About the Program
Transform your skills and advance your career.
This training program stems from a surging patient population, an enthusiasm to teach amongst our faculty, and a unique model of programmatic support from hospital leadership.
At the end of your training, you will be a competent, compassionate, and intellectually curious orthopaedic physical therapist. We are proud of the unique resources we offer the next generation of orthopaedic physical therapists and are thrilled to take the next steps with you on your path to becoming a board-certified orthopaedic physical therapist.
Our faculty members have embraced this common mission because the better we prepare and educate you the more successful we will be in terms of servicing physical therapy needs of the greater Lehigh Valley and retaining well-trained talent. Consequently, we seek to actively partner with you from the outset to help you develop skills you will need to be independent, competent, and compassionate practitioner of orthopaedic physical therapy.
Building the necessary skills.
The Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency fosters an environment that facilitates and accelerates physical therapists to attain the highest level of care through knowledge and use of advanced evidence-based clinical skills and to ensure successful completion of ABPTS orthopaedic specialist exam. Improve your knowledge, skills, and clinical decision-making in an environment where we maximize clinical proficiency and psychomotor skills.
Our program has a 100% ABPTS Board Certification in Orthopedics pass rate, with a 97% first-time pass rate. We also have a 98% program completion rate. We see our physical therapists as a crucial part of our St. Luke’s community and are thrilled that 93% of all graduates of our program have chosen to stay at St. Luke’s after graduation. Of those who remain with the Network, 80% of them are in leadership roles.
Driven to provide high quality care.
Teaching faculty strive to produce effective leaders in the field of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy with a focus on community care. Delivering high-quality care to the greater Lehigh Valley community through a nationally recognized sponsoring institution is directly in line with the mission of St. Luke’s University Health Network: ‘Provide patients and the community with the best care, and to advance medical practice and technologies through quality research and innovation'.
We accept up to 6 OPT residents per year.
Ensuring success of our residents.
The goals of the Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency program are as follows:
- Improve your knowledge and skills: Foster an environment that facilitates and accelerates therapists to attain the highest level of care through knowledge and use of advanced evidence-based clinical skills and to ensure successful completion of ABPTS orthopedic clinical specialist exam.
- Improve your clinical decision making: Foster an environment to maximize clinical proficiency with clinical decision-making and psychomotor skills.
- Become a leader: To develop leaders in the field who help bridge the gaps between practice patterns utilizing EBP and enhance interdisciplinary collaboration to improve patient outcomes and spread awareness of evidence-based orthopedic physical therapist practice.
- Improve your profession: Enhance the field of physical therapy by providing future clinical educators and researchers.
How to Apply
Submit your application to be considered for the St. Luke’s Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency Program.