I'm aware of what the APTA and CAPTE intend for the entry-level doctorate to be (direct access skills i.e. Pharm, Radi, and Diff Dx with maybe some management courses), but one more semester is the difference between a master's and a doctorate?! That to me is laughable and embarrassing.
A similar argument was made when we went from baccalaureate to post-bac Masters, that only a few hours or courses were being added. Before we condemn programs for the superficial appearance of only adding a course or two, let's look at the content. When moving to post bac iniatially, what was seens was that programs had already greatly expanded beyond the minimum course requirement, and were really functioning at the Masters level already. Could that also be the case now with DPT. We have a penchant for beating ourselves up as a profession, and not recognizing that we often expect more from ourselves than the external world (especially education) may require. So make your argument on the DPT program not being worthy based on actual content, not how many courses were added to a perhaps overloaded masters program. Also, keep in mind that the clincal doctorate (DPT) is a far different animal academically than the PhD.
David W. Perry, PT, MS
Perry Therapeutics
