Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency

The Boston University Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency is a post-professional program offering licensed physical therapists an opportunity to improve their understanding of neuromusculoskeletal physical therapy while advancing their clinical reasoning and practice. With the recent changes to admissions criteria for physical therapy fellowship programs, the Boston University Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency also serves as a necessary building block for those wishing to pursue the highest level of post-professional training.

In the fall of 2023, The Boston University Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency Program successfully received accreditation for the next 5 years.

Program Highlights and Schedule

The residency is approximately 13 months in length with participants hired as full-time employees at the Boston University Physical Therapy Center (BUPTC). Residents will treat patients an average of 30 hours per week during which they will receive weekly mentorship in a 1:1 format by board-certified specialists and fellows of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy.

Residents will have an additional 10-15 hours per week scheduled for didactic content, outside experiences and additional mentorship. This time will include activities such as self-driven learning modules, live lectures, grand rounds, journal clubs and chart reviews. Residents will also have the opportunity to gain teaching experience as clinical instructors to first-year doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students on their integrated clinical experiences and/or serve as teaching assistants in the musculoskeletal Doctor of Physical Therapy courses offered through the Department of Physical Therapy at the Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences.

Residents will be be required to complete a scholarly activity in the research realm. Access to BUPTC’s outcomes database, provided through a commercialized version of the Rehab Outcomes Management System (ROMS), will allow the resident unique opportunities to engage in quality improvement initiatives within BUPTC or research related to patient outcomes that is disseminated more globally across the profession.