WashU Doctor of Physical Therapy Admissions: Inside a Top-Ranked Program [Episode 622]

What should applicants know about WashU Medicine’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program?

In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Steven Ambler – professor of physical therapy and orthopaedic surgery, division director of education, and DPT program director at WashU Medicine – about the program’s curriculum, culture, student support, research opportunities, and admissions process.

Dr. Ambler explains how WashU integrates early clinical experience into the curriculum, why the program emphasizes collaboration over competition, and how faculty coaching helps support students throughout their training. He also shares how the admissions committee evaluates applicants holistically and what qualities make an application stand out.

If you’re considering physical therapy school and want an inside look at one of the country’s most respected DPT programs, this episode offers practical guidance and useful perspective.

00:00 WashU Medicine DPT Program Overview
01:22 Why the WashU DPT Program is Top-Ranked
04:08 Early Integrated Clinical Experience
07:05 Alumni Preceptors and Clinical Placements
07:53 Student Support, Collaboration, and Coaching
13:20 Research Opportunities for DPT Students
17:42 Holistic Admissions Review at WashU 
21:53 What Makes a Competitive WashU DPT Applicant

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Transcript

Admissions Straight Talk (00:37)
And I'd like to welcome Dr. Ambler to the podcast.

Steven Ambler (00:41)
I however

Admissions Straight Talk (00:42)
I'm great. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm excited to talk about the world of physical therapy today.

Steven Ambler (00:50)
Yeah, lo I'm I'm looking forward to it. Thanks so much for having me.

Admissions Straight Talk (00:53)
Wonderful. So let's get right to it. So let's provide the listeners with a general introduction. You represent the Washington University in St. Louis, also called Wash You Medicine Program in Physical Therapy. So let's give the listeners a little bit of background. Where are you located? How large is your class cohort? And how long in duration is this DPT program?

Steven Ambler (01:19)
Okay, great. So we are in St. Louis. and that's that's really important to ⁓ to highlight with Washington University. Sometimes we get confused with other parts of the country, but yes, we are right here in St. Louis in the middle of the country. Our cohort size is eighty-eight. that's our official ⁓ approved size. So we hover between eighty-five and ninety in each class, each cohort.

And our program runs two years and eight months. ⁓ it's really sort of the traditional length of the DPT. So we're a fall start. We start in mid to late August. ⁓ and then our graduates ⁓ finish up in ⁓ early to to mid May each year.

Admissions Straight Talk (02:00)
Okay, great. Let's get into some more details about this program. As a bit of background for our listeners, there are currently over 350 accredited DPT programs in the country, and US News World Report ranks your program near the top of the list. So first of all, congratulations. And second of all, can you tell us why?

Steven Ambler (02:23)
⁓ sure. Well and I can try. I get asked this question a lot. ⁓ you know, we have lots of ⁓ prospective applicants that come to visit or to, you know, to join some of our information sessions and this always comes up. I I think it's really important to ⁓ make sure everybody knows that the PT school rankings are ⁓ a survey of all of people like me ⁓ at each program all over the country.

And so we're not using an an algorithm of, you know, graduation rate or GRE scores or things like that. it it's a survey of our peers. And there are certainly limitations to that, but I think one of the great things about it is it's it's how all the all the leaders in the profession that have their their pulse on not only physical therapy but physical therapy education see the programs.

⁓ I think what and and we've been up near the top for many, many years, and I think what really helps us stand apart is we do all three parts of what we call the academic mission. So we do education, that's the biggest thing we do. it's our biggest focus. We also have clinical practice and research here in the program, and blending those things together is is

really important. For example, every every person that teaches clinical skills in our curriculum is treating patients, you know, that day or that week. And so I think things like that keep us up near the top. And the other thing is the faculty. We have a a long history of faculty that are very recognized nationally and internationally and what they bring to the classroom.

makes a big difference, but it also keeps us ⁓ relevant and known amongst our peers. So that that's a few things that I think are ⁓ are really important. And the last thing is, you know, really it's the alumni base. So as the alumni go out and have success, that contributes to the reputation of of the program. And we draw from all over. So we have

learners that come from all over the country and then ⁓ a percent each year that come ⁓ you know that are international students and come from all over and a lot of them, not all, but a lot of them then go back and go to different parts of the country ⁓ or the world and that increases our reach and sort of who's aware of Washu and what we're doing here.

