At the University of Kansas School of Health Professions, new degree offerings are expanding opportunities for students — and ultimately preparing them for in-demand careers that will improve health care for Kansans and beyond.

With the new programs open for enrollment this summer and fall, the school is leveling up by:

• Offering its top-tier Doctor of Physical Therapy degree in hybrid format, doubling its capacity to train students in this nationally ranked program and opening doors for enrolling students in the state’s rural areas.
• Adding an all-new degree in the growing field of genetic counseling.
• Taking over KU’s master of science in health informatics program, better aligning it with KU’s existing health information management curriculum.
• Creating a bachelor’s degree in diagnostic science, preparing students who want to become not only top-notch technicians but also leaders in their field.

The latest new offerings follow another key addition to the School of Health Professions in 2021, when the athletic training program relocated and changed from a bachelor’s degree at KU’s Lawrence campus to a master’s degree at KU Medical Center, under the renamed Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training.

Moving to the medical center boosted the athletic training program’s prestige, leaders said, plus opened doors for more collaboration with other health care disciplines and the broader medical community in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The School of Health Profession’s newest offerings also aim to boost the degrees’ prestige and harness opportunities provided by the busy, thriving medical community in which they’re rooted.

Hybrid DPT

On a recent afternoon at KU Medical Center, Alex Koszalinski’s class was all hands-on.
Amid model skeletons, exercise balls and colorful tape laid down in geometric patterns, half the students lay supine on treatment tables while the others scrutinized the joints of their arms. Fingers gently encircling wrists, rotating them inward, then outward. Hands feeling the nuances of hard bone versus soft tissue. Plastic folding goniometers measuring the degree of, or lack of, elbow hyperextension.

How was this different from any other typical physical therapy lab?

It wasn’t — except these classmates had just met each other and their professor face-to-face for the first time a couple days earlier. With their homes across Kansas and neighboring states, they are the first cohort of KU’s new hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

No corners are cut or expectations relaxed. The same curriculum is delivered in a different way, with hands-on labs remaining a key component.

“Having a very dynamic and engaging lab experience, that’s the sweet spot — or what we’ve referred to as the ‘secret sauce’ — in the hybrid program,” said Koszalinski, Ph.D., DPT, PT, OCS, FAAOMPT, clinical associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training.

“It can be very upbeat, a lot of engagement, a lot of fun. Students have the opportunity to really dive in and get simulated experiences that help them fully entrench themselves in the content and fully develop their skills.”

The hybrid program enables enrollees to achieve their degrees while living wherever they are currently rooted, traveling to Kansas City for multi-day, intensive “lab immersions” just once or twice per semester. Hybrid students pay a single tuition rate regardless of where they live.

The addition of the hybrid option enables KU to double the number of students admitted annually to its elite physical therapy program, from 60 to 120. It also endeavors to plant more physical therapists in rural Kansas by recruiting students who already live there and hopefully will stay to launch their careers.

“We’ve consistently seen an unmet need for physical therapists in rural Kansas,” said Patricia Kluding, Ph.D., PT, professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science and Athletic Training. “There are communities out there that cannot hire physical therapists to come. There are people who should be seen two or three times a week that are being seen once every two or three weeks.”

While roughly a third of KU’s physical therapy enrollees traditionally come from rural Kansas, only around 10% seem to return to rural areas to practice, Kluding said. In three years at KU Medical Center, students often fall in love or get attached to urban life and stay in the city instead. Other students have had to uproot their lives to achieve their degree. Kluding recalled one “heartbreaking” story of a student who was married to a firefighter in a small Kansas town. For three years they endured a long-distance marriage and put off having kids so she could pursue her physical therapy degree in Kansas City.

“A program like this would have been really helpful for students like that,” Kluding said. “I think there are lot of people who would love to become physical therapists but never thought it was within reach because they assumed they would have to move. Those are the people we’re trying to reach and let them know this is an option.”

Kluding added that a KU physical therapy degree gives graduates a strong background in all areas of practice — background that’s especially needed outside the metro area.

“In those rural communities what they really need is people who have more general skills and can be prepared for anything that walks in the door,” Kluding said. “There’s no pediatric specialty or sports specialty in the rural areas. The physical therapist sees anyone in that community, whether they have cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, a sports injury, injuries from a car accident or head injury. They see it all.”

Kluding said KU’s physical therapy program has been accredited more than 80 years. It’s currently ranked No. 10 in the country of all physical therapy programs and No. 6 among public institutions. However, Kluding said only a handful of other well-established physical therapy programs at public institutions also have a hybrid program.

“We’ve always had a strong history of excellence. We’ve always been on the leading edge of research. But this hybrid Doctor of Physical Therapy program is bringing us to a new level of innovation and excellence,” she said.

Kluding said the school plans to hire three more faculty in the coming years as new cohorts of hybrid students enroll. Koszalinski is one of two new faculty members with expansive experience in hybrid physical therapy education brought in to help launch KU’s new program.

“Prior to the pandemic, it was very difficult for educators and clinicians to wrap their minds around the concept that students could be effectively taught the physical therapy profession in the distance hybrid model,” Koszalinski said. “Once the pandemic hit, the reluctance and resistance about the model became attraction. Then they could understand that we’re not substituting or replacing the hands-on experience of a traditional on-campus program, we’re simply reorganizing how that is delivered.”

Genetic counseling

The first genetic counseling program in the state of Kansas launched in fall 2024 at KU Medical Center. Students completing the newly accredited program will earn a master’s degree in genetic counseling, the standard for practicing in the field.

