The Doctor of Physical Therapy degree is a three-year lock-step program.

The program comprises intense academic and clinical work spread out over six semesters and three summers as well as 112 credit hours of graduate course work divided among classroom, clinical, and research activities. The clinical education portion of the curriculum involves 39.5 weeks of experience in a variety of settings.

Clinical Education

The first clinical rotation is six weeks and occurs at the end of the curriculum’s first year. The advanced clinical affiliations are scheduled in the curriculum’s third year and range from 10.5 to 12 weeks. Students must complete at least one advanced long-term acute care affiliation, one advanced long-term rehabilitation affiliation, one outpatient orthopedic affiliation, and one rural or underserved affiliation. The remainder of the rotations is based on a student’s preference and the availability of clinical sites.

UNLV has affiliations with facilities in many states, including general acute care hospitals, outpatient centers, pediatric centers, sports medicine centers, long-term rehabilitation facilities, and extended care facilities. Students must be prepared to provide their own transportation and housing for clinical rotations and may have to travel outside the Las Vegas area for at least one clinical affiliation.