“Doctor of physical therapy program” a gift from health education: is it really a gift, for whom?

Background: Clinical doctorate of Physical Therapy was initiated for the first time by United States of America in 1992. In Pakistan, course of clinical doctorate in physiotherapy was launched in 2011 after approval of HEC with nationwide proposed curriculum for this program. After completion of said course the student will be entitled to prefix the title \ DOCTOR\ before his name with \ PT\ as suffix. With the implementation of DPT course in a developing country like Pakistan, the need was felt to inquire the positive & negative implication of program in Health System wherein the focus will be drawn on Students, Faculty, Institution, Physical Therapy Community, General Public, Patients and other Health Professionals. Methods: Among all the institutes/colleges across the country that are conducting “Doctor of Physiotherapy Program” , 10 institutes/college were selected randomly. The heads of selected institute/colleges were interviewed. Results: It was revealed that introducing the DPT program in Health Education System has contributed considerably in benefiting the students, Faculty and the institute itself. With the launch of DPT program, tremendous influx of students was witnessed. No of applicants seeking admission increased remarkably. Those students who were unable to get admission in MBBS program, Perceived the DPT degree as another opportunity to be a clinical doctor. 5 years back the country were host to only 5 institutes offering Bachelor degree in Physiotherapy. Due to commercialization of the DPT degree, within only 5 years the number of institute increased from 5 to 26 registered. A good number of institutes are in pipeline seeking affiliation from Universities to launch DPT Course. Conclusions: Unfortunately there is no regulatory (Physiotherapy Council) body to monitor the accelerated establishment of the institutes as well as the no of passing graduates yearly i.e. no of allocated seats. Owing to non availability of physiotherapy council, the increasing number of institutions and the graduates could be alarming for Health System and the patients who are less literate. Key words: DPT Doctor of physical therapy, PT Physical therapist, HEC Higher education commission