DPT/PHD programs?

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jaybanks95

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Hey, I am a prospective student who will be applying to programs this summer. I've seen that a few PT schools have DPT/PHD dual degree programs. I just wanted to know whether people thought this was a good route. I know that I want to eventually transition into research and teaching, but I always envisioned that being down the line with me going back to get a PhD. I think it would be advantageous to knock it out all at once and to establish yourself in academia early in your career, and the programs save you about 1 year in getting your PhD. My only worry is that if you're getting your PhD directly after your DPT this will prevent you from practicing, which will hinder your clinical skills as well as prevent you from paying off your accumulated debt? I think it's a very interesting option, but I'm unsure that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Any thoughts?

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Hey, I am a prospective student who will be applying to programs this summer. I've seen that a few PT schools have DPT/PHD dual degree programs. I just wanted to know whether people thought this was a good route. I know that I want to eventually transition into research and teaching, but I always envisioned that being down the line with me going back to get a PhD. I think it would be advantageous to knock it out all at once and to establish yourself in academia early in your career, and the programs save you about 1 year in getting your PhD. My only worry is that if you're getting your PhD directly after your DPT this will prevent you from practicing, which will hinder your clinical skills as well as prevent you from paying off your accumulated debt? I think it's a very interesting option, but I'm unsure that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Any thoughts?

Most likely.....NO.

The programs I know of do NOT pay for the clinical degree meaning you will take on the debt. People in research I know went back after slamming their debt down.

An MD/PhD is PAID for by the University so it is not a problem.

University payment for the dual degree hasnt come through in most places....which is sort of ridiculous given that a lot of rehabilitation science has a lot more promise than some of the PhD concentrations pursued in medicine.
 
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if you can get both done and add only one year it could be a good decision. However, my place of employment pays for my continuing ed so your first employer might as well. I essentially paid for less than half of my transitional DPT because those classes counted toward my annual CE requirement. You could practice while you are doing the PhD and get better ideas of what research questions to ask. IMO, there are too many researchers that don't seem to really practice in the real world and ask the most ridiculous questions in their research, and therefore end up concluding things that don't mean anything to a real clinician.
 
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if you can get both done and add only one year it could be a good decision. However, my place of employment pays for my continuing ed so your first employer might as well. I essentially paid for less than half of my transitional DPT because those classes counted toward my annual CE requirement. You could practice while you are doing the PhD and get better ideas of what research questions to ask. IMO, there are too many researchers that don't seem to really practice in the real world and ask the most ridiculous questions in their research, and therefore end up concluding things that don't mean anything to a real clinician.

Four yrs for a joint degree? It would take a minimum of six.

MD/PhD is seven
 
there are too many researchers that don't seem to really practice in the real world and ask the most ridiculous questions in their research, and therefore end up concluding things that don't mean anything to a real clinician.

^^^
Why Most Clinical Research Is Not Useful

"Practicing doctors and other health care professionals will be familiar with how little of what they find in medical journals is useful."

See also Dr. Gordon's Mary McMillan lecture from a couple of years ago for more on why we need far more clinician scientists in PT than we have. At this point we'll take whatever we can get I guess, but I think clinician scientists who actually were clinicians before becoming scientists are the ones who are going to be most likely to produce research that matters to the "boots on the ground" so to speak.
 
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