Chapman University’s Department of Physical Therapy has officially relocated to the new Harry and Diane Rinker Health Science Campus in Irvine, CA. The program’s first classes at the new campus began September 2!


Chapman’s
Department of Physical Therapy
has been continually accredited since 1928, and in that time it has had several homes. Its roots lie in the physical therapy program started in the early 1900’s by Lucile Grunewald at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. This week the program welcomes students to its new home in the distinctly 21st-century
Rinker Health Science Campus
in Irvine.

The new campus features:

  • Grand Rounds Auditorium: a technologically state-of-the-art, amphitheater-style lecture hall with seating for 110.

  • Motion Analysis Laboratory & Control Room: a specialized lab with equipment for the research, evaluation and rehabilitation of movement disorders.

  • Adapted Exercise Physiology Lab: a specialized lab with equipment for a variety of exercise tests, disease diagnosis and the assessment of fitness and sports performance.

  • Exam Simulation Suite & Control Room: where pharmacy and physical therapy students will practice standard protocols for making diagnoses with trained “patient” actors.

  • Diagnosis Rooms: where students learn the principles of physical diagnosis applied to all organ systems, enabled by iPads and Wi-Fi connectivity.

  • Teaching Laboratories: three neuromuscular labs and three musculoskeletal labs for working with physical therapy patients on specialized mats and tables of varied heights.


In relocating the physical therapy program to the Rinker Health Science Campus, the university hopes to immerse students in an inter-professional, collaborative and technologically rich learning environment which echoes current trends in healthcare.

Furthermore, the university hopes to expand the program, a process already begun by adding a spring cohort. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
projects
employment in the field to grow 36% (much faster than the overall average) from 2012 to 2022. “100% of our graduates report employment as a physical therapist within six months of passing the licensure examination. We want to expand that opportunity to more students and meet the demand in the profession,” explained
Dr. Jacklyn Brechter
, associate professor and chair of Chapman’s Department of Physical Therapy.

To find out more about the physical therapy program and its new facilities, please contact Serena Healey at 
healey@chapman.edu
.

 

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