I'm in a school where they've had a Master's program for several years but only recently brought in the DPT. I'll be in the third class, but I'm good friends with a guy in the first class. He expressed frustration at times because they kept changing expectations on him. Things like this:
This class is required. Oh, wait. No it isn't. You can drop it. Oh, wait. We change our minds. It is actually required. Oh, you dropped it and it's too late for you to pick it up again and get a passing grade? Oops....
You have to pass this comprehensive exam of the whole program to graduate. You get two tries. Oh, wait. A third of the class didn't pass and now they're freaking out that they just wasted three years of their lives and took on huge student loans for a degree they won't get, and our graduation rate is now going to suck. Ummm.....ok, how about this? You can have as many tries on the exam as you need, but you can't graduate until you pass it. Better? Ok...
Hey, you know what? That comprehensive exam is way more difficult than the board exam anyway. We'll take it down a notch for next year's class. Yeah, that's a good idea...
You get the picture. I should mention that 100% of the inaugural class for this program passed the boards on their first try and felt very prepared for working as PTs, but being in the inaugural class means you are the "guinea pigs." You're the guys they're going to be testing stuff on so they can figure out what works and what doesn't. My friend didn't like it because, as he said, "Everyone calls me the guinea pig, but I didn't pay guinea pig tuition. I paid full tuition like everyone else!" However, he has his degree and is doing very well now.
