In my opinion, it is not that it was really lacking anything; it is just that that manual therapy is not really the emphasis or focus of program. Not by a long shot. As a result, some may find it lacking if they are interested in, or coming from a manual therapy background. Manual therapy is definitely treated as an adjunct to more exercise based PT. Again, this is just a different philosophy than much of the PT community right now. Personally, as an athletic trainer and a physical therapist, I rarely use "manual therapy" other than occasional jt mobs while working in an outpatient ortho setting.
As you mentioned, the curriculum is very different and it really is quite hard to explain, but I'll try and do my best. At WashU they have, in many aspects, been leading to charge towards direct access and evidence-based practice. As a result, the whole focus is being able to diagnose and treat movement impairment syndromes based on valid scientific evidence.
Over the past 15-20 years the faculty, especially Shirley Sahrmann, Barb Norton, Linda VanDillen as well as to some extent Florence Kendall (among others), have been systematically, and scientifically, been identifying the movement pattern faults that lead to pain or disability, whether it is neurological or musculoskeletal (currently the cardiopulm. is a work in process). What makes it difficult for students is that we must learn all of the diagnoses that go along with these movement faults, as well as the more traditional physical therapy terminology/approach. So it is kind of double duty I guess. Since so far WashU is the only school that I have heard that uses this diagnosis system, they want us to be able to go out into the field knowing both sides of the story.
In a nutshell, the ortho movement impairments are primarily based on looking at the joint's path of instantaneous center of rotation, and seeing how it deviates from the standard or ideal movement and how this relates to pain. Once this deviation or movement pattern is noted, treatment is directed towards bringing it closer to ideal movement. It takes the focus away from the more medical aspect of "which tissue is involved" to WHY it is involved. In all actuality, it is very simple if you know you anatomy and kinesiology. It just changes the way you look at things. What is nice is that once the diagnosis is made, you quickly are provided with a direction for your treatment.
I'll leave it at that for now. I am not sure if I really answered the question, but feel free to ask more. Like I said, while the school and program were EXTREMELY tough, I loved it.