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Physiotherapy

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Qualifying Year for the Master of Science (Applied) in Physical Therapy Program

APPLICANT GUIDEBOOK

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Program Overview ............. 3

Program Timeline .............. 4

Tuition & Financial Aid .... 5

Admission Requirements .. 6

Mitigating Circumstances 10

How to Apply .................... 11

Application Evaluation ..... 13

Status of Applications ...... 14

Offers of Admission ......... 16

Application Checklist ....... 16

Unsuccessful Applications 17

Resources & Help ............. 18

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There are only two means by which applicants may qualify for entry into McGill’s Master of Science, Applied, in Physical Therapy (MScA-PT) program:

1. By completing McGill’s Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Science (Major in Physical Therapy) program, or

2. By completing a Qualifying Year (QY) for the MScA-PT program. No applicant will be considered for entry into the MScA-PT program without having completed one of these two entry requirements, without exception. Foreign trained physiotherapists who do not wish to complete the MScA-PT program may also consider applying to McGill’s equivalency program. Note: the Qualifying Year is not open to applicants who have completed a BSc. in Rehabilitation Science (Major in Physical Therapy) at McGill.

Qualifying Year (QY) The QY Program begins in the Fall semester, and consists of 30 credits over 2 semesters (see page 4). Students who successfully complete the QY with a cGPA of 3.0 or better, and who maintain the program’s standards of ethics and professionalism, can apply for the five semester MScA-PT program. Places are reserved in the MScA-PT program for QY students who meet all entry requirements. There are no admission quotas for the QY Program for international students, or for Canadian students from outside or within Québec.

Master of Science, Applied, in Physical Therapy (MScA-PT) The Master of Science, Applied, in Physical Therapy (MScA-PT) is a 58-credit program, over five semesters, including four clinical practica (1,050 hours in total). The educational approach is consistent with adult learning, self-directed learning, reflective clinical practice, and inter-professionalism. Strong links between academic and clinical fieldwork are emphasized. Courses emphasize client-centered and evidence-based practice across the lifespan and health care continuum, and include health promotion from prevention of disability to rehabilitation. The program also includes courses in advanced professional practice, research and educational methodology, and a Master’s level research project. The program is fully compliant with the Physiotherapy Education Accreditation Canada standards for entry-level physiotherapy education. P

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For more information on our program, please refer to our website: https://www.mcgill.ca/spot/programs/pt/curriculum

Alternatively, you can also refer to the Health Sciences calendar: http://www.mcgill.ca/study/2017-2018/faculties/spot/

Year Summer Fall Winter

QY Campus-based Courses: PHTH 550 PHTH 551 PHTH 563 IPEA 500

Campus-based Courses: PHTH 560 PHTH 561 PHTH 552 IPEA-501

M1 Clinical Practicum 1 (PHTH 571) 7 weeks in April – May Clinical Practicum 2 (PHTH 572) 7 weeks in June – Sept

Campus-based Courses: PHTH 606 POTH 612 PHTH 623 PHTH 652 Professional elective course

Clinical Practicum 3 (PHTH 573) 8 weeks in Jan – Feb Campus-based Courses (9-weeks) POTH 602 PHTH 622 POTH 682 IPEA 502 Professional elective course

M2 Full-time work related to Masters Research Project (POTH-624)

Clinical Practicum 4 (PHTH 620) 8 weeks in Sept-Oct Research Project POTH-624 (registration and credit) Completion (November)* Students may work in PT from this time

Graduation (February)

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For information on tuition fees, please refer to the Student Accounts webpage (Fee calculator) on the McGill website: https://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/graduate-fees For information on scholarships and financial aid, please refer to the Scholarships and Student Aid webpage on the McGill website: http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/scholarships-aid

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Overview:

Those wishing to apply to this program should first review the following conditions. After preparing a file, applicants may open a uApply applica-tion by following the directions on page 10.

