at work now, so can't search until I get home but is there a big difference in the schooling between MPT and DPT other than cost?
According to the APTA the breadth and depth of topics covered in PT school has been increased.
APTA:
Is the graduate of a professional (entry-level) DPT program more competent than the graduate of a professional (entry-level) BSPT or MPT program? Some APTA members believe that this may be the case because of the augmented didactic component and the extended, more mentored clinical education experience. However, there are insufficient data to demonstrate any correlation between the DPT and higher levels of clinical competence or improved treatment outcomes. Moreover, it would appear that there are no major economic advantages to the DPT.
In the absence of compelling data, perhaps the more important question for any physical therapist should be: "How can the physical therapy profession position itself to accommodate the changing expectations for practice and the changing health care environment in a future that is entirely uncertain?" The answer for some physical therapists will include acquiring a "transition" DPT; for others, the DPT will not offer sufficient benefit.
They don't put up a very good argument for the DPT in my opinion. There is no economical benefit. They state on this website that practicing PT's will never have to get the DPT to practice. However, they also make some references in their 2020 vision for the PT profession statement that by the year 2020 they want to see the DPT as the standard for practicing physical therapists.
APTA: What is the difference between a professional (entry-level) DPT program and a professional (entry-level) MPT program? The length of the majority of DPT programs is three years. Based on a recent informal survey, accredited and transitioning DPT programs have augmented the breadth and depth of content in the professional (entry-level) program. The specific augmented content areas include, among others, health systems screening and differential diagnosis, pharmacology, radiology/imaging, health care management, prevention/wellness/health promotion, histology, and pathology. In addition, the final or culminating clinical education experience is typically extended beyond the average of 15 weeks; some are 1 year in length.
Because of the particular content that is augmented in the DPT it appears to me that the goal is to produce PTs with a better foundational knowledge in diagnosis, and ability to recognize when the patient needs to be treated by other medical professionals. I think increasing depth and breadth of these areas of study should make the graduating PT more autonomous within health care team. This would coincide with the APTA's goal of achieving Direct Access to patients in all states.
This information was gathered at the APTA website under FAQ for DPT
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm...ID=62334&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm#BM11