Admissions Straight Talk (04:46)
Mm-hmm. Well, the combination of everything you just said certainly makes sense as to why you remain near the top of the list on peer-reviewed rankings. as I researched for this podcast, I saw your website talks about early integrated clinical experience.

And we talk often on this podcast with my other guests about the value of hands-on learning and how this generation of learners prefers not to be sitting in a classroom through lots and lots of didactic learning. We know that that has to be part of the learning experience, but they really prefer hands-on learning.

So in your curriculum, you offer early integrated clinical experience. And I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about what that means and when that happens.

Steven Ambler (05:34)
Absolutely. And I I think it's it's part of a broader structure we use to really ⁓ we're we're focused on experiential learning as one of our learning theories that drives the structure of our curriculum. And the early or the integrated clinical experience is a big part of that. As a definition, what it is is it's it's before your full-time clinical rotations.

So these will look like half days or full days in a local clinic. you know, for for all the programs that are doing, we'll we'll refer to it as integrated clinical experience. For us, it starts ⁓ pretty early in the first year, and ⁓ about half of the weeks across the first year, our learners will go to a local clinic for one day of that week.

And it's an eight-hour day, and it does a couple of things. I mean, for us, what we are focused on is we want the learner as quickly as possible in the authentic environment so that the things they're starting to learn in the classroom in that first semester, you know, just some of the basic skills, they can start to practice with a preceptor who knows they're early, knows they're just starting. and so it it's guided and it's

low stakes. In other words, when they go out into that early environment, we're not assessing them on the skill itself. You know, we're we want them to practice, we want them to get feedback, but in an appropriate way early on. And it also then brings that that experience back into the classroom. So with experiential learning, what we want to do is as quickly as possible get them where they're bringing that experience back.

It deepens their learning, it it improves their questions in the classroom. And because they go to all different sites all over our region, then they get to learn and hear from each other. but that that pattern actually continues throughout the curriculum where we still get them into their first full-time clinical experience early at the end of the first year, so that it's this repeating pattern of of

Classroom clinic, classroom clinic, which we think ⁓ you know deepens their learning throughout the curriculum.

Admissions Straight Talk (07:43)
Absolutely. Going back to the answer to a prior question when you talk about having a deep alumni base, do some of your alumni work as preceptors? Many.

Steven Ambler (07:53)
Many, ⁓

many alumni. Not all, you know, there you're gonna if you're a a learner here, you're you're going to go to ⁓ sites where it's your your preceptor or your clinical instructor is not an alum, but many are. And ⁓ it's one of the things that's grown our clinical education site selection, you know, it and which quite honestly is one of our biggest draws, you know, because

because we have sites all over the country and some international, people can can have a lot of choice in not only the type of clinical education site like sports or pediatrics, but also where they do that, where in the country.

Admissions Straight Talk (08:31)
Yeah. Yeah, that's amazing. It to me it conjures up this image of of like a woven piece of of material that just the threads just become deeper and deeper and more ingrained and you know, sort of more solidified, which is just a wonderful thought about networking and and the strength of alumni and and learning. So the other thing we like to talk about here is ⁓ support of students and learners.

⁓ in any kind of graduate level curriculum. And in reading through your program's curriculum description, I found the following quotes in that your program is ⁓ quote unquote non-competitive. You use a learner-centered approach, and you offer each student to meet with a faculty coach. I'm interested to hear how you believe this supports students both academically and emotionally.

Steven Ambler (09:23)
Great question. I I I can go through the supports we have and ⁓ I guess I would say on this too that ⁓ we we try to do a lot to influence the learning environment in a positive way. the one word we use over and over is collaboration. we also use it on the employee side. So faculty, staff, we we try to take the same approach.

The supports that you mentioned, I think that the non-competitive piece is always, I'm always ⁓ try to be very ⁓ clear on this in the beginning with folks. you should compete with yourself. You know, this will be a rigorous program. it will be challenging, it will be worth it. but but but our program of assessment is set up that, you know, once you have decided that.

