Orthopedic Physical Therapy Residency Admissions, Schedules, and Tuition

• Three letters of reference: two should be from physical therapists who personally know you and your abilities, and one should be a previous course instructor or academician who may or may not be a physical therapist.
• Academic transcript
• Personal statement
• Curriculum vitae (CV), including:
  • Academic history (undergraduate, graduate, or professional institutions attended or currently attending)
  • Continuing education (name of course, course instructor/sponsoring organization, approximate number of contact hours, date of completion)
  • Clinical experience (PT clinical experiences/internships, professional employment history, research, volunteer work, teaching and professional presenting experience, research)
  • Honors or awards
  • Licenses; please indicate if you currently have PTLA status
  • Residency or fellowships
  • Credentials or certifications (e.g., ABPTS certifications, APTA credentialed instructor, ATC)
  • Professional memberships

All applicants will be notified of their application status as soon as admissions decisions are finalized. We are aware of how stressful this time can be and we do everything we can to complete the process as quickly and efficiently as possible. We ask for your help by not contacting us to check on your admission status and by waiting for our notification. Final application status is typically emailed within two weeks of interview.

Status Results

Accepted

• If you've been accepted to the Residency program, congratulations! Your notice will contain all necessary instructions.
• Follow the instructions provided in your offer letter to accept or decline our admission offer by the date designated in the notice. If we do not hear from you by that deadline, your offer of admission will be withdrawn, and your application will be canceled.
• If you accept our offer of admission, please review information for entering students.

Wait List (Alternates)

• If you've been selected as an alternate, congratulations! Your notice will contain all necessary instructions.
• You must accept or decline the alternate position offer by the date designated in the notice. If we do not hear from you by that deadline, your alternate offer will be withdrawn, and your application will be canceled.
• The wait list will remain active until the first day of instruction. If your name is on the wait list but you are not offered admission by this day, your application will be formally denied and you will be notified by email.

Denied

• If you are not offered admission, we thank you for the time and effort you spent on applying to our program.
• Applicants may apply a maximum of three times to our program.

Coursework/Schedule

The Residency is one year in length and begins at the start of September every year.

Resident Schedules

Resident schedules include:
•    20-25 hours per week of patient care
•    4 hours per week of mentoring
•    4-8 hours per week of didactic coursework, journal club, and/or inter-professional rounding
•    4 hours per week of teaching within the UCSF/SFSU Graduate Program in Physical Therapy during select academic terms
•    Intermittent 1-day weekend coursework

Financial Commitment/Support

Residents will be employed by the University of California, San Francisco through the Office of Graduate Medical Education.

Stipend & Tuition

Tuition scholarships are now available! Additional details will be provided to applicants.

All residents receive a stipend for time spent performing patient care, as well as benefits. In addition, the program will pay up to $1,800 in relocation costs if your current principal residence is at least 50 miles from the campus. Annual tuition for the program is $3,000 (for Fall 2025 residents) and is due by the first day of residency. Residents are encouraged to contact the program as soon as possible if they are experiencing hardship and may be unable to meet this deadline.

At the request of the program's accrediting organization, ABPTRFE, prospective residents can also view program costs and program-sponsored financial assistance in this ABPTRFE Residency and Fellowship Financial Fact Sheet.  

Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is a United States government program that was created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) to provide indebted professionals a way to reduce their federal student loan debt burden by working full-time in public service. The PSLF Program forgives the remaining balance on a person’s Federal Direct Loans after they have made 120 qualifying monthly payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer. UCSF is considered a qualifying employer because we are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Orthopedic physical therapy residents are considered employees of UCSF during their residency and qualify for the PSLF program while making payments for the duration of the residency. Please visit the PSLF website for more detailed information on the program, qualifying repayment plans, and the enrollment process.