Physical Therapy Residency Programs
Specialized Clinical Practice
When you apply to a Creighton University Physical Therapy Residency Program, you’re taking the first step toward developing specialized expertise to improve patients’ lives. These residencies provide quality clinical practice experiences and instruction—the kind that cultivates strong critical reasoning, value-centered teaching and patient advocacy skills.
Our Mission
The Creighton University Physical Therapy Residency Program is committed to advancing the profession in specialty areas of practice through the formation of physical therapists who excel in:
- clinical reasoning
- clinical practice
- value-centered teaching
- patient advocacy
The program fosters an environment of excellence for the professional formation of mentors and mentorship as a critical component of advancing residency education.
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PT Residency Benefits and Highlights
- 12-month program running from the beginning of August through the end of July
- Salaried employee of Creighton University with eligibility for health benefits
- NO tuition fees
- Professional development funds available
- Paid time off
- Exposure to a unique common curriculum with other PT residents and OT fellows
- Certification through the APTA Basic Clinical Instructor Credentialing Course
- Encouragement to attend local and national conferences, such as APTA Combined Sections Meeting
- Mentorship from experienced clinicians who engage in ongoing training for effective clinical teaching
- Graduates are eligible to sit for the clinical specialist exam through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists
The Creighton Difference
Grounded in Jesuit values, Creighton University educates and trains residents to make a difference in the world through their professions. These Jesuit values of caring for the whole person, striving for more and serving others inform the academic and student life of the Creighton experience. As a resident in a physical therapy residency program, you’ll receive a thoughtful, rigorous education to specialize your skills and become a leader in the profession.
Physical therapy residents and occupational therapy fellows come together to engage in learning around topics that span across specialty areas and professions through an interprofessional common core curriculum. This unique curriculum allows for a two-phase model of delivery, in which content knowledge on the topic is delivered in the first phase and application to specialty clinical practice is facilitated during the second phase.
A community of residents and fellows develops through engagement in reflective practice and collaborative care. Case studies and clinical narratives are among the many opportunities to engage with other residents and fellows.
The physical therapy residency programs are an integral part of the Department of Physical Therapy’s strategic plan to develop educational programs with a scientifically grounded clinical reasoning paradigm, which is foundational to the practice of physical therapy. Residents are not only provided with a sound base for clinical reasoning through their didactic curriculum, but they receive mentorship by clinical educators who are trained to facilitate the clinical reasoning process. Residents also receive mentorship and training on how to facilitate clinical reasoning in the students they engage in the classroom and laboratory environments.
There is strong and consistent faculty engagement in educational research exploring the teaching and learning process around the development of clinical reasoning skills for physical therapists. This places Creighton’s residents in a learning environment where clinical reasoning is valued as a key component for advancing practitioners towards expert practice.
Faculty, residents and program graduates engage in local, state and national professional service and scholarship opportunities.
Creighton University’s core physical therapy faculty includes 11 board-certified clinical specialists in the areas of geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics, pediatrics, sports, women’s health and wound care. Nine PhD faculty contribute expertise and mentorship in a variety of research areas. Multiple workgroups from within the faculty consistently engage in educational research exploring the teaching and learning process, particularly in clinical reasoning, across the continuum of PT education. This contributes to a culture that values developing excellent educators at the faculty and resident level.
This diverse faculty contributes to the Common Core Curriculum, in which all residents participate and provide mentorship on teaching and research-based-upon-content expertise. Learn more about our PT faculty.
Attributes of Creighton PT Residency Graduates
All residents gain teaching experience in classrooms, laboratories, clinics, and graduate from the PT program ready to:
- Exhibit excellence in clinical reasoning
- Possess the reflective capacity to facilitate adaptive learning
- Demonstrate effective clinical and academic teaching abilities
- Display leadership in professional and community engagement
- Practice comprehensive collaborative care
Our Residencies
We offer American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE)-accredited residencies that focus on several specialties, including geriatric, neurologic, orthopedic, pediatric, sports (in candidacy for accreditation) and women’s health.
Contact Us
Heather Knight, PT, DPT
Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist
Associate Professor
Director of Post Professional Education
Department of Physical Therapy
402.280.4595
