School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Faculty of Health Sciences Queen's University
 

http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/currentstudents/fees/grad.html

Admission Requirements

All offers of admission for the 2013-2014 academic year will be sent via email on May 17, 2013

The application closes on Friday January 11, 2013

 updated Nov 9, 2012
Approximately 70 students are admitted annually to the Physical Therapy program. Applicants are selected on the basis of a strong academic record and the assessment of personal characteristics considered most appropriate for the study of Physical Therapy at Queen's University and the subsequent practice of  Physical Therapy.

Applicants must have a four year baccalaureate degree and a minimum of a second class standing (70%+) from a recognized university. In addition, applicants must have completed a course in introductory psychology and courses with substantive content in statistics, human anatomy and physiology at the undergraduate level.

In addition to academic achievement applicants must show, through documentation of volunteer work, community service or personal experience, their strong interest in the profession of physiotherapy, knowledge of the profession and desire to work with people of all ages and abilities/disabilities. Two letters of reference and a statement of intent are required.

Further details are provided below under Academic Requirements and Method of Selection.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION
Citizenship

Admission is restricted to candidates who are Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents (landed immigrants) prior to the closing date for receipt of applications.

Language Proficiency

Applicants who have resided in Canada or another English speaking country for less than three years as of the first day of the month of the term in which students are to begin must achieve a satisfactory score on one of the following tests:

•  Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) – minimum score required: 250 for computer-based test; 94 for iBT.
•  Michigan English Language Assessment Battery (MELAB) –
minimum score required: 80.
•  International English Language Testing System (IELTS) –
minimum score required: 8.

Admission With Advanced Standing

Candidates are not normally considered for admission with advanced standing or on a part-time basis. All students admitted to either program must be registered full-time for two years (24 months).

Disability and Admission to Rehabilitation Therapy

While a disability should not preclude consideration for admission, the disability must not be such as to prevent the student from communicating with patients and/or colleagues, making observations, gathering and analyzing data requisite to arriving at professional judgments, and carrying out physical techniques and activity components of patient care essential to the practice of physical therapy.

Immunization

Students entering any training program in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, are required to provide documentation of their two-step tuberculin skin test status, varicella serological status and immunization history for measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, polio, tetanus, and Hepatitis B. Annual influenza immunization is also required for all students prior to clinical placements.

Students are advised to visit their Family Physician, Student Health Services or Public Health Office to be screened or to enter an immunization schedule. Vaccination occurs at the student's cost. For the Hepatitis B vaccine, documentation of receipt of all three doses by the physician or Health Unit as well as laboratory evidence of immunity (i.e., positive serology for the antibody to Hepatitis B surface antigen two to three months post vaccination [HBsAg]) is required to be submitted to the School. For students entering first year of a rehabilitation therapy program, this documentation is required in the first week of the program. For students who are anti-HBs positive, no further action is required. For students who are anti-HBs negative, screening for HBsAG is done; if they are HBsAg positive they are also screened for HBeAg. It is understood that Hepatitis B immunization may not be complete at registration, but all tests must be in progress.

No screening is done for infection with HCV or HIV. At this time, expert opinion and current evidence does not support the necessity of such screening. Students who self-report infections with these viruses will be considered by an advisory committee.

Academic Requirements

To be eligible for admission, students must have a four-year baccalaureate degree or equivalent with a minimum second- class standing from a recognized university, including pre-requisite courses as described below.
Doctoral Studies in Rehabilitation Science

Positions are available for strong students with an interest in research who are accepted into the MScPT program at Queen’s University to enroll in the doctoral degree program in Rehabilitation Science upon completion of their professional program. The School of Rehabilitation Therapy offers a minimum stipend of $18 000 per year to all of its doctoral students. Further scholarship opportunities are also available. If you are interested in learning more about this possibility, please contact the Graduate Assistant, Rehabilitation Science. For information about Master and Doctoral level studies in Rehabilitation Science at Queen’s click here.
Supplementary Materials

All applicants to Physical Therapy must complete the Queen's Physical Therapy Personal Submission questions. In addition, two Confidential Reference Forms are considered in the assessment of applicants (downloadable from the ORPAS application site: see under How to Apply, below). At least one of the Confidential Reference Forms must be from someone holding an academic faculty position in a postsecondary university or college, who has taught you and is qualified to judge your academic ability. Positions such as Teaching Assistant/laboratory coordinator/athletic trainer do not qualify as academic referees. The second reference, must be from someone who can judge your work performance and interpersonal skills from their perspective as a physiotherapist, or as someone who supervised the applicant's work with people who have special needs. Referees are also asked to provide a letter to accompany the form. Neither of the Confidential Reference Forms can be submitted by relatives or friends. Completed reference forms and letters must be sent by the referees to ORPAS. It is recommended that applicants provide their referees with a stamped, address envelope to facilitate this process. Due to the large number of applicants, the Physical Therapy program will not contact applicants whose application files are incomplete.

