Frequently Asked Questions

For us to provide clinical exposure for students in our PT program, immunizations are required as well as a recent Criminal Record and Vulnerable Sector Check and CPR level C. You will be required to provide evidence of these records before the start of clinical placements. We acknowledge that you may have to start this process before knowing whether you are accepted into our program. Rest assured that if you are interested in Health Care in any capacity, these immunizations or a slight variation will be required regardless of which school you attend.

Enrollment is only offered in September of each year; therefore enrollment is not possible.

Due to the nature of our program, it is not available online. In addition, please note that distance learning is not available either.

Due to the nature of our program, part-time studies are not available. Students must enroll as full-time students.

The School of Physiotherapy does not accept transfer students from other physiotherapy programs.

It is preferable that applicants have a four-year undergraduate degree. However, a three-year degree plus an additional 30 credit hours of university courses at advanced levels, which can include prerequisite courses, will be considered.

No.

No. All recognized degrees that meet the requirement of 120 credits/units or equivalent are treated equally in the evaluation process. The prerequisite courses are designed to prepare applicants for the program regardless of their previous academic area of concentration.

No. Applicants who have graduated from or who are currently attending DAL do not have priority or preference over applicants from other post-secondary institutions within the Atlantic Provinces.

Universities across Canada often use different credit systems. Typically, a full course at DAL is equivalent to six credits (a fall/winter course or a two semester course), and half courses are worth three credits (half-year course or a one semester course).

No. The department will only review transcripts, qualifications, and other documentation once an applicant has submitted during the admissions period.

Yes.

If you have previously attended or are currently attending Dalhousie University, it is not necessary to have hard copies of your Dalhousie transcripts sent to our department along with your application package. However, if you have previously attended any other post-secondary institution in addition to Dalhousie, you must forward a copy of the non-Dalhousie transcripts from each institution to ptadmissions@dal.ca.

Refer to the Fee Calculator provided on the Money Matters website.

The Institution Code is 0915 and the Department Code is 48. Acceptable test scores can be found here.

No. Applicants are expected to be fully aware of all important dates and deadlines.

No, practicums and internships are not considered volunteer hours because they are degree requirements.

The School of Physiotherapy considers application completeness, applicant residence, our equitable admissions policy, recommendations from academic referees and the Admissions Score, calculated using GPA and CASPER outcomes at a ratio of 75%:25% to detemine seat offerings to our MScPT program.

Scores can be found here: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/gradstudies/graduate-programs-admissions/admission_requirements.html.
 

No.

Prerequisites completed at the college level will only be accepted if they have been transferred to the university transcript with equivalent courses and grades (or pass/fail).
 

To determine equivalent courses from other universities go to Dalhousie Online: Transfer Credit Equivalencies or contