| Our Independent Study DMT degree program provides an excellent opportunity for licensed physical therapists to earn a degree in orthopedic manual physical therapy while maintaining your practice and serving your patients.
Overview
This program is designed for individuals who prefer to work independently, for those with complicated or inflexible schedules, and/or for those who are geographically located too far from an OGI On-Site Residency site to attend classes.
Participants in this program are licensed physical therapists who hold a Master's or a Bachelor's degree and who wish to offer an orthopedic manual physical therapy philosophy within their clinical practice.
This program is an eight-month course of study. Students receive the curriculum on CD-ROM and are assigned an instructor who provides weekly supervision to the student via e-mail. The instructor is responsible for guiding the student through the curriculum; however, the student works at his/her own time and pace within an established schedule. The instructor also provides guidance by responding to questions and giving monthly quizzes.
Students participating in our Independent Study residency will also attend six mandatory courses.
This program is designed for those individuals who participated in the 12-month Clinical Certification Program and wish to pursue their DMT degree.
OGI's 8 month DMT program consists of two phases, the Clinical Certification and the 8-Month Independent Study Residency, which can be completed in as little as one year or two years if the physical therapist chooses to take the 12-month CCP one year and continues with the 8-month Independent Study the following year. OGI has designed these courses with the practicing therapist in mind, and students may choose from on-site residency and independent study formats.
However, due to the time structure of this 8-month independent study program, the initial information may be similar to the Clinical Certification Program.
Program Components
- In Class Hours - 617 (excluding Clinical Certification Course)
- Out of Class Hours - 731 (excluding Clinical Certification Course)
Students will perform the 12-month Clinical Certification Course as a prerequisite of this program. Following the Certification Course, Students will receive the curriculum on CD-ROM, and will be assigned an instructor who will provide weekly supervision to the student via e-mail and/or telephone. The instructor is responsible for guiding the student through the curriculum; however, the student works at his/her own time and pace within an established schedule. The instructor also provides guidance by responding to questions and giving monthly quizzes.
- 1:1 Clinical Mentoring Hours - 150
Students will perform 150 hours of 1:1 clinical supervision with an OGI Faculty member. There is no fee for this clinical supervision; however, the student is responsible for all costs related to performing this clinical experience. Students are required to have the following items in order to complete the clinical supervision:
- Physical therapy license
- Proof of liability insurance to cover clinical experience (if necessary)
- CPR Certification
- HIPAA Certification (this can be obtained online)
- OSHA Blood Borne Pathogen certification
- TB/Hepatitis B/Immunizations (Obtain from Family Physician)
- Supervised Clinical Hours - 440
Students are also required to perform an additional 440 hours of clinical supervision that can be performed at the students routine work environment, however, they will be in contact with an OGI Faculty member via phone, e-mail, etc during that clinical time.
- Research Portfolio: The Portfolio is a written record of the students efforts to identify literature pertaining to the research topics they select, to allocate this literature to the most appropriate sections of a research proposal format that is compatible with the level of development of the literature supporting their topics, and to compose full-blown synopses of the articles they have allocated to these proposal format sections. The Portfolio development process involves interactions with Personal Research Mentors who are assigned to students and whose role it is to lead the students through each activity in the process. The Mentor provides the students with handouts that describe each of the steps, receives homework assignments from the students, and reviews the homework (offering suggestions for improvement where appropriate). When the Portfolio is complete, the students schedule Oral Defenses with the Director of Research, who both mentors them in their preparations for the Oral Defense and leads them through it. When students have responded to any suggestions for improvement emerging from their Oral Defenses, the Director guides them through the process of binding their Portfolios.
- Students are required to attend additional courses that include:
- Summary of Extremities Course (3-day)
- Summary of Spine Course (3-day)
- STEP Extremity Lab Course (2-day)
- STEP Spine Lab Course (3-day)
- Manipulations Course (2-day)
- Clinical Problem Solving Course (5-day)
- During the program, residents are responsible for any travel and lodging costs they incur.
Doctor of Manual Therapy (DMT) Application Requirements
8-Month Residency or 8-Month Independent Study Residency
- Satisfactory completion of the OGI Clinical Certification Program (CCP)
- Invitation to apply upon evidence of completion of the CCP
- Demonstration interest in further professional development as documented in the OGI Orthopedic Residency Application
- Demonstration that the student is actively working in an orthopedic setting
- Proof of licensure to practice physical therapy within their current practice setting
- Demonstration of eligibility for membership with the national orthopedic parent body.
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