Curriculum

The professional program, located on a large, urban health professions campus located in historic Philadelphia, spans a total of 35 months with the majority of the didactic curriculum taking place during the fall and spring semesters and clinical internships occupying portions of the spring and summer.

Classes begin each July, during the Summer II semester. Over the course of the entire professional program, students will complete, as part of the professional program, a total of 36 weeks of full-time (40 hours/week) clinical internships at a large nation-wide network of clinical sites. When not participating in full-time clinical internships, students carry an average of just over 16 credits per semester and can expect to spend approximately 20 hours per week in the classroom or laboratory settings Click here for overview of curriculum.

Students also have the opportunity to select from an array of advanced clinical training opportunities through an elective course during their final year of training. Didactic coursework begins in early July and ends 35 weeks later with completion of the last clinical internship in early May that coincides with official University graduation.

A total of 9 periodic breaks of at least 10 consecutive days (5 of the breaks exceed 20 days) away from the classroom, lab, and clinic have been built into the curriculum to provide students the opportunity to rest and reflect on their training. A total of 15 full-time faculty members and well over 25 part-time faculty members provide instruction in the academic courses, actively engage in research, and are engaged in clinical, academic and professional service.