A Dual Degree Option for Graduate Education in Physical and Occupational Therapy
Track 2: Sustainability, the Curriculum, Co-curriculum, and Learning
Name(s):
Judith A. Olson, Program Director, MOT, and Wanda B. Nitsch, Program Diector DPT, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, San Diego campus; Karen Howell, Director of the Institute of Occupational Therapy and Jodi Liphart, Program Director, DPT, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, Florida campus.
Occupational and physical therapists share common medical science courses in their professional education. The University of St. Augustine for the Health Sciences has created a unique curricular design, the Dual Degree Option. The only dual degree program of its kind in the US, this option promotes sustainability, as individuals can efficiently complete this program and enter the marketplace with two professional skill sets. It provides cost savings students because they can complete both curricula in only 10 trimesters - or 3 years and one trimester - rather than 4 years and 4 months. It also promotes efficiency in institutional resource management by utilizing courses that are already part of a degree program. The dual degree option is not without its challenges, however. Issues related to coordination, impact on two professional curricula, intensity, communication, professional accreditation, and professional confusion exist. Nevertheless, our graduates are seen by employers as highly qualified and flexible in the workforce. This poster addresses the benefits and challenges of the dual degree option for both students and the institution.
