Ritesh Yadav
Staff Writer
New Ph.D programs housed within the College of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences have been recently announced by The Kasiska Division of Health Sciences at Idaho State University.
Four different programs, including Audiology, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech Language Pathology, targeting rehabilitation clinicians, are expected to enroll students in the fall of 2019. The Ph.D programs, envisioned by faculty members for roughly 10-12 years, have been stamped for approval by the Idaho State board of Education and the Northwest Regional Board of Accreditation.
Affiliated faculty members want to see these interdisciplinary programs enhance academic, research and training opportunities for students at all levels.
One major challenge faced in realizing this vision was coordinating coursework and resources to support the program. The program’s coursework is based on some of the top institutions in the nation, such as the Yale Consortium.
Faculty members are optimistic about providing quality education to existing and future students and at ISU.
“Global health care are maximizing toward efficiency,” said Daniel Hudock, program co-director and associate professor. “They strategize a multidisciplinary approach through their coordination of knowledge across multiple disciplines today.”
The programs aim to move beyond research and provide direct enhanced learning opportunities to students across all levels. In addition to collaborating with the College of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences, students will collaborate with other programs and enjoy multidisciplinary academic opportunities.
Compared to others, the new programs will enroll few individuals. Faculty members aim to provide a positive experience through a one-on-one approach.
“Training them to be a researcher is a time-intensive process,” Hudock said. “It requires individualized education and individualized direct experience learning. We aim to graduate highly competent graduates.”
The program envisions providing online courses in the near future. Previous graduate students, as well as faculty members from other institutions, have expressed interest in applying for the Ph.D program because of the online modality administrators want to employ.
“There is a shortage of Ph.D.s in all disciplines,” said Gabriel Bargen, associate professor and co-director for the new program. “This program is our effort to fill the void. These individuals should be more qualified to take on positions that require interdisciplinary knowledge.”
Twelve associated Ph.D. programs, seven of which are in communication sciences and disorders, exist to support around 208 clinical graduate programs across the 13 western states.
“This is going to increase the opportunity to increase the quality of student professionals and provide services to members of the community, locally and nationally,” Hudock said.
The disciplines served by ISU’s new Ph.D. programs have a shortage of quality professionals in the field and lie among the top ten disciplines for most employable jobs in the nation. The expected job growth rate is 20 percent on average for these disciplines, according to the Department of Labor.
The final requirements for the program will soon be completed before the official opening of application portal.
Faculty members encourage students from across all disciplines to look into what the program has to offer and see if it aligns with their long-term vision. Staff at the College of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences are always willing to answer questions from interested students.
