Mayor Kate Gallego announced today that Tufts University School of Medicine will expand its Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program to Phoenix. The program will locate in downtown Phoenix inside Block 23 at CityScape, 101 E Washington St., and plans to welcome its first class of 100 students in June 2022. The new location is expected to fuel job growth in the area.
“The Tufts DPT program’s selection of Phoenix is an investment in our people and builds on the excellence we have established with the Phoenix Biomedical Campus,” said Mayor Gallego. “We are a primary market in the Western U.S. where you can you find a talented mix of researchers, doctors, innovators, educators and thought leaders, and Tufts‘ rigorous program will help deliver some of the nation’s top practitioners.”
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The Tufts DPT programs offer an accelerated hybrid education model designed to develop high-performing healthcare professionals with the skills and perspectives necessary to meet team-oriented healthcare demands in the 21st century, and serve the health and well-being of diverse populations. The School of Medicine’s decision to expand the program comes as the need for physical therapists continues to increase.“The projected employment gap for physical therapists in Arizona is over 40% through the year 2028, and that has compounded as a result of the pandemic, and so, we are committed to addressing this need by developing the highest quality professionals under the Tufts banner,” said Program Director Eric Hegedus, PT, DPT, PhD, MHSc. “We are also excited to be a dynamic partner with professionals in the Valley of the Sun.”Tufts will launch the new hybrid, accelerated DPT program in Phoenix with an inaugural class in Summer 2022. Expansion of the DPT program to Phoenix follows demand on the West Coast and the success of the DPT Boston program last year. Tufts DPT combines virtual face-to-face classes, onsite hands-on skills labs, and patient-focused clinical education experiences to build innovative and rigorous DPT programs in a world-class medical school. Students complete the programs from anywhere in the country and attend eight immersive onsite skills labs critical to developing patient management skills.
