DPT Prerequisites

Requirements for the UW–Madison Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program include prerequisite courses. These may be taken at any regionally accredited university or college, two-year campuses, technical schools and online (lectures and labs). Credits are accepted regardless of when they were completed; there is no required timeframe.

A grade of “C” or higher is required for each course taken before application submission. A “B” or higher is required for courses still outstanding at the time of application submission.

No more than two prerequisite courses can be outstanding when you apply to the program. Courses are outstanding if they do not appear for credit on an official transcript.

Advanced placement (AP) credits fulfill our prerequisites as long as they are listed for specific course credit on an official transcript.

Pass/fail coursework: Our program will accept passing grades for courses during all of 2020 and the 2021 spring semester, with no disadvantage to the applicant.

Courses

Prerequisite	Details	Qualifying UW–Madison Courses
Biology: 4 credits	1 semester — Any biology course with a lab (botany courses do not qualify)
Chemistry: 8 credits	2 semesters — Two sequential courses with labs OR 2 semesters — General chemistry with lab + biochemistry with lab or organic chemistry with lab OR 1 semester (4 credits) — Advanced or accelerated general chemistry	CHEM 103: General Chemistry I and CHEM 104: General Chemistry II OR CHEM 109: Advanced General Chemistry
Physics: 8 credits	2 semesters — Two sequential courses of general physics with labs	PHYSICS 103, 201, or 207: General Physics and PHYSICS 104, 202, or 208: General Physics OR EMA 201: Statics and EMA 202: Dynamics
Human Anatomy: 4 credits Human Physiology: 4 credits	2 semesters — One semester anatomy + one semester physiology with lab OR 2 semesters — Two sequential courses of anatomy and physiology with labs (e.g., Anatomy and Physiology I and II)	ANAT&PHY 335: Physiology ANAT&PHY 337: Human Anatomy ANAT&PHY 435: Fundamentals of Human Physiology ZOO 430: Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates
Statistics: 3–4 credits	1 semester — One statistics course	STAT 301: Introduction to Statistical Methods STAT 371: Introductory Applied Statistics for the Life Sciences PSYCH 210: Basic Statistics for Psychology
Psychology and/or Human Development: 6 credits	2 semesters — Psychology and/or human development courses. Psychology courses do not need to be taken in a psychology department.	(PSYCH 210 — a statistics course — and motor development courses do not qualify)

Course Equivalence

Our curriculum is based on all students having similar knowledge in all the prerequisite courses. Transferology can be used to see how courses compare to UW–Madison.

If you have a question about course equivalence, submit our contact form with a link to the course for review.