Duke Pros/Cons

[DPT2019newb]

Just reaching out to see if there were any current/past Duke DPT students who'd be willing to share their experiences there and any pros/cons of the program. I was just accepted and will be visiting this week, but wanted some more information about what others thought. Thanks in advance!

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[noyceguy]

Just reaching out to see if there were any current/past Duke DPT students who'd be willing to share their experiences there and any pros/cons of the program. I was just accepted and will be visiting this week, but wanted some more information about what others thought. Thanks in advance!

Pro: You can get the same license as everyone else. Con: You will go into soul-crushing debt.

 

[Lukea2016]

Just reaching out to see if there were any current/past Duke DPT students who'd be willing to share their experiences there and any pros/cons of the program. I was just accepted and will be visiting this week, but wanted some more information about what others thought. Thanks in advance!

I'm an incoming student so I'll give some of the reasons I applied and accepted their decision. I was early decision so I'm officially attending Fall 2016.

I completely disagree with the poster above. 1. If physical therapy education was strictly just about passing the boards, they should just give online degrees and send inexperienced idiots into the clinics. 2. Duke is not as expensive as people think, at least not for their DPT program. It's about average and it cost the same as it would've been for me to go instate.

The pros to me are that they place you into the clinic your very first year. It starts out small and they build on it through their "STEP" program. The faculty there are world class therapists and the entire program is embrasive. The director just came back from helping napal and WHO. They promote research and some students even go to national conferences to present. They base grades on a pass/fail system and promote peer building and cooperation among class mates. Not to mention that Duke has 100s of connections with nationally recognized clinics that are top class.

I honestly wouldn't change my decision just because of some loans that will be there regardless of where you go. Do what you love and do it well.

 

[noyceguy]

I'm an incoming student so I'll give some of the reasons I applied and accepted their decision. I was early decision so I'm officially attending Fall 2016.

I completely disagree with the poster above. 1. If physical therapy education was strictly just about passing the boards, they should just give online degrees and send inexperienced idiots into the clinics. 2. Duke is not as expensive as people think, at least not for their DPT program. It's about average and it cost the same as it would've been for me to go instate.

The pros to me are that they place you into the clinic your very first year. It starts out small and they build on it through their "STEP" program. The faculty there are world class therapists and the entire program is embrasive. The director just came back from helping napal and WHO. They promote research and some students even go to national conferences to present. They base grades on a pass/fail system and promote peer building and cooperation among class mates. Not to mention that Duke has 100s of connections with nationally recognized clinics that are top class.

I honestly wouldn't change my decision just because of some loans that will be there regardless of where you go. Do what you love and do it well.

$35,000 in tuition + $23184 for expenses x 3 years= $174552. On a 10 year payment plan that is $2000 a month for loan repayment. Average starting salary is around $60000 a year, which is roughly $3750 take home. $2000 a month / $3750 is about 50% debt burden.

 

[engmedpt]

I'm an incoming student so I'll give some of the reasons I applied and accepted their decision. I was early decision so I'm officially attending Fall 2016.

I completely disagree with the poster above. 1. If physical therapy education was strictly just about passing the boards, they should just give online degrees and send inexperienced idiots into the clinics. 2. Duke is not as expensive as people think, at least not for their DPT program. It's about average and it cost the same as it would've been for me to go instate.

The pros to me are that they place you into the clinic your very first year. It starts out small and they build on it through their "STEP" program. The faculty there are world class therapists and the entire program is embrasive. The director just came back from helping napal and WHO. They promote research and some students even go to national conferences to present. They base grades on a pass/fail system and promote peer building and cooperation among class mates. Not to mention that Duke has 100s of connections with nationally recognized clinics that are top class.

I honestly wouldn't change my decision just because of some loans that will be there regardless of where you go. Do what you love and do it well.

Stop giving advice to people. You're really bad at it

 

[engmedpt]

"If physical therapy education was strictly just about passing the boards, they should just give online degrees and send inexperienced idiots into the clinics"

You're clearly new here...

 

[Lukea2016]

Stop giving advice to people. You're really bad at it

Not advice, just what my opinion is. Don't like it, don't read it. I would love to hear yours, since you've already stated you don't agree.

