Physical Therapy

• SAR PT 341: Preclinical Experience
  This no-credit, pass-fail course is designed for students currently pursuing the BS/DPT program track. In this course, students will gain insight into the professional behaviors, responsibilities, and communication skills that successful physical therapists possess. Students will better understand the role of a physical therapist in various health care settings and will have the opportunity to reflect on how they might embody these core values as a future physical therapist.
• SAR PT 490: IND STUDY PT
  IND STUDY PT
• SAR PT 511: Cardiovascular and Pulmonary System 1
  This course reviews the anatomy and physiology of the cardiopulmonary system. This course will highlight the adult and pediatric dysfunctions of the cardiopulmonary system, medical and surgical care of this patient population, and the appropriate physical therapy interventions. Emphasis is placed on patient evaluation, medical assessment, treatment planning, and the performance of the appropriate procedures. In addition, patient compliance issues, ethical and legal aspects of physical therapy care, and the health care professional’s own cardiopulmonary function will be addressed. Current research will be introduced throughout the course as appropriate.
• SAR PT 512: Cardiovascular and Pulmonary System 2
  This course is designed to expand the student's knowledge of cardiovascular and pulmonary systems as well as cardiovascular and pulmonary physical therapy. The student will gain an in-depth understanding of physical therapy examination, intervention, and management of peripheral vascular disease, wound care, prosthetic management for amputations, and cardiopulmonary disease. Laboratory sessions will facilitate the students understanding of lecture material and provide them with hands on physical therapy skills needed to care for patients with the above disorders. Current literature will be the basis for all lecture and lab sessions.
• SAR PT 521: Musculoskeletal System I
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (SARPT515 & SARPT520) PT Students only. - This course is the first in a series of three for the musculoskeletal system. It is designed to provide the student with the necessary skills for prevention, examination, evaluation, and intervention of musculoskeletal impairments of posture and the upper extremity joints. The student will learn a systems approach to patient care. Specifically, this course will teach the student how to determine which impairments are related to specific activity limitations and participation restrictions of the individual with upper extremity disorders. It will consider upper extremity impairments throughout the life span, as well as throughout the natural history (acute through chronic) of the problem. An eclectic approach to interventions will be stressed.
• SAR PT 522: Musculoskeletal System II
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (SARPT521) - This course is the second in a series of three for the musculoskeletal systems. It is designed to provide the student with the necessary skills for prevention, examination, evaluation, and intervention of musculoskeletal disorders of the lower extremities. The student will build upon the systems approach to patient care. Specifically, this course will teach the student how to determine which impairments of body function and structure are related to specific activity limitations and participation restrictions of the individual with lower extremity disorders. It will consider lower extremity disorders throughout the life span, as well as throughout the natural history (acute through chronic) of the problem. An eclectic approach to interventions will be stressed. Laboratory sessions will develop the student's skills in examination and intervention techniques to address lower extremity musculoskeletal disorders.
• SAR PT 550: Scientific Basis of Human Movement
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (SARPT520) - This course will provide students with an integrative study of the scientific basis for human movement that spans the fields of biology, neuroscience, biomechanics, and behavior. The course is guided by the belief that to evaluate and treat movement dysfunction, it is necessary to understand the structure of the neuromotor system in relation to its ecological functions. Through lectures, labs, and reflection activities, students will develop a holistic and principle- based understanding of how we move, why we move the way we do, and how rehabilitation interventions and technologies can be used to treat movement impairments.
• SAR PT 551: Neuroscience for Physical Therapy Students
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SARHS369 or SARHS581; and SARPT520 - This course is designed to serve as an introduction to the normal development and function of the nervous system. It is assumed that students have a basic understanding of anatomy & physiology (e.g. cell structure, ionic exchange, and action potentials). This is a clinically-focused basic science course that serves as a building block for successive clinical PT courses.
• SAR PT 555: Integrated Clinical Experience I
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SARHS369 or SARHS581; and SARPT515 and SARPT520; PT students only. - This is the first of two courses in the integrated clinical experience series. Using class discussion, standardized patients, community service opportunities and clinical observations, students will practice patient education strategies, appreciate the role of the physical therapist in relation to other health care providers, and apply skills related to professionalism, interpersonal skills and communication.
• SAR PT 565: Integrated Clinical Experience II
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (SARPT555) PT students only. - This is the second in a series of two courses which will continue to integrate course content taught in the DPT curriculum with clinical experiences incorporating all components of the patient/client management model. Through review of patient records, patient interviews, and observation and treatment of non-complex patients or diagnoses, students will develop skills in the process of clinical decision making, obtaining patient data, and treatment progression. This course will be closely aligned with concomitant academic preparation to enable students to practice recently learned skills in a clinical environment. Additionally, the student will begin to understand clinical teaching, the role of the PT in relation to other health care providers, and issues involved in the delivery of physical therapy, including professionalism, interpersonal skills, communication, and law and ethics.
• SAR PT 566: Evidence Based Practice 1
  This course is the first of a series of two courses on Evidence Based Practice for physical therapy students. Evidence based practice involves the explicit incorporation of evidence from three sources: (1) research evidence; (2) clinician knowledge, experience, and judgment; and (3) patient preferences. In this course, students develop skills to effectively ask clinically focused questions, access, appraise, and apply research evidence in decision making for clinical practice. The emphasis in EBP I is on research evidence related to intervention studies, encompassing systematic reviews, clinical practice guidelines and randomized controlled trials. This course will also emphasize the importance of practice-based evidence to further inform patient care.
