 20 hours in the two distinctly different sites.

Can I finish my clinical observation hours after I apply as long as it’s before class starts?
No, the clinical observation hours should be completed by September 1.

What if I didn’t document my clinical observation hours?
You must provide some documentation for your hours.  If you didn’t document at the time you were doing them, you may summarize your total hours at each clinic/facility on the form.  However, you must contact your supervising therapist and get his/her signature on the form, confirming that you did indeed complete the hours.

Do I have to use the provided clinical observation log?
No.  You may provide a letter or other form documenting your observation hours.  However,  we do ask that you fill out the clinical summary page (page 2) so that we can more easily see your total hours at various facilities.   Please note that any clinical observation form or letter must be signed by a licensed physical therapist. 

Tuition/Financial Aid

Are there scholarships available for physical therapy students at the Mount?
Presently, there are no physical therapy scholarships available at the Mount; however, some healthcare organizations are providing tuition reimbursement in exchange for service commitments.

What are the tuition and fees for the DPT program?
Current tuition and fees can be accessed at Costs.

Clinical Internships

Do you have clinical internships? If so, where can I go to do my internships?
Students enrolled in the Mount’s DPT program will complete 46 weeks of full-time clinical internships. Additional part-time internships are required as well. Our program maintains full-time clinical internship contracts with over 300 facilities. Students are required to perform at least one clinical internship outside the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky/Eastern Indiana areas. Part-time internships all occur within the Greater Cincinnati Indiana areas.

Do I pay tuition during my clinical internships?
Yes, students are required to pay tuition during their clinical internships.

Do I get paid by the clinic when performing my clinical internships?
No, students are not paid for their clinical internship time. These experiences are educational experiences that are designed to enhance the students’ application of knowledge and skills and are extensions of the Mount St. Joseph classrooms.

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