SEARCY, Ark. — Harding University President Dr. David Burks announced today that the University will launch a physical therapy program, which will offer the Doctor of Physical Therapy degree. The program plans to enroll students in fall 2011.
“The physical therapy program will join our other fields of study in health sciences,” said Burks. “With the physician assistant and pharmacy programs already firmly in place, physical therapy is the perfect next step.”
The College of Pharmacy will seat its third cohort of 64 students this fall, adding to the 115 students already enrolled in the college.
Harding began offering the state’s first and only physician assistant program in 2005, which will welcome 36 new students in the fall, bringing the total enrollment to nearly 100 students.
Dr. Mike McGalliard has been hired as the program director and is a licensed physical therapist and currently a faculty member at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Allied Health Sciences in Amarillo, Texas. He will start his tenure as director of the program at Harding in August.
The three-year program will begin with 30 students and will add the same number of students each year. The program will be fully staffed and fully functional with a total of 90 students in 2013.
According to the most current data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, physical therapy is an area that will experience significant employment growth in the next decade. Looking from 2008 to 2018, it is projected that the number of physical therapists will grow by 30 percent — a net increase of nearly 8,000 positions.
Harding is seeking accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314; 703-706-3245; accreditation@apta.org). The program will submit an Application for Candidacy, which is the formal application required in the preaccreditation stage.
Harding had a record enrollment this year of more than 6,600 students from all 50 states and 49 foreign countries. It is the largest private university in Arkansas and attracts more National Merit Scholars than any other private university in the state. Harding also maintains campuses in Australia, Chilé, England, France, Greece, Italy and Zambia.