 

[Lukea2016]

I'll also go ahead and state that I may have been wrong to state "idiots into the clinics" but I don't believe anyone inexperienced should be treating patients off the bat, without guidance, or passing the boards is the most important aspect to being a care giver.

 

[engmedpt]

Not advice, just what my opinion is. Don't like it, don't read it. I would love to hear yours, since you've already stated you don't agree.

K. Don't go to Duke for physical therapy.

I'll also go ahead and state that I may have been wrong to state "idiots into the clinics" but I don't believe anyone inexperienced should be treating patients off the bat, without guidance, or passing the boards is the most important aspect to being a care giver.

There's an online DPT degree and by 2019 theres a place that's going to be offering an online, non-lecture based medical degree. Nova has a four year degree with online work and its probably a much better model than some places.

 

[jesspt]

I'm an incoming student so I'll give some of the reasons I applied and accepted their decision. I was early decision so I'm officially attending Fall 2016.

I completely disagree with the poster above. 1. If physical therapy education was strictly just about passing the boards, they should just give online degrees and send inexperienced idiots into the clinics. 2. Duke is not as expensive as people think, at least not for their DPT program. It's about average and it cost the same as it would've been for me to go instate.

The pros to me are that they place you into the clinic your very first year. It starts out small and they build on it through their "STEP" program. The faculty there are world class therapists and the entire program is embrasive. The director just came back from helping napal and WHO. They promote research and some students even go to national conferences to present. They base grades on a pass/fail system and promote peer building and cooperation among class mates. Not to mention that Duke has 100s of connections with nationally recognized clinics that are top class.

I honestly wouldn't change my decision just because of some loans that will be there regardless of where you go. Do what you love and do it well.

Many programs place you into the clinic in an incremental fashion in the fist year. Mine did - in 1997. It must be a really radical and cutting edge concept.

And this whole "embrasive" thing - we had at least one faculty member who spent time outside of the US (Dominican Republic and Guatemala, i believe). This is hardly something that is isolated to Duke.

I honestly wouldn't change my decision just because of some loans that will be much less if you choose wisely where you go to be granted a degree that is viewed essentially as a commodity by future employers. Do what you love and do it well. - I fixed it for you.

I'm glad you're currently pleased with your choice of school. Sadly, you won't agree with me until you're making loan payments that were unnecessarily large for several years.

 

[truthseeker]

Well said Jess. I will say that my program put us in the clinic in year one in 1990 so . . .

 

[BiffTheFlashRogers]

Just to add to the trend here: I'm a current first year at an in-state public program and we also had two sets of "mini-clinicals" last semester to begin to acclimate us before headed off to clinic 1 next fall.

I'm sure Duke is a lovely program, but personally I could never justify that cost.

 

[DPT2019newb]

After some tough decision making, I decided to choose my in-state school over Duke. Just like you said Biff, I couldn't justify the cost. My dad did some research and calculations, finding that if I chose Duke over the school I chose then I would pay $900/month more for 30 years! Not worth it in my opinion...

 

[jjjDPT]

After some tough decision making, I decided to choose my in-state school over Duke. Just like you said Biff, I couldn't justify the cost. My dad did some research and calculations, finding that if I chose Duke over the school I chose then I would pay $900/month more for 30 years! Not worth it in my opinion...

And that's a good-sized mortgage of a difference! Good choice.

 

[BiffTheFlashRogers]

Hey, glad you crunched the numbers @DPT2019newb. I think it's the right choice. I'm incredibly happy with my choice to go to a public in-state program. I'm sure you will find the same satisfaction and success.

 

[Bones26]

Sounds like someone drank the Duke koolaid...

Another "me too!" to the list of people who were in the clinic. Starting second semester, we had some kind of time in the clinic. And, I'm pretty sure the other programs in the area did as well.

Do what many people have stated multiple times on this forum: go to the cheapest school that's a good fit for you. Everybody takes the NPTE. Employers don't care where you went to school, and virtually all programs in a given area have the same connections locally. Your clinical sites, experiences and connections matter much more than your school. If Duke is The Only School For You and Mom and Dad are footing the bill, then go for it. But, there are some great public schools out there that result in the exact same degree with half of the price tag.