I got dismissed from my physical therapy program unfairly, what am I supposed to do now?

[Anonymous]

I went to a physical therapy program for 1 semester and left because my dad's health was declining. I wasn't doing well in 1 tough class and got a bad grade in it as well.

I applied to a hybrid DPT program and was accepted in 2022. I excelled academically and participated in many extracurricular activities. A poster with my face representing the program was placed in the center of the room.

During my 2nd out of 3 rotations, I was placed in a more complex setting. The Clinical Instructor was horrible at communicating my deficits with me verbally and always sent emails to the Director of Clinical Education about how poorly I was performing. He kept stating how I was highly unsafe with patients and sucked at creating exercise programs which were false accusations.

The Director sent a faculty member to watch me for a day to see if all these things were true, but they weren't, according to his documentation. He stated that I was safe and was learning. The Director kept informing me that she'd place me in a remedial location if this clinic ended up failing me, which we agreed on.

Unsurprisingly, the instructor failed me, but my program dismissed me because the Handbook policy states that a failed rotation is dismissal. I confronted the Director, reminding her we agreed on a remediation plan, but she didn't respond. I appealed this and sent it to the higher-ups. They decided they broke policy twice yet claimed it wouldn't have changed the outcome, so I'm still dismissed. They took almost $100,000 of my loans with only 2 months before graduation and just threw away my hard work. Now, I'm in all this debt and have no idea what else I can do. I am doing a master's in healthcare administration now, but I'm nervous that the salary won't be enough to pay the debt. I still want to receive my DPT degree since I completed all the didactic work and had only 1 rotation left. I applied to another DPT program, but they rejected me because of 2 failed PT school attempts. Help?

[Oliverlogan263]

Oh my gosh sis, I'm so sorry this happened to you! That is totally unfair and unacceptable. You clearly worked so hard and were set up to fail by that terrible clinical instructor and director. So frustrating that the appeals process didn't go anywhere either.

Here's what I would suggest:

- Consult a lawyer who specializes in education cases. They may be able to investigate if this was actually wrongful dismissal or if the school broke any policies/laws in how they handled it.

- Find other students you can talk to who were at the school during that time, or alums. See if they have any advice or would consider backing you up if you take legal action.

- Contact the state licensing board and explain your situation. See if they offer any alternative pathways to still get licensed as a PT without the full DPT, since you completed most of it.

- In the meantime, keep your head up in your new master's program. Consider contacting the PT departments at other schools to explain your unique situation and see if another might still admit you given the unfair circumstances.

This is completely unfair, but don't give up! You seem determined to finish your PT education and I know you can. Be your own advocate - others may not fight for you, so you've got to. Feel free to message me if you need someone to talk to for support. You've got this!

[Asker]

Thank you! I did contact a couple of lawyers, but one was charging $11,000 for his work immediately, and the other just sent a letter asking for reinstatement but will not do much after that. I am searching for pro bono lawyers and hope they'll be willing to support me in court. There was another student in the class after me who went through something crazy during a lab, but his case is more serious compared to mine, so I don't know if that'll benefit me. Contacting the state board is a good idea! I will look into that! I did apply to other physical therapy programs but I've been getting rejection letters because they're afraid I won't be successful with them. Thank you again! I will message you!

[Asker]

it is not letting me message you for some reason. can you message me?

[Oliverlogan263]

For sure, no problem! Ugh that sucks the lawyers want so much money up front. Pro bono is a good idea, I hope you can find one willing to help take them to court. Yeah hopefully that other students case will help strengthen yours since it shows it's not just an isolated incident.

Definitely contact the state board too, get as many people involved as you can to put pressure on the school. And don't give up applying to other programs, maybe try reaching out directly too instead of just the application. Explain your situation in person and that you're determined to prove them wrong.

It's lame they won't give you another chance cause of what happened, but you gotta find a way to change their mind. You've got this dude! And yeah no problem, I'll PM you instead. Tell me your name. My DMs are open if you ever need to vent or want some advice on next steps. We'll figure this out!

[Asker]

I looked on the state board site, and they said it's a requirement to graduate with a degree to sit for the license exam. I don't think they're giving me many other options on what to do next. I applied to another program, and I'm going to meet with them sometime soon, so hopefully, they'll help. I hope that the school responds to the letter my lawyer sent out originally, though, because that determines a lot of the next steps. Let me see if I can message you again!

[Asker]

i think my name on here is md3170! please send me a message!

[Oliverlogan263]

I just followed you but I can’t send a message to you unless you follow me back. I tried it

[Oliverlogan263]

Man that really stinks about needing the actual degree. Makes the whole thing way more complicated since you can't just take the exam. Hopefully that meeting goes well with the other program, they might have some ideas on what to do if they won't accept you as a new student. Maybe there's like a special appeal process or something.

Fingers crossed the school responds good to your lawyer's letter too. They definitely shouldn't have thrown you out like that when you were so close. I'd be bugging them nonstop asking for a response if I were you! Don't let them just ignore it. Keep making noise so they have to deal with it. You worked way too hard to give up that easy.

Let me know what happens at the meeting too. Wishing you the best luv, really hope it works out for you somehow. You definitely deserve a second chance after all the crappy stuff that went down already. Stay positive, you'll get through this!

[Anonymous]

Can you appeal?

[Asker]

I did, and it didn't go in my favor even though they saw that the program didn't follow policy twice. They said the broken policies wouldn't have changed the outcome, so I was still dismissed.

[Opinion Owner]

You'll have to take this to court. Prove them wrong somehow. There must be someone else who you can go to

[Asker]

I want to but I don't know how will I cover the fees, or if I should try to go to another field in the meantime