That Wash U is the place for you and you come. We want the goal is for everyone to succeed, to graduate, to pass the licensure exam, and to get your dream job. And so there's no need to do anything that's competitive with your classmates unless it's a friendly competition. so there's no curve, you know, if if I do better on a test, it doesn't mean you do worse and those kinds of things.

So we really try to foster collaboration ⁓ right from the start. ⁓ and I think that's it it goes really well. The faculty model it and I think that makes a a really big difference. Coaching is one of the supports that every learner gets a a faculty coach, day one orientation. ⁓ and we stay together all three years. And ⁓ you know, and

And all faculty coach. So I'm a coach. And the importance there is we have this collaborative open door policy. We use first names. So if you come here and visit, you'll hear all the learners call me Steve. and that said though, sometimes you need some structure because not everyone is going to immediately feel comfortable just knocking on the door or

you know, just just reaching out on their own. And what coaching does is it ensures that everybody has that one on one. So I I have four four coaches per year. So it's a very small group. We have structured meetings that there's there's more in the beginning and then they kind of taper off as we want the the learner to take charge of them and decide by the end they're they're deciding, you know, when we meet. ⁓

Admissions Straight Talk (11:46)
Mm-hmm.

Steven Ambler (11:47)
But that that structure ensures that everybody gets a start of support and gets someone who knows them and can check in on them and can also point them to resources if they need something. And so that that's probably the biggest job of the coach is, you know, I don't have to, as the coach, know every content area if you have a question, but I need to know who to point you to. or if you need

student health or some other resource, I need to know how to get you there.

Admissions Straight Talk (12:13)
I would imagine that that would sound very comforting to anybody starting graduate school, even students matriculating directly from undergrad, students who have taken a non-traditional path, students who are career changers. no matter what your stage of life is, having some level of support would be very comforting and aid in the success of starting that new chapter.

Steven Ambler (12:37)
It's I I have to be honest with you. I love it. When we first put it together, I I wasn't sure how much it would do. You know, we had tried other things, different community groups and things where we just try to do stuff outside of of school. but this really we use the master adaptive learner framework to structure coaching.

And so, and then we all go through as coaches, we all go through training on that, on using that model, open ended questions and really letting the learner drive ⁓ each session. And I just think it it's just kind of blown me away. ⁓ and so it it's been a great program for us and moving it into the curriculum, embedding it inside the curriculum.

tying it directly to our outcomes versus it being just sort of this extra thing, I think has made a huge difference. You know, so we we look at the success of coaching each year just like we look at the success of anatomy.

Admissions Straight Talk (13:26)
Mm.

Wow. Wow. I think that is great. I applaud your faculty for having buy-in and ⁓ like you said, taking it as an earnest part of the curriculum and not an addendum. or, you know, sort of a throwaway piece. And I'm sure that that has contributed to the overall success of the program. Yeah.

Steven Ambler (13:56)
Definitely.

Admissions Straight Talk (13:57)
We'll pivot right now to a different line of questioning. Let's talk about research. Some pre PT students are very interested in research, and others are much more interested in pursuing careers as pure clinicians. And I'm wondering, are there opportunities for both at WashU?

Steven Ambler (14:14)
Yes, and ⁓ you know, this question also for us is common because there's so much research that happens here. but w what I tell everyone is the DPT is a clinical doctoral degree. So when you are doing the DPT, you're coming here to learn and to train to be a clinician. And what's what's core to the DPT curriculum related to research is

Every graduate will become competent in how to consume research in a way or how to consume the literature and use it to make clinical decisions. So that that content is for everyone. If you're someone who is interested in research, maybe you're interested in participating in it, or you just want to know more about how it works, all the way to your thinking of.

getting involved in research after you graduate. We have lots of opportunities, but it's important for everybody to know they're not required for the DPT. ⁓ and it kind of starts at a a low level and goes all the way up to a a really large commitment. You know, so at the lowest level people can sign up for work study and be placed in a lab so that the work they're doing ⁓

is within a research lab. They can apply for assistantships. Those are competitive, so you you do have to be selected for those. But they come with a ⁓ a nice stipend every semester. And the assistantship then is is there for all the for the whole curriculum. and so that's a wonderful experience. You get a lot of time in a lab. You you you

know that faculty member already because they all teach some in the DPT, but you kind of know them in a different way when you're in their lab. You're also meeting the other graduate students, so PhD students or masters or PhD students from other parts of the university might participate in that lab. And so that's a great way to do it. Up from there, we do have a federally funded master's program.

