Doctor of Physical Therapy

The Brenau Doctor of Physical Therapy, housed within the Ivester College of Health Sciences, utilizes innovative approaches to promote active and experiential learning.The faculty and staff have built an effective program in a strong interprofessional setting, training student physical therapists to provide the highest level of patient care. You’ll experience a contemporary and creative learning environment both on campus and in the community. 

Brenau DPT has a robust service profile, and will engage you in many service learning and leadership opportunities. Ultimately, the patient is the best teacher. So, we’ve anchored this program with a patient-centered approach to training the best entry-level therapists at their highest potential. 

A doctorate in physical therapy is the only terminal degree in the profession of physical therapy.

Student opportunities

• Work with Northeast Georgia Medical Center to mobilize patients in acute care through the Early Mobility Program starting in your second semester
• Complete 30 weeks of a full-time clinical internship and three weeks of integrated part-time clinical experience 
• Serve others through state or national-level advocacy and/or global service opportunities 
• Offer aid to farm workers in South Georgia through the Moultrie Farm Workers Family Health Program
• Enter practice as an entry-level clinician after passing a national credentialing exam and obtaining state licensure 

Potential careers

• Entry-level physical therapy clinician 

Admissions requirements

To be considered for this program the applicant must meet all of the following requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
• Minimum 3.0 GPA in prerequisite courses
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in college coursework
• All prerequisite coursework completed within the past seven years
• If GRE is taken on or after Aug. 1, 2011: Minimum score of 146 on verbal; 144 on quantitative; 3.5 on analytical writing 
• If GRE is taken prior to Aug. 1, 2011: Minimum score of 400 on verbal; 500 on quantitative; 3.5 on analytical writing. Official GRE scores (Brenau Code: 7557)
• 40 hours volunteer experience or observations in at least two different types of settings
• APTA Essay
• Three letters of recommendation from: a licensed PT, a professor and other non-family member
• An official transcript from each accredited post-secondary school previously attended

Advanced Placement and Transfer Credit

All courses required for the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree program, both didactic and clinical, must be completed at Brenau University. The Doctor of Physical Therapy program at Brenau does not grant advanced placement, credit for experiential learning, or transfer credits from another program or institution.

*Due to the novel Coronavirus the following exceptions are in place for admission into the Brenau University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program:

• Pass/Fail: Courses taken as prerequisites for enrollment may not be taken on a Pass/Fail basis. Due to the current situation with COVID-19, we will accept pass/fail courses taken in Spring/Summer 2020. If you are given an option of pass/fail at your institution, it is preferred that you decline that option for all prerequisite courses. However, given the uniqueness of the current circumstances, pass/fail courses taken Spring/Summer 2020 will be accepted. Applicants will need to submit documentation, in PTCAS, verifying that they were not offered the choice of receiving a letter grade, or that the choice to move to a pass/fail grading basis was made prior to seeing their final letter grade in the course.
• Observation Hours: We are aware that the ability to complete shadowing experiences has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are unable to fulfill the required hours due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, please describe this in detail within your application.

Prerequisite courses

The following prerequisite courses must be completed with a final grade of “C” or better while having a minimum of a 3.0 in all prerequisite courses.

• Chemistry 1 and 2 with labs
• Physics 1 and 2 with labs
• Psychology – 2 semesters including General Psychology and one additional
• Statistics
• Biology (one of the following three sequences should be met)
  • 1 semester of Biology with lab AND 2 semesters of Human Anatomy & Physiology (I & II) with labs
  • 1 semester of Biology with lab AND 1 semester of Human Anatomy with Lab AND 1 semester of Human Physiology with lab

All application materials must be submitted through PT-CAS.

International student English language requirement

Proficiency in the English language can be proven through submission of a minimum of one of the following:

• ACT composite score of 19
• IELTS score of 6.0
• SAT verbal score of 450
• SAT evidence-based reading and writing score of 500
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of 527 (hard copy test)
• TOEFL score of 197 (online test)
• TOEFL score of 71 (online test)
• or a grade of “C” or better in EH 101 & EH 102 from an accredited U.S. college or university.