Prerequisite Courses

Eligible students will have completed at the university level: courses in introductory psychology (0.5 credit), statistics (0.5 credit), and courses with substantive content in human anatomy and physiology (minimum 0.5 credit each):

Introductory psychology content must cover the basic areas of psychology including perception; cognition; learning and motivation and their biological substrata; development across the lifespan; individual differences; social psychology and behaviour disorders. Specialized/specific courses (e.g., sport psychology) are not acceptable on their own.

Statistics content must include statistical methods; probability theory; random variables; distributions; estimation; confidence intervals; elementary non-parametric methods; exploratory data analysis and hypothesis tests for one or two groups; simple linear regression and contingency tables (0.5 credit is sufficient).

Human anatomy and human physiology are the foundation of study in physiotherapy. Applicants may have taken these subjects within their undergraduate degree or as additional prerequisite courses. The equivalent of one full course in each of anatomy and physiology is recommended. Combined anatomy/physiology courses are acceptable. Anatomy course content must be comprehensive, covering gross anatomy of the human musculoskeletal, visceral, and neurological systems. Physiology course content must cover the principles of human physiology, including properties of the living cell and the internal environment; neural, muscular, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, renal and endocrine systems; metabolism; reproduction; and homeostasis. Exercise physiology is highly recommended as a supplementary physiology course.

All other credentials being equal (i.e., competitive grades, a strong personal record, excellent references, evidence of knowledge of the scope of the physiotherapy profession and volunteer work or employment in an area with people with disabilities, hospital or clinic), applicants with more course credits in human anatomy will be selected over those with less.

Personal Characteristics

The second stage of the selection process involves the assessment of the Confidential Reference Forms and the Personal Information Form. The Personal Information Form can be downloaded from the COMPASS.ORPAS application or from www.ouac.on.ca/orpas . The application must demonstrate an informed career decision and the particular strengths, experiences, and abilities that the candidate would bring to the profession. Applicants are rated using a Personal Information score in three areas: knowledge of physiotherapy and relevant experience; personal characteristics (e.g., maturity, adaptability; motivation; and initiative); leadership and communication skills.

Method of Selection

All applications are first screened for prerequisite requirements. The first cut-off is based on both the grade point average of the most recent ten full-course credits of undergraduate university education (the Sub-GPA) and the cumulative converted grade point average (Cum-GPA) for all years of undergraduate university study. The actual cut-off mark is based on the applicant pool, but typically students entering the Physical Therapy program have a Sub-GPA of 3.5 or higher. Final ranking of applicants for offers and placement on the waiting list includes Sub-GPA, Cum-GPA, and the Personal Information Score.

Additional details

Prerequisite courses may be taken at any university. Web-based and distance education courses are accepted.

Prospective applicants may complete summer courses and additional courses out-side of their main degree in order to fulfill the pre-requisite requirements.

Applicants who have not completed degree or pre-requisite requirements by the time of application may be granted conditional admission. Outstanding pre-requisite courses must be listed on the supplementary personal Information Form (downloadable from the ORPAS application site: see under How to Apply, below). Proof of satisfactory completion of degree and outstanding courses must be provided by June 30th of the year in which conditional admission is granted.

No preference is given to applicants who have studied in any particular university program and no preference is shown to applicants with any particular level of training (i.e., undergraduate versus graduate degree). Place of residence and university where studies have been undertaken are not criteria in selection.

A personal interview is not part of the selection process for applicants to Queen’s University Physical Therapy Program.

Offers of admission may be either accepted or declined. Admission cannot be deferred to a future year.

Fees

For information about fees please see the Office of the Registrar web-site at http://www.queensu.ca/registrar/currentstudents/fees.html

Awards available to students in the MScPT Program

The MScPT program is considered a professional program and therefore students are not eligible for all of the scholarships for which students in research graduate programs are eligible. Please check the details of any scholarship for which you intend to apply.

Information about financial assistance and awards can be found on the Queen’s University site http://www.queensu.ca/studentawards/index.html

ONTARIO GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP (OGS)
All incoming applicants will be automatically considered for OGS and no additional information or documents need be submitted. If applicants are selected to receive OGS this will be indicated in an offer letter in May.


How to Apply

Application may be made online through:

The Ontario Rehabilitation Sciences Application Service (ORPAS)

http://www.ouac.on.ca/orpas

To request an application package by post, write to:

ORPAS
170 Research Lane
Guelph, Ontario N1G 5E2
Tel: (519) 823-1940

The application materials at ORPAS are generally available to applicants in mid-October of each year at www.ouac.on.ca/orpas.  The deadline for applications is January for admission the following September. All application materials for entry into the MScPT Program must be submitted directly to ORPAS.
For Further Information please contact:
Kathy Grant
Program Assistant
Physical Therapy Program
School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Queen's University
grantk@queensu.ca
Tel: (613)533-6000 ext. 79141
Fax:(613)533-6776
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (pdf)