in clinical research. It's again competitive. So DPT learners can apply for that program. If they're accepted, they do the first year of the DPT, including the first clinical, then they step out and do a one-year master's in clinical research, and then they come back and finish the DPT. The master's is fully funded. They don't pay anything for that. So

It's becomes four years but two degrees. roughly four years and two degrees. And then finally, the highest level is we have the PhD in movement science. And that is something that actually people can be accepted to at the same time they are accepted to the DPT if they want to apply to both. Typically, they would complete the DPT and then start their PhD.

Most often though, people decide and while they're here and apply more in their last year ⁓ for the PhD. We probably get one or two graduates every year who go on to our PhD program here or another one. ⁓ and then of course we get we get folks from other institutions who are applying to the PhD as well. So there's a lots of

Admissions Straight Talk (17:18)
Mm-hmm.

Steven Ambler (17:26)
Research happening. it's embedded into the curriculum in ways that are appropriate for clinicians, ⁓ but but not a requirement.

Admissions Straight Talk (17:33)
Mm-hmm.

Sure. And opportunities to decide to join along the way. It sounds like if if interest if an interest in research is sparked at some point during the curriculum.

Steven Ambler (17:48)
Yeah, absolutely. And you know, one of the neatest things is just all the all the meetings are open. So we have a monthly seminar, which could be a speaker from anywhere in the world. ⁓ we have weekly research meetings where faculty come and present their ideas and you know the rest of the group tries to sort of

challenge it or poke holes in the ideas and make it better and anybody can come and listen to that. ⁓ and we do have learners that will participate in those things ⁓ when they're not in class.

Admissions Straight Talk (18:19)
Great. Okay, so for listeners who are here and want maybe some inside scoop because they're thinking or planning to apply to your program, these final two questions become important. Can you talk about your program's application evaluation? And specifically, do you use a holistic

portfolio review similar to medical school admissions, or do you have a different review criteria? And what I mean by that is do you place a greater emphasis on GPA? Do you place a greater emphasis on letters of recommendation? What could you tell us?

Steven Ambler (18:59)
Absolutely. So we we would be more of a holistic review. so and and actually here at Wash U, it's been we've used this process

It going back 20 years, and it's probably longer, I just may not be aware of it. but the holistic process meaning, so first we don't use cut scores. you know, so we're not gonna we're not going to take everyone in who's met the requirements and then say, okay, start at the four O's and and work your way down. every applicant that meets the requirements for

applying get the same full review by the committee. And then we use a structure. There are some similarities to medicine. It's not exactly like medicine, but there are similarities where we are we are trying for, you know, that we're always trying to push to towards whole context, but certainly whole file.

whole person, whole context, if we can get there. I mean, we we just have the application. We don't interview. so there are always I tell everyone, you know, there are limitations to how much we can know you from your app, but that's our goal. and as far as things to emphasize, I mean, I kind of start with s we don't require the GRE. It it is optional. and then

There's grades and GPAs. those are important. They're important pieces of data that start to tell the story. What we're looking at is, you know, why do you want to join physical therapy as a profession? And then why wash you? And then, you know, what what do we think you can contribute to the profession and wash you? And then

Finally, after that, we're looking at w will you be successful here? You know, and we're trying to get as close to you know we can on all of those questions that you can do in an admissions process. So the bottom line is yes, your academic performance matters. Your your grades matter. This is a rigorous program. The expectations are very high, but there's a lot of support to achieve those expectations.

So you sort of have those things met, those minimum standards met. And then after that, it's really about, you know, can you can you tell your story? And so there's the essay questions. My advice on that is always just be authentic. ⁓ you know, be honest about sort of how you've gotten interested and why you want to do this, how you know what you know, about physical therapy. And then finally the letters.