With many genetic counselors practicing in the Kansas City area but no other degree programs in the state and few in the Midwest, KU’s genetic counseling students can access clinical experiences without competing with students from other programs.

“We knew we had the expertise and clinical sites to be able to provide quality training experience to our students,” said Erin Youngs, M.S., CGC, founding program director of KU’s genetic counseling master’s degree program and an assistant professor of clinical laboratory science.

“Additionally, the hope is that with a training program in our state, we will be able to increase provider numbers to aid in better access to genetic services for Kansans.”

Many people can benefit from genetic counseling, such as those with a family history of genetic conditions or inherited diseases including cancer, children with birth defects or developmental delays, couples planning a pregnancy or experiencing infertility, or pregnant women with ultrasound findings or increased risks. Genetic counselors can interpret family and medical histories to assess the likelihood of disease, then help patients understand the medical, psychological and familial implications.

Nationally, admission into genetic counseling programs is highly competitive. Continued growth is expected in the field, Youngs said, as our understanding of genetics grows and genetic medicine plays an ever-larger role in health care.

Youngs is passionate about genetic counseling because it’s a career that uniquely blends science and human connection. It’s also collaborative, between patients, physicians and researchers. She’s excited to share that with the next generation of genetic counselors.

“The ability to translate complex genetic information into clear, compassionate guidance empowers individuals and families to make informed decisions,” she said. “I value the opportunity to advocate for patients during some of their most vulnerable moments, offering not just information, but empathy and hope.”

Health informatics

The health informatics profession is growing exponentially, with the vast majority of hospitals, physicians and long-term care facilities utilize electronic health records. Health informatics-related jobs are expected to experience faster-than-average growth compared to other professions, increasing 15-30%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The School of Health Professions is now home to KU’s health informatics program, previously housed in the KU School of Nursing. Through the accredited program, students can achieve a master’s degree or a graduate certificate in health informatics. With the move also comes a new joint accelerated degree option; KU students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in health information management can now begin the health informatics master’s program their senior year, achieving the master’s in just one additional year.

Health informatics is a “monumental” addition to the School of Health Professions and its Department of Health Information Management, said Rosann McLean, DHSc, RHIA, CDIP, department chair and clinical assistant professor.

“It is a big deal for us,” McLean said. “This was the most significant change to our degree offerings, and it really sets the framework for this department to look forward to long-term stability and success.”

While the field of health information management focuses largely on data and information within electronic records, health informatics is broader. Informaticians specialize in health information systems, how users such as clinicians interact with them, and how data is collected, analyzed and applied to improve patient care.

“There are more jobs in these areas in health care than there are qualified candidates,” McLean said, adding that health informatics professionals have a wide variety of titles and employers. “I’m intrigued every year when I learn where some of our graduates go to work.”

A master’s degree is the standard for practicing in health informatics, McLean said. However, she said there’s such demand for related careers that the industry will hire employees without health care-specific backgrounds and try to train them on the job. The graduate certificate in health informatics aims to bridge the gap for students who aren’t able to commit to a master’s degree or come from different academic backgrounds. If they have a business degree, for example, and add a health informatics certificate they’re more marketable and ready to hit the ground running at a job in health care.

The School of Health Professions started hearing from interested students and enrolling several even before the health informatics program’s official Aug. 1 launch, McLean said.

“There’s such an interest in this area,” she said. “Health informatics provides an excellent pathway for clinicians and non-clinicians alike who really want to impact the day-to-day experience of health care delivery, and who really have a passion for helping organizations optimize what they do and using problem-solving to make us work better and smarter.”

Diagnostic science

Instead of just a certificate, a full bachelor’s degree in diagnostic science is now available through the School of Health Professions. Students can choose to achieve the bachelor’s in diagnostic science with concentrations in cardiovascular sonography, diagnostic ultrasound and vascular technology, or nuclear medicine technology.

There’s also an online pathway to the bachelor’s in diagnostic science, a professional advancement option open to working professionals who have an associate of science degree in an imaging profession and are currently credentialed.

National trends show many of these fields are moving toward bachelor’s degrees, said Lisa Trujillo, DHSc, RRT, FAARC, chair of the Department of Respiratory Care and Diagnostic Science and a clinical associate professor. That’s also true for technicians hoping to rise into team lead, supervisory or education roles.

“Even for amazing clinicians, those career ladders are going to require a bachelor’s degree at minimum,” Trujillo said.

“KU is a sizable, renowned research university, so we should be giving our students the best options for professional advancement. I think it’s our responsibility to ensure students are leaving our institution with something that really positions them well professionally and for potential future academic endeavors.”

For years, the School of Health Professions has offered certificates in the above imaging categories. Between the required 58 to 60 credit hours plus already-completed prerequisites, many students ended up with 120 credit hours — numerically enough for a bachelor’s degree.

It made sense to find a way to give those students an accredited degree, Trujillo said. She said the new bachelor’s in diagnostic science parallels the school’s respiratory care degree and shares a number of the same profession-neutral courses, so building the new degree was “very feasible.”

The School of Health Professions will continue to offer certificates in cardiovascular sonography and diagnostic ultrasound and vascular technology.

One of the diagnostic science program’s biggest strengths, she said, is its partnership with The University of Kansas Health System and its large scope of practices and patient care.

“I love that for our students,” Trujillo said. “They leave here having been very closely mentored by passionate providers who are at the top of their professions and engaged with the most advanced technology and cutting-edge research.”