• SAR PT 610: Health Promotion and Wellness
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: PT students only. - Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health. Physical therapists can intervene at various points in the life course by incorporating prevention, health promotion and wellness as an integral aspect of physical therapist practice, as well as in promoting and advocating for healthy lifestyles to reduce the burden of disease and disability on individuals and society. This course will provide physical therapy students an appreciation of health and the determinants of health at multiple levels in order to gain knowledge and skills necessary to work effectively to improve the health of individuals, communities, and populations. Students will learn how to assess the needs of a community and develop and implement a health promotion and wellness intervention that is theoretically informed, and evidence based. They will explore the socio-cultural, economic and political contexts in which people live their lives and how these, and local and large-scale forces (inequity, marginalization and various forms of discrimination) impact health and development.
• SAR PT 623: Musculoskeletal System III
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SARPT522 - This course is designed to provide the student with the necessary skills for prevention, examination, evaluation, and intervention of musculoskeletal disorders of the spine and TM joints. It is the third in a series of musculoskeletal based classes and will complete the required musculoskeletal content of the DPT program. The student will learn a comprehensive, biopsychosocial, evidence-based and systems approach to the care of patients with musculoskeletal spinal disorders. Specifically, this course will work to teach the student how to determine which contextual factors and impairments are related to the individual's activity +/ or participation restrictions across the lifespan. An evidence-informed and patient-centered approach to interventions will be stressed.
• SAR PT 634: Diagnostic Procedures for Rehabilitation Professionals
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SARPT511, SARPT512, SARPT521, SARPT522, and SARHP532 - This course will identify and describe various modes of imaging techniques and tests used in medical practice for the neuromusculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and pulmonary systems. The process of diagnosis in the context of the physical therapist's practice will be discussed. Identification of basic radiological pathology and tests results that directly impact physical therapy care and prognostication will be emphasized, as well as integration of test/imaging results in the physical therapy evaluation and plan of care. Correlation of test results with clinical examination findings will be emphasized to allow the student to engage in professional dialogue with other health care providers, including collaboration with radiologists. Diagnostic procedures covered in the course will include but not be limited to: X-ray, CT scan, MRI, bone scan, fluoroscopy, PET, SPECT, EMG/NCV, ECG, echocardiogram, thallium scan, exercise testing, cardiac catheterization, angiogram, MRA, CBC, electrolytes, lipid profiles, cardiac enzymes, and oncology markers.
• SAR PT 652: Neurological System I
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (SARPT551) - The purpose of this course is to provide the students with a foundation for examining, evaluating, and determining appropriate interventions for individuals who have movement dysfunction secondary to neurological deficits. Students will learn the key elements of the neurological examination and its basis in functional neuroanatomy. Students will become skilled in conducting a neurological examination which is guided by the pathophysiology, patient history, and functional deficits associated with or resulting from disease or injury to the nervous system. Emphasis will also be placed on understanding normal and impaired movement through discussion of current motor control and motor learning theories. The ICF model of disablement will be used as a framework for examining and evaluating movement dysfunction and for developing a plan of care.
• SAR PT 653: Neurological System II
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: SARPT652 - This course is a continuation of Neurological Systems I and emphasizes evidence based physical therapy management for people who have specific neurological disorders. In PT652, a general foundation was developed for examining, evaluating, and determining appropriate interventions for individuals who have movement dysfunction secondary to neurological deficits. PT 653 will build on the foundation developed in PT 652 by considering how specific neurological disorders guide physical therapy practice. The course will focus on pathophysiology, examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, plan of care, intervention, and expected outcomes for commonly encountered diagnoses in neurorehabilitation such as Multiple Sclerosis, Traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, Parkinson's Disease, and Cerebral Palsy. Common diagnostic groups are chosen with the intent of enhancing specific knowledge as well as developing a general problem solving approach that applies to any type of neurological diagnosis. The included diagnoses will illustrate how decision-making in physical therapy takes into account issues of age (life span), natural history, stage in the disease process, and nature (stable vs. progressive) of specific neurological disorders. Students will learn to develop a plan for examination, including the most sensitive and specific standardized examination tools, and to develop a plan of care that is specific to various diagnostic groups and that is based on current evidence.
• SAR PT 662: Evidence Based Practice II
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: (SARPT566) - This course is the second in a series of two courses on Evidence Based Practice for physical therapy students. It is designed to develop essential skills for conducting evidence-based practice. There are about three forms of evidence supporting clinical practice, that is, 1) experience from clinical practice, 2) patient values and goals, and 3) the evidence that comes from the research literature. It takes skill combining these sources of evidence into effective and efficient physical practice. This course enhances the student's ability to formulate answerable clinical questions, search relevant research literature, analyze the validity of the outcomes reported in these studies, and combine the outcomes of different research studies in the form of a research synthesis (i.e., critical review and meta-analysis). Literature addressing clinical issues of intervention, diagnosis, and prognosis will be used throughout to illustrate the arguments.
• SAR PT 663: Directed Research
  Undergraduate Prerequisites: By petition only. - Research project implemented under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.
• SAR PT 682: Academic Practicum 1
  The purpose of the Academic Practicum (I & II) experience in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program is to provide students with the opportunity to apply and enhance their knowledge and skill while completing a more in-depth and practical experience in one of four areas of their choosing: service, clinical research or specialty practice/quality improvement. The experience also provides for refinement and development of skills and behaviors in a wide variety of collateral areas not immediately associated with the primary content area. Students will identify an area of interest, contact and collaborate with a mentor to design and begin implementation of a project that will extend over two semesters. The course is a two-semester course that continues through the Fall with the final project to be completed at the end of the Fall semester.
• SAR PT 690: Independent Study in Physical Therapy
  Graduate Prerequisites: Consent of instructor - Work on a special project developed by contract and conducted under supervision of a faculty member.