The letters are always something that y again, you want the letter to be it to be obvious that the person knows you. ⁓ and so when I go and talk to groups at undergraduate institutions, I tell you know, start start now because for someone to really write you an authentic letter, it's they need to know you. ⁓ and that could be a professor, it could be an employer, it could be someone at a volunteer organization.

Admissions Straight Talk (21:39)
Mm-hmm.

Steven Ambler (21:59)
⁓ we we we look less at what's the specific thing that you've done, and we look more at what what are the attributes that it demonstrates. So if if I could just give you one example, you know, someone can show time management or a dedication or sort of leadership or showing up for others.

Admissions Straight Talk (22:10)
Mm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Steven Ambler (22:21)
They can show that through a whole bunch of volunteer work. They can also throw show it through one consistent job all the way through school. You know, those those things shouldn't necessarily be weighed differently. We're looking at what what what does it demonstrate? if if that makes sense. Yeah. Yeah.

Admissions Straight Talk (22:31)
Hm.

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay, so that makes a lot of sense. So holistic portfolio review and authenticity. Which brings me to my final question, which might be a little bit redundant. So if it is, that's okay. But the final question I like to ask of all academic deans and program directors is.

What are you looking for in a competitive application to your program? And, you know, applicants will ask me, do I have to have had an international experience? Do I have to have had a publication? Do I have to have done something you know, ⁓ amazing, you know, competed at the Olympic trials?

Steven Ambler (23:24)
Yeah.

Admissions Straight Talk (23:25)
in order to make my application

stand out. So how do you answer that question?

Steven Ambler (23:30)
Yeah. well it it i your examples are are so good because I think it it in all seriousness, you know, I guess sometimes I feel like applicants today to professional school especially, it the expectations feel so high. ⁓ how do you continue to set yourself apart or continue to level up?

Admissions Straight Talk (23:46)
Right.

Steven Ambler (23:53)
⁓ and to try to stand out. And what I see is sometimes sometimes it backfires, you know. I I think that I think people should if if they've landed on physical therapy, or even if your listeners are, if they've landed on a different profession, I think the app, when it shows the the authentic reasons why, that it's way more powerful.

And again, like I'll I'll use an example of when someone there's sort of this clear description of how they bec how they came to know about physical therapy, how they got interested in it and how they decided this is what they want to do with their with their professional lives. ⁓ that means so much more than just a smattering of as many different activities as as one can get. now if

If you've been really active and you're doing lots of neat things, it it's not bad. But I think people shouldn't feel pressured to just have the longer and longer list, if if that makes sense. What makes a great applicant to physical therapy school is strong academic performance. PT school is ⁓ and all the health professions, they're rigorous.

Admissions Straight Talk (24:51)
Absolutely.

Mm-hmm.

Steven Ambler (25:03)
professional programs. So you're busy, you're studying a lot, the volume is higher than than undergrad. And all of that's important, important to acknowledge. ⁓ and then beyond that, it's it's the authentic nature of why you got interested and and and finally I will say on the letters, just to be very direct, the letters again, the better the person knows you,

The better the letter. but do not ask anyone to write a letter for you if you don't know what they're going to say. I mean, you should be very confident in in what that letter is going to look like because an average letter may not make much of a difference either way. a a poor letter can make a huge difference.

So I know that's a little more detail, but it it's what I tell everyone who you know who asks about the application process.

Admissions Straight Talk (25:57)
Great. Well, I think that's excellent information. And I'm sure listeners who are hoping to go to WashU, interested, have garnered some insider info information. And we thank you so much for sharing your time with us and your perspective. And so thank you so much.

Steven Ambler (26:19)
Thanks so much. This was really fun. And I'm I'm sure you'll have the the website. ⁓ I should mention that folks can sign up for any individual ⁓ consultation sessions about admissions, the meet with staff and then usually with me. or they can come to our ⁓ open house in the fall every year.

Admissions Straight Talk (26:38)
Great, we will be sure to post links to your program's website as well as your bio in our show notes. So any listener who's interested will be able to get that information directly there. Wonderful. Thank you so much for your time.

Steven Ambler (26:52)
Thanks so much.

Thank you.

Admissions Straight Talk (26:55)
And thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to share, rate, and subscribe to the podcast. We'll be back soon with more conversations to help you get accepted.