Launch Your Health Professions Career
Carlow University sits at the gateway of Pittsburgh’s largest concentration of hospitals, outpatient clinics and medical research labs — giving you unmatched access to the best clinical instructors and mentors, and life changing clinical and career experience and opportunities.
Master Heart, Head, and Hand
Carlow’s health professions programs cultivate your full range of healing powers — academic, social, personal and clinical. Innovations include:
- Our Art of Healthy Living course models the value of nutrition, physical activity, stress management, sleep hygiene, and positive social connections.
- Our three-course sequence on the Art of Healing emphasizes empathy, compassion and the power of music, art and more to support healing.
- Our interprofessional course Health Promotion in Families and Communities inspires you to bring care to communities, locally and abroad, as part of a larger commitment to service and public health.
- Our pro bono community clinic along with the Carlow Campus Lab School and international clinic sites give you a 360-degree encounter with health disparities and needs.
Pittsburgh #1 for Healthcare Jobs
The U.S. Labor Department projects that the country will add 2.4 million healthcare jobs between 2019-2029. A national survey ranks Pittsburgh #1 for the top five cities for healthcare jobs.
“These cities include a combination of robust job markets for the healthcare field with a relatively lower cost of living to make for a great place to live and work in the medical field.”
(Source: Grand Canyon University, 2022)
Gain the Carlow Advantage
Four programs. One shared approach.
- Physical Therapy (DPT)
- Occupational Therapy (MS or OTD)
- Speech-Language Pathology (MS)
- Physician Assistant (MS)
Work Across Teams
Learn Patient-Centered Care
Translate Classroom to Clinic
Programs at a Glance
Physical Therapy (DPT)
Immerse yourself in a healthcare team model alongside nurse practitioners, occupational therapists, physician assistants and speech-language pathologists.
- 8 semesters
- Full-time
- Pittsburgh (Oakland) Campus
- State-of-the-art Simulation Lab
- Carlow Campus Lab School, Early Learning Center, Sisters of Mercy Convent
- Nationwide clinical opportunities
Employment
Median pay for Physical Therapists is $95,620 per year. Jobs are projected to grow 17% over the next 10 years. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Occupational Therapy (MS or OTD)
Anyone considering a career in Occupational Therapy enjoys a “Dual Point of Entry” choice, meaning that you can enter the field as an occupational therapist (OT) at either the master’s or doctoral level.
While the American Occupational Therapy Association may decide at a future date to move to a single point of entry (doctoral degree), any OT with a master’s degree will be grandfathered in and will not require any additional education. Carlow offers both degrees, a six-semester master’s and eight-semester doctorate.
The doctorate in occupational therapy incorporates advanced subjects focused on research and leadership, and requires completion of a doctoral capstone project.
Program Highlights
Level I & II fieldwork experiences bridge classroom and practice using an occupational justice-informed approach.
- Full-time
- Pittsburgh (Oakland) Campus
- State-of-the-art Simulation Lab
- Nationwide clinical opportunities
Employment
Median pay for Occupational Therapists is $85,570 per year. Jobs are projected to grow 14% over the next 10 years. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Speech-Language Pathology (MS)
Gain clinical skills and experience beginning your first semester.
- 5 semesters
- Full-time
- Pittsburgh (Oakland) Campus
- State-of-the-art Simulation Lab
- On-Campus SLP Clinic, Campus School, Early Learning Center, Anatomy & Physiology Laboratory
Employment
Median pay for Speech-language Pathologists is $79,060 per year. Jobs are projected to grow 21% over the next 10 years. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Physician Assistant (MS)
Gain clinical skills and experience beginning your first semester.
- 6 semesters
- Full-time
- Pittsburgh (Oakland) Campus
- State-of-the-art Simulation Lab
- Nationwide clinical opportunities
Employment
Median pay for Physician Assistants is $121,530 per year. Jobs are projected to grow 28% over the next 10 years. (Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Cross-Team Approach
Patients do better and health professionals thrive when there is more collaboration across disciplines. That’s why we take a cross-team approach to educating and training aspiring nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists.
