Thank you for your insight! How have you liked the didactic portion? My understanding is USC is lecture-based (as opposed to problem-based learning). While I'm more familiar with traditional lecture style, I'm intrigued by PBL bc of how it mirrors the clinic environment and how it facilitates memory retention, etc and I'm choosing between USC and another school that utilizes PBL. Do you feel that you retain the information you need to throughout the program? What made you choose this school with this learning style over another? My other thought is that the other school I've been offered admission at starts earlier, which would put me in a full-time job faster.
For clinical rotations, are there certain requirements you need to fill? I love that there are a lot of peds opportunities, since I am also interested in peds (and possibly a few other things like neuro or prosthetics) but I'm also trying to keep my mind open for the direction I want to go. Do you find that USC has mentorship or career guidance for those of us that don't have a clear idea yet of where we want to practice? Are faculty available to students if they are struggling with classes? Or are there other resources available for this? Do people often go elsewhere after they graduate or do many stay in LA/California?
What is the program culture like? To you find yourselves helping each other out? I hear that the competitive part is getting in but once you're in it's more like a family?
Thank you again for answering our questions here! It's been really helpful.
Lecture-based, sure. But we have a fair share of PBL with the given clinical scenarios in various courses and during our practicals. I feel the vast amount of clinical experience we get throughout the entire program (52 weeks) is something to note in comparison to others. I believe the curriculum is structured so that you are able to retain and apply the information throughout the next courses and/or your next clinical affiliation.
As for starting earlier.. if you’re on a timeline and want/need to start working quicker then that decision seems made on your end!
That’s awesome about peds. I’m actually in inpatient rehab right now which is a lot of neuro and orthotics. One recently discharged patient with a below knee amputation and prosthesis.
Believe me.. you may think you want to know what setting or population you are going to treat coming in but your experiences in different courses, the mentorship you seek through professors or older students in the program, and the various clinical rotations you can choose from may sway your decision! There’s no formal career guidance but that will be inherent at any DPT program. You are paired with a student in the year above as well as faculty mentor upon starting the program at USC. Much like undergrad, there are office hours and separate group tutoring sessions offered for free that you can participate in. The best part is is they WANT you to pass so they’ll do anything to solidify your understanding and comfortabity with the material.
As for after graduation, that’s a question I cannot answer fully. You have to consider who stays or moves states for residency, who goes back to their home state, etc. With the huge class size, I would say it’s probably 50/50; some people stay in LA or the OC.. but also realize a lot of people are local and have grown up there!
Lastly, the culture of the program. You have the people that are actively pursuing the academic scholarship each semester striving for the 4.0s (that’s their nature, usually not pompous about their intelligence) and then you have the rest that are in grad school to learn how to best treat their patients. You’ll find at any grad school the mindset is.. you’re here.. now here are the tools to be the best clinician.. not strictly a straight A student. You can be competitive and get all As but if you cannot hold a conversation or perform a treatment session efficiently and effectively then who actually cares about your grades?!
Family is correct. I’ve met some life long friends at USC. To give an unbiased opinion though, I am 100% sure you can find this mentality about grades, extra resources for succeeding and lifelong friends in many programs — I think that’s just an inherent quality of a DPT experience haha. I can only speak with confidence for USC in saying that others really do care about your success. I know for a fact if I didn’t attend this school I wouldn’t have had the same experiences abroad, in the community and at clinical rotations based on the platform USC has given me and the connections the DPT program has (think about it.. 95+ graduates a year makes for an extended alumni network)!
Good luck making your decision. I’m sure you will find the best fit for you and your circumstance
🙂