Requirements:

1. An undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree, in any discipline:

- The degree must be completed before the start of the QY;

- The applicant must have achieved a McGill-equivalent cumulative grade point average (cGPA) of 3.2 in the undergraduate degree;

A bonus of 0.1 will be added to the cGPA of applicants with a Master’s or Professional degree;

A bonus of 0.1 will be added to the cGPA of applicants with a doctoral degree (in addition to the bonus above, if applica-ble).

***Please note:

- McGill uses a 4.0 GPA scale which does not include A+ or C-. This generally has only a minimal effect when converting cGPAs from Canadian Universities. Information for interna-tional conversion scales are available on McGill’s website;

- Upgrading, graduate, or out-of-program courses will not be fac-tored into cGPA calculations. Only courses taken as part of the undergraduate degree program for credit are counted;

- Applicants with a physiotherapy degree from a university other than McGill must follow the same process;

- Individuals licensed as physiotherapists outside of Canada may wish to consider McGill’s PT Equivalency Program.

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2. Prerequisite courses in Anatomy and Physiology

- All applicants must have completed at least three university credits of Human Anatomy and at least three university credits of Human or Mammalian Physiology prior to the start of the QY;

These courses may be in progress at the time of application;

Applicants must achieve a grade of B or better;

These courses may be taken as part of any graduate or undergraduate program or as independent studies.

- In order to allow for verification of these prerequisite courses, applicants must enter all courses taken at the university level for which the primary focus of the course was human anatomy and/or human/mammalian physiology, in a the Physiotherapy Prerequisite Courses Form;

- The Physiotherapy Prerequisite Courses Form must be uploaded to the uApply application in the Foundational Courses for PT slot. An example form is also provided on our website;

- SPOT does not provide equivalency auditing prior to applying to the program. Please see the form for more information.

N.B. If the admissions office cannot verify that a course meets the prerequisite criteria, it will not be considered in the assessment of your application.

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3. Completion of CASPer

- CASPer (Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal characteristics) is an online situational judgement test intended to evaluate key non-cognitive competencies for healthcare professionals, as identified by accreditation standards;

- CASPer is administered by Altus Assessments, which offers several test dates for each admissions cycle. Testing dates are limited and take place prior to the application deadline. Failure to take the CASPer test will result in ineligibility to the program;

- Testing can be done in English or French. There are several types of tests. Please ensure you are registering for the correct test;

- The CASPer FAQ provides information on registering for CASPer. Please review this document before registering.

4. Resumé / Curriculum Vitae

- The Resumé must be formatted using the template and instructions provided for application to the PT QY program;

- An Example CV is provided on our website;

- Only this format of resumé will be accepted;

- The document can be in English or French;

- Resumés should be uploaded to your uApply application.

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5. Statement of Interest (video)

- A video (3 minutes or less) in which you explain your decision to apply to the QY for McGill’s MScA-PT program;

- The video should allow the admissions committee to evaluate:

Your verbal communication skills;

Your knowledge of physical therapy;

Your interest in physical therapy.

- You may present this information in English or French;

- MP4 and AVI formats are accepted. The file must be under 300 MB;

- The upload site can be found at https://forms.music.mcgill.ca/spot/

6. English Language Proficiency Requirement

- Proof of English language proficiency may be required for international applicants, but is generally waived for Canadian applicants

- Various tests to assess English proficiency are accepted:

A. TOEFL IBT of 90, no less than 21 per section or;

B. IELTS of 7.0 or;

C. Additional options available.

- Official test results must be sent directly to McGill (Institution Code: 0935) by the testing service.

N.B. Students in the MScA-PT program will be required to interact with francophone patients during their clinical practica.

Competence in spoken French is highly recommended.

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Students who feel that exceptional mitigating circumstances should be taken into account during the review of their application may submit a written explanation to the QY Admission Coordinator at ptqyadmis-sions.spot@mcgill.ca. This letter will be treated with the strictest confi-dentiality, and only be shared with the PT Admissions Committee. We recommend providing documentation of the reason for the request, if possible. Should you have trouble completing or submitting an application require-ment due to extenuating circumstances, we encourage applicants to reach out the QY admissions coordinator via uApply Messenger as early as pos-sible. In exceptional circumstances, we may consider alternative arrange-ments.