Person-Centered Care
The Sisters of Mercy overcame great distances and untold obstacles to bring much-needed healthcare to underserved Americans. You will carry that commitment into a new era of healthcare, where technology will both offer great breakthroughs but also call upon a renewed commitment to ethical, human-centered care.
Classroom to Clinic
Patients do better and health professionals thrive when there is more collaboration across disciplines. That’s why we take a cross-team approach to educating and training aspiring nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists.
Confronting America’s Health Disparities
Carlow seeks to attract a diverse community of students, clinicians and faculty — future professionals equipped to address the systemic causes behind America’s far-reaching disparities in health access and outcomes.
Costs of Health Disparities
Health disparities costs America approximately $93 billion in excess medical care costs and $42 billion in lost productivity per year. (Source: W.K. Kellogg Foundation).
Accreditation Status
Carlow University continues to track toward full accreditation for all of its new graduate health professions programs.
Physical Therapy
Granted developing program status by Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). Candidacy anticipated: May, 2023. If you apply to Carlow for Fall 2023 and we are granted candidacy in May 2023, upon completion of the program, you will receive a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree and be eligible to sit for the licensure exam regardless of our accreditation status.
Occupational Therapy
Granted Candidate for Accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). Full accreditation anticipated: 2024. Once accredited, Carlow students will be eligible to sit for the NBCOT certification exam.
Speech-Language Pathology
Granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Carlow students are eligible for state licensure and voluntary CCC—ASHA certification.
Physician Assistant
Granted Accreditation-Provisional status by ARC-PA. Carlow students are eligible for certification and licensure after successfully passing the PANCE.
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Physical Therapy
Graduation from a physical therapist education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) , 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia 22305-3085; phone: 703-706-3245 ; accreditation@apta.org is necessary for eligibility to sit for the licensure examination, which is required in all states.
Carlow University is seeking accreditation of a new physical therapist education program from CAPTE. On December 1, 2022, the program submitted an Application for Candidacy, which is the formal application required in the pre-accreditation stage. Submission of this document does not assure that the program will be granted Candidate for Accreditation status. Achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status is required prior to implementation of the [professional/technical] phase of the program; therefore, no students may be enrolled in [professional/technical] courses until Candidate for Accreditation status has been achieved. Further, though achievement of Candidate for Accreditation status signifies satisfactory progress toward accreditation, it does not assure that the program will be granted accreditation.
Occupational Therapy
The Carlow University entry-level masters and doctoral occupational therapy degree (MSOT/OTD) programs has been granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org . Candidate for Accreditation is a pre-accreditation status that indicates the program is progressing toward accreditation and may matriculate students in professional courses. Candidate for Accreditation does not assure eventual accreditatioThe Carlow University entry-level masters and doctoral occupational therapy degree (MSOT/OTD) programs have been granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org. Candidate for Accreditation is a pre-accreditation status that indicates the program is progressing toward accreditation and may matriculate students in professional courses. Candidate for Accreditation does not assure eventual accreditation.
To be eligible to take the NBCOT certification exam, OTR candidates must graduate with an entry-level occupational therapy degree from an ACOTE accredited occupational therapy (OT) program. Per USDE regulations, all credits and degrees earned and issued by a program holding Candidate for Accreditation status are considered to be from an accredited program. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure. The Carlow University OT Program meets the educational requirements for certification in all states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
ACOTE lists programs by accreditation status — feel free to take a look: https://acoteonline.org/schools/
Speech-Language Pathology
The Master of Science (M.S.) education program in speech-language pathology (residential) at Carlow University is a Candidate for Accreditation by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard, #310, Rockville, MD 20850, +1 (800) 498-2071 or +1 (301) 296-5700 . Candidacy is a “pre accreditation” status with the CAA, awarded to developing or emerging programs for a maximum period of 5 years.
Physician Assistant
The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Carlow University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Carlow University .
Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.
Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.
The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website at http://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-carlow-university/ .
Students who graduate from a program with provisional accreditation or continuing accreditation status are eligible for certification and licensure after successfully passing the PANCE.
