University of Washington, Seattle, WA

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Last year I applied, and from what I can tell it is a very competitive school to get into (was rejected). It was rated fairly high on the rankings of PT schools according to US News so the program itself must be good. Tuition is very high for out-of-state students.

When I visited for an on-campus tour with the program director, I got lost in the health science building because it was a maze to navigate. When I found her office, everything seemed quite dated and old. The anatomy labs were being remodeled and were under construction so I was not able to see those. I sat in on one course, which was interdisciplinary and was able to talk to some current students. They seemed to love the program and its curriculum, didn't receive any complaints about it. Overall, I was not impressed with the facilities when compared to other schools I have checked out.

I cannot comment on the actual curriculum thought. I'm sure you can find it online to see how much research opportunity and how much clinical experience you will get.
 
Their program stresses research throughout it (evidence-based care, teaching you to use medical databases to determine the best way to rehab Parkinson's patients, or a strained hamstring, or whatever, etc.). Being part of a medical center, they have guest lecturers from different disciplines come in for lectures on different pathologies or conditions that you'll see. For example, a surgeon who works with amputees may come in and talk about what you can expect in an amputee patient who is coming to see you for PT, what kinds of prosthetics they may use, etc.

Clinically-speaking, you don't start working with patients until after the 1st year (there's a summer clerkship, where you go somewhere for a month and start getting a little experience under CI supervision). Second year they bring in a just a few patients that you first treat in small groups (2-3 students), then eventually you start seeing them a little more individually I think. Just this year they started this new program with Harborview Medical Center (probably the largest medical center in the Pacific Northwest) where once a week you can go there with a student partner and just start evaluating and treating patients mostly on your own, with oversight and help from a CI. Then the entire 3rd year is 9 months of internships, followed by your case study presentation and graduation.

The facilities are large (basically the Health and Science Center is built as an extension of the Medical Center) with various medical students throughout it. The PT department just completed a remodeling over the past year, so they have nice new classrooms and plinths, with modern AV equipment, wall cameras and screens, as well as new changing rooms and lockers for the students.

I'd say it's still more research-focused than clinical-focused, but there's been a recent shift towards a little more clinical work than before.
 
Anyone heard from UW yet this cycle (2012)?

I was told by Laura that they are mailing out notifications already but I haven't received one yet.
 
Anyone heard from UW yet this cycle (2012)?

I was told by Laura that they are mailing out notifications already but I haven't received one yet.

They sent acceptance letters out last week, and they sent alternate and rejection letters this week, so Laura told me. I haven't received my letter yet so I'm anticipating bad news. UW has a good rep in medicine, and I'm assuming they have a good program. All these schools in the Northwest are really good, but competitive unfortunately.
 
Has anyone heard anything yet? I wish they notified by email! Snail mail takes too long.
 
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