Are students involved in research?
All PT students are involved in research however their focus is not to become researchers, but to be good consumers of research. Yes each student completes a research project and several of them actually go on to present them at state or national conferences. However, presenting their research at this level is not required, only encouraged.
The American Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education, and the physical therapy profession have striven to place an emphasis on evidence-based practice. The capstone project will develop the students to become able practitioners and consumers of research. Students will complete a capstone graduate research project that involves development of the proposal, data gathering and analysis, and write up. The final manuscript is expected to be of the quality ready to be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and students will present their research project as a platform or poster presentation during Summation Module. While the project may or may not be faculty driven, students will be paired with the appropriate core faculty member for consultation and advisement. All DPT student/faculty research involving the use of human subjects will have prior approval from the University of Daytons Institutional Review Board.
