There are a lot of schools that are doing this "professional dress code" because this is a professional career. And when pt's are making health suggestions to doctors about a patient it doesn't hurt to dress well rather than be in a t-shirt and gym shorts. It's just like a child. If the kid is bad we blame the parents for not giving that child proper home training. The same goes for every PT school. If you aren't respectful or professional or know nothing about PT we blame the school. But everything you are saying is alarming. And I am just like you. I did my research on st. Augustine before I interviewed(the pros and cons.) The only thing that is alarming that is coming from your post it that their curriculum isn't accredited. But the chances of it not being accredited are slim. When a new schools pop up and they have to get accredited (with new students attending) the chances of that school not being accredited is very slim,even if it does take 1-2 years. So I'm sure that USA has learned from their past and did their appropriate research to make sure it gets accredited. Every school has it pros and cons. Many schools accreditation is coming up for review that may scare people. A school in Alabama( that I will not name) recently lost their Dean of the PT program and is now short staffed because other teachers quit. you just have to chose the lesser evil between schools.
BECAUSE THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO LIKE ~100 PEOPLE IF YOU GET EMAILS/OR FIND INFORMATION THAT CAN PROVE ME WRONG PLEASE SCREENSHOT OR UPLOAD THAT INFORMATION. Also the verbal word of the school isn't that great. They told us on interview day (when I went) that the heritage lounge served breakfast in the mornings. That is a lie, that never ever happens, now obviously not really that big of a deal but still they could theoretically make the claim that they never said that even though like 300 students know that they did.
I do agree that professionalism is important especially in the clinic and certain business functions but the problem is not the dress code, the problem is that the priorities of the school are not in a row, to put a perfectly trimmed beard above communicating to your prospective and current students about a curriculum change that adds $80,000 dollars in economic opportunity cost to yourself, not provide access to the pre-requisites and flow from class to class and not provide a safe way for students to present valid concerns about grades, practicals, and without repercussions is astounding. The main problem is not the knowledge or teaching abilities of 90% of the teachers it's that THERE IS NO SAFETY NET. If I was to suggest that a practical was unjust or unfair to another student, there is a large chance the guillotine comes down on both our heads rather than even an attempt to improve the system from an administrative standpoint. (NOW SOME TEACHERS such as Dr. Rot, Dr. Grant, Dr. Shanklin and most likely many others will if presented nicely, try and help and will always want to improve the system.) For example there are many correct ways to perform an MLT or an MMT and various techniques provide different strengths and weaknesses. Each teacher could present the technique in a slightly different way and all be correct, the problem lies with if a different teacher than who taught you said technique grades you. You could fail the practical and have to do a retake even though clinically it might be the most appropriate. (If you fight the grade you have now you'll likely be ostracized and it now becomes your word against someone with a doctorate.) An easy solution would be to have cameras set up recording the EXACT DESIRED TECHNIQUE when originally being taught, plus its a great review study guide for practicals. To make the grading even more fair would be to have AV cameras set up at each station so if a teacher says you didn't do something when you definitely did it 5+ times, you can now review the tape and prove either the student or grader wrong. PLUS it would provide additional study material to improve yourself even if you have no reason to challenge your grade. Watching yourself is one of the best ways to make improvements.
This same over-arching administration problem also applies to the professionalism/dress code. No exact mention of what exactly constitutes a trimmed beard vs not is mentioned, but I can still lose 5% of my grade (and potentially a $40,000 dollar economic cost at the whim of a teacher without clear rules) is clearly preposterous. I do not object to trimming a beard or wearing nice clothes but I could shave at 4 am go to school and study, have a late exam at 7 pm. and get docked 5% of my total grade in that class because my hair grows fast and I now have a 7 o'clock shadow.
This shows the lack of clarity and planning as well as communication on the part of the school to mitigate possible risks/STRESS for students. For those of you that don't know the school was hit by Hurricane Matthew during last fall semester (not directly but it flooded really bad) and wiping out a full week of class (that was never made up), afterwords many students were stuck with 5-15 tests within a single week. For a school located precariously close to an ocean, no plan of what to do from a hurricane or tsunami or how to regain that missed cclass time is in place. THE QUESTION YOU SHOULD BE ASKING YOURSELF IS WHY, WHY IS THERE NO PLAN IN PLACE, because there is little economic downside to students dropping classes and lots of economic upside for the school for students staying another semester.
Efforts are underway by current students to help improve the school and give the school chances to instill trust back in students, which you would think the school wants to prove after losing AN ENTIRE PROGRAM AND 1/3 OF YOUR STUDENTS, WHILE GETTING SUED AND LOSING (It's still ongoing with multiple cases).
*If anyone has proof the ENTIRE NEW DPT CURRICULUM has been approved by the APTA/CAPTE please share on here!!!!
**The list of new classes doesn't prove anything.
***I already know the school is accredited, however I could not for the life of me find proof of the NEW CURRICULUM BEING APPROVED. The FLEX and old curriculum are approved.
**********IF YOU FIND AN EXACT PRE-REQUISITE/ COURSE OBJECTIVE FLOW CHART FOR THE NEW CURRICULUM please share on here as well. (Not what you need to get in to USA)
