| 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.
The DMT Orthopedic Residency Independent Study Program is a twelve-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 may also complete the Independent Study Program by attending the Clinical Certification Program's on-site class meetings followed by eight months of independent study.
Program Components
- Students will complete 16 Home Study Modules at home under the supervision of an OGI Faculty member for a 12-month period.
- 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:
- Licensure in state where clinical experience is being performed
- 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 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 student's 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:
- 3-Day Summary of Extremities Course
- 3-Day Summary of Spine Course
- 2-Day STEP Extremity Lab Course
- 3-Day STEP Spine Lab Course
- 2-Day Introduction to Spinal Manipulation
- 5-day Clinical Problem Solving Course
- Students are highly encouraged to attend the Competency Forum, which takes place the last weekend of April every year in San Diego, CA.
- During the program, students are responsible for all travel and lodging costs that may be incurred.
Doctor of Manual Therapy (DMT) Application Requirements
12-Month Orthopedic Residency and 12-Month Independent Study
- Demonstrated interest in further professional development as documented in the OGI Orthopaedic 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 in the national orthopedic parent body.
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