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Overview: After reviewing this guide, and our admissions website, individuals may apply using the paperless uApply system. Applications may be opened, and saved for later. Some features of uApply, such as transcript, video, and CV upload, are only available once an application has been submitted (paid). Submitted applications may be edited until the document upload deadline.

Following the deadline, the administrative team reviews applications to ensure they meet all necessary requirements. You do not need to do an-ything to finalise your application—as of February 2nd, we will review the file.

The top files are recommended to McGill’s Graduate Studies Office (GPS) for admission to the Qualifying Year. GPS then undertakes a brief file review, and, on their approval, issues an invitation of acceptance on uApply.

Deadlines:

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International Applicants Canadian Applicants

Payment & Submission January 15th February 1st

Document Upload February 1st February 1st

CASPer Testing Dates Various dates in January Various dates in January

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Application Type:

Application Type: Degree, certificate or diploma Program: Qualifying for MScA Area of Study: Physical Therapy Term: FALL 2018 Concentration: Qualifying

This is the only way to apply to this program.

Entering any other option is not correct for the QY to the MScA—Physical Therapy.

Do not apply directly to the MScA.

uApply:

After creating a uApply account, candidates can declare their university education. Please note that failure to disclose all university education undertaken may be considered academic fraud. College (non-university) and CEGEP education should not be included. Please be sure to enter the correct degree and university name information exactly as stated on your academic record (transcript, relevé de notes). Once an application is submitted (paid for), applicants cannot change the education history—such requests must be made via uApply messenger.

Upon payment of the application fee (approx. $105 for up to two applications), candidates are able to upload their unofficial transcripts, prerequisite courses form, and CV (see website for template). The Video of Intent must be uploaded to the video upload site. Candidates should also respond to the various required questions. Incorrect or out-of-date documents can be replaced by uploading a new document—this will delete the existing document and replace it with the new file. CASPer assessment results must be sent to SPOT directly by the test provider. Results requested after February 1st will be considered late and not accepted. If the system requests a proof of English Proficiency requirement, please communicate with the QY Admission Coordinator via uApply messenger. Unofficial transcripts for in-progress studies should be uploaded; however, if they are not available, a receipt or proof of registration will suffice.

Any questions about the process can be directed to the QY Admission Coordinator using the uApply messenger system—please do not call or email for regular questions.

Following the document upload deadline (February 1st), files added or changed on uApply will not be reviewed. If you notice an error in your uApply application after the document upload deadline, please contact the QY Admission Coordinator via uApply messenger before making a change. Please also note that failure of upload your Video of Intent to the video upload site before the deadline will also result in disqualification.

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Once an applicant has submitted their application, along with all required supporting documents, the application is ready for review. No further action is needed. An application is automatically considered in-review after the document upload deadline—even if your uApply status does not change. To check the status of a application, or to verify if any documents are missing from the application, applicants should use their login credentials to enter in the uApply website. Applicants should also regularly check this website for messages from the Admission’s Team. To updates on the application review process, please visit the Application Status page on SPOT’s website.

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Offers:

After ranking the file review process , SPOT sends invitations to nominate to chosen candidates via email. SPOT does not decide who will be admitted to our program; rather we nominate candidates to the Graduate and Postgraduate Studies (GPS) office. GPS decides to admit candidates based on our recommendation. As not everyone accepts the initial offer to nominate, most files are maintained on a waiting list until July, after which the list is reduced to only shortlisted applicants. Anyone who has not received information by July may choose to write to us, using the uApply messenger system, for more information on the status of their application. Once SPOT has a full roster of candidates to nominate, applicants are recommended to GPS. After reviewing the applicant’s academic history, GPS makes the final decision to admit a candidate to the QY program. This may take anywhere from two to four weeks. Offers of admission are posted on uApply, and applicants will need to confirm acceptance of the uApply offer of admission in order to register for the QY program. Applicants who are nominated to GPS, but do not receive an initial offer of admission, will be contacted by SPOT for further documentation. Nominated files are generally only refused for reasons of misrepresentation, error, or extenuating circumstances. Deferrals:

Candidates may only defer an offer of admission for reasons of maternity/paternity, health or family crisis. Requests for deferred admission must be submitted via email to the QY Admission Coordinator. Such a request should include a signed letter outlining the reason for the request, addressed to the PT Program Director. The request should, when possible, also include documentation, such as a medical note. O

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To ensure that your application is complete, and ready for file review once submitted, we suggest following these steps (in order) for your application:

Read the admissions website & this guide;

Verify all application requirements;

Open an application on uApply, before the deadline;

Enter all of your university education information, exactly as it appears on your university transcript(s);

Verify that you are applying for the correct program and concentration;

Submit (pay for) your application, before the deadline;

Register and complete CASPer testing and request the results be sent to SPOT, noting the latest testing dates are in January;

Upload all unofficial transcripts, before the deadline;

Upload the prerequisite courses form and your resumé/curriculum vitae to uApply, and your statement of intent (video) to the upload site;

Confirm that you have the prerequisites courses, sent the CASPer results, and uploaded the video by responding to the uApply question;

Verify English language proficiency requirements (international applicants). Ensure that the official test results are sent directly to McGill by the testing service, before February 1st;

Verify that your transcripts are up to date and complete, and that your supporting documents meet all application requirements, before the document upload deadline (February 1st);

Cross-check uApply Education History against your unofficial transcripts to be sure that all information is correct, before the deadline;

Once all documents and files are uploaded to uApply, no further action is required.

Do not modify your application after 11:59 pm on February 1st.

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Applicants who do not meet the pre-review requirements, or whose appli-cation is not ranked in the top 100 will be sent a letter of refusal. Appli-cants ranked in the top 100 who are not sent an offer to nominate to GPS are kept on a waiting list. Applicants can check the status of their applica-tion on uApply and on the SPOT website. Once all spaces have been filled, SPOT will send a letter of refusal to the remaining applicants, ex-cept for those shortlisted as replacement candidates.

Applications are not held over from year to year. If an applicant wishes to reapply in future years, a new application, including all supporting doc-umentation, will be required. Repeat applicants are not penalized or oth-erwise affected by past applications. Please note that the application pro-cess may change from year-to-year. Please verify that all application re-quirements are met for every application.

Should an unsuccessful applicant wish to learn how to improve their ap-plication for future years, they may email the QY Admission Coordinator between June 20th and July 30th for information about their application. For reasons of information security, the same email address used to regis-ter with uApply must be used when contacting the QY Admission Coor-dinator, and the body of the email must include the McGill ID (found on uApply) and program associated with the application (PT QY or OT QY).

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Getting in Touch:

To provide the best service to our applicants and students, SPOT asks applicants to first review this guide, McGill’s Graduate Admissions Website, and the SPOT Admissions page. Any remaining questions should be directed to the QY Admission Coordinator using uApply messenger. Should applicants not have access to uApply messenger, please contact us via email at PTQYadmissions.spot@mcgill.ca - please include your McGill ID (past applicants and students) and application type (PT QY). While we are happy to assist applicants, SPOT does not offer pre-admissions meetings for applicants in regular circumstances. Please also note that SPOT welcomes communication and documentation in either of Canada’s official languages (English and French).

Useful Links:

SPOT Admissions: www.mcgill.ca/spot/admissions

SPOT Program Guide: www.mcgill.ca/spot/programs

Graduate Studies Admissions: www.mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/apply

Undergraduate Admissions: www.mcgill.ca/undergraduate- admissions

PT Equivalency Program: www.mcgill.ca/spot/ programs/pt/pt-equivalency

English Requirements: www.mcgill.ca/gradapplicants/ International/apply/proficiency

Altus Assessments (CASPer): www.takecasper.com/aboutcasper/

Graduate Society Guide*: www.pgss.mcgill.ca/document/view/ document/328/PGSS%20Member%20Handbook.pdf

Tuition Information: www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition- charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/graduate-fees

*This guide is provided by McGill’s graduate student association. We do not endorse the content of this guide or attest to its validity. R

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