FAQs

Minimum Requirements include:

• Graduation from an accredited physical therapy program
• Current PT state licensure (temporary license accepted as applicable per state)
• Candidates must be an employee of an URI partner clinic upon the time of matriculation

The program is 12 months, beginning in January and ending in December of the same year.

Yes, we accept applications from new graduates

We welcome applications from both inside and outside of Upstream Rehab Partners. For many, applying to residency and for employment occur simultaneously.  As a resident, you must be employed by Upstream Rehab Partners before matriculation into the program. We are happy to assist in that process. Please reach out to us at OrthoResidency@urpt.com  during the residency application process and we will connect you with the hiring team in your desired region(s).

 You must be eligible for licensure prior to matriculation into the program. Participants are able to start the program on a temporary license where applicable, but must obtain state licensure prior to full matriculation.

The Orthopaedic Residency can be completed in the majority of the regions throughout the Upstream family of brands. Specific locations vary year to year based on the location of potential residents, availability of credentialed mentors and will require ABPTRFE and Program approval before matriculation into residency.  If proposing a new site within the Upstream Rehab network, additional resident site and/or mentor site approval process may apply.  Please click HERE to see currently approved sites by state.

Please note, the didactic portion of the program can be initiated while waiting on site approval as long as the clinician is employed by a URPT partner clinic, but clinical practice hours will not count towards the graduation requirement until the Program gains ABPTRFE approval for any new sites.

Qualified applicants participate in a video conference interview with the program director, faculty and past/present cohort participants. Selection is based on the outcomes of the application process, which includes three letters of reference, orthpaedic experience, interview results, and overall program director determination of readiness for the program

Yes, you will be considered a full-time employee with a commensurate salary and competitive benefits package. 

The program tuition is $12,000. The tuition is split between the participant and the company. The program tuition includes all course materials, weekend lab courses, faculty costs, online cohort collaboration, residency-related travel, and assistance with mentoring hours.

Yes. The URI Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency is accredited by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE).

The number of seats per cohort varies from year to year based on applicant pool, but on average is approximately  50 residents.  

No, at this time the orthopaedic residency is a full-time, 12 month program. 

Yes. This program challenges the participant to develop clinical reasoning necessary to confidently and successfully treat a typical outpatient orthopedic physical therapy caseload. It provides both a foundation and in-depth review of topical content that is found on the OCS exam.

Our outcomes include:

• Graduation Rate: 93%
• 1st time Board Certification Pass Rate: 92%
• Overall Pass Rate: 100%

•  Mentorship and clinical rractice, including:
  • 150 hours of 1:1 clinical mentoring with a trained mentor holding board certification in orthopaedics
  • 1650 clinical practice hours in an approved clinical site
• Didactic coursework via online, blended, and on-site components
• 6 resident-only weekend lab intensives.  
• Participation in virtual grand rounds, including participant presentation of one patient case
• 8 hours of community service
• 8 hours of physician observation
• Capstone scholarly project (research, professional writing,  and/or professional presentations)
• OCS prep course

Each resident will participate in 150 hours of  one-on-one clinical mentoring with an assigned physical therapist that is board certified in orthopaedics. Each mentor undergoes mentorship training through an internal program and completes bimonthly continuous improvement.

Each session can look a little different for each mentoring pair, but typically occurs for 4-5 hours per week of live patient care.  Our mentoring model encourages collaboration to progress your advanced clinical reasoning, manual and active therapy skill sets.  

Mentoring is always a structured experience in regards to each session, but the venue may be flexible. A core value for URI is adaptability and we therefore allow mentoring to occur at the participant’s clinic, the mentor’s clinic, or a combination of both locations (most common). There are options for a portion of hours to be completed virtually as well under the ABPTRFE COVID waiver.

Just what it sounds like!  We offer the majority of our didactic coursework via multiple virtual mediums to allow for unique opportunities and experiences.  We combine this with 6 live weekend lab intensives and weekly clinical mentoring to advance your practice via hands-on learning and feedback from our expert faculty.  

Utilizing a blended learning format allows us to provide a collaborative experience from all of our highly qualified faculty regardless of location, allowing for a diverse experience.

There are so many reasons!  

• Advance your clinical reasoning and intervention skill sets to enhance patient outcomes.  In short – get better at what you do so you can help your patients get better faster! 
• Prepare yourself in a structured and efficient manner to sit for the Orthopedic Clinical Specialist Exam the following year.  
• Network and collaborate with like-minded orthopedic clinicians and specialists from across the country
• Contribute to the growing body of knowledge in Advanced Orthopedic Physical Therapy Practice via research, professional writing or presentations. 
• Distinguish yourself as a leader in clinical practice.

Upstream Rehabilitation  (URPT) is the largest dedicated outpatient physical therapy provider in the U.S. with 24 different brands covering 28 states.  Upstream Rehab Institute (URI) is the education division of URPT that is comprised of our four post-professional residency and fellowship programs: Orthopedic Residency, Sports Residency, Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy Fellowship & Hand Therapy Fellowship.  Participants of these four programs are required to be employed by an URPT clinic by the start of the program.  To explore all of the URPT clinic sites and brands, please CLICK HERE.

Each clinical site where a resident/fellow practices patient care or receives mentoring needs to be approved by our accrediting body, ABPTRFE.  Some general requirements for approval include:

• • The clinic must see a diverse orthopedic caseload
  • There must a mentor or potential mentor within a reasonable distance
  • The clinic must support a full caseload for the number of therapists employed by that location (this often excludes clinics that are less than 6 months old)

If you anticipate the need for submitting a new site, please APPLY AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE .  The site approval process can take up to 6 months in some cases and, when not done prior to the program start date, can delay graduation.

The application in RF-PTCAS is the best place to start.  Applications are open from January 1 – October 15 for normal rolling admissions.  As we receive completed applications, we will invite candidates for video conference interviews and offer conditional acceptances for the following cohort.   Acceptances are conditional upon employment with URPT, site approvals and available mentors in the candidate’s local area.

• • Please note, RF-PTCAS closes their application system every year from September 1-30^th for maintenance.  For those wishing to apply later in the year, we do have a brief LATE APPLICATION PERIOD from October 1^st – 15^th and will offer interviews and acceptances based on available space remaining in the next cohort.

Typically all acceptances are made no later than November 1^st for the cohort that begins the following January.