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ULM Taking Steps Toward Physical Therapy Program

flickr.com/PennState
There are 198,000 physical therapists nationwide- already the country is in need of more due to the aging demographic of Americans.

Recently, the Louisiana Board of Regents gave the green light to the University of Louisiana Monroe for the development of the proposal of a physical therapy program through the university.

Dr. Ken Alford, director of the school of Health Departments at ULM, shares that Louisiana currently only has two public physical therapy schools. Dr. Alford shares that, "Many students are going out of state to pursue physical therapy programs because there are not enough seats to go around."  That is a strong part of the argument to create a program here. Allowing students to continue their education in Northeast Louisiana will provide an incentive for students to stay and start careers in the community, thus continuing to improve Northeast Louisiana. 

Many students are going out of state to pursue physical therapy programs because there are not enough seats to go around.

The university is currently going through the course of actions it will take to get this new program started. This includes making sure all state requirements are met, that finances for the program are available and in order, and that the university would be able to provide the appropriate facilities for the program.

More information about the physical therapy program will be available after their next meeting with the Board of Regents in October.