Clinical Education

Nazareth physical therapy students participate in two types of clinical experience as part of their curriculum.

Part-time, integrated clinical experience: You'll benefit from five semesters of weekly experiences with patients, supervised by clinical instructors, during the semesters when you're taking classes. Many of these experiences occur in our professional physical therapy clinics on campus at the York Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute.

Begin clinicals in your first semester of the professional phase of the program and continue every semester except your final term — a total of 5 semesters of clinical work under the direct supervision of the Nazareth faculty.

  • First year: Spend an hour with the same patients each week. You could be in a wellness clinic such as our interdisciplinary Music Therapy group, our MS Wellness Clinic, or working with LifePrep students on campus, or at a community partner such as Legacy at Clover Blossom, working with older adults. Build professional and communication skills as well as basic exam skills.
  • Second year: Spend four hours a week with patients in our Neuromuscular Clinic and Orthopedic Clinic, providing evaluation and treatment.
  • Third year: Mentor first-year and second-year graduate students in our clinics.
  • At any point in the professional phase: You can choose to get hands-on experience working effectively with children with disabilities in our interdisciplinary Kids Club programs on campus, a series of three one-credit, elective courses. 

Full-time clinical experiences: Four off-campus clinical experiences provide 31 weeks of full-time clinical experience. Nazareth has contracts with more than 500 clinical sites in a variety of settings, across the country - and even in France.

On-campus clinics

Our on-campus York Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute provides extensive opportunities to students in multiple disciplines, as well as providing valued services to the community.

Resources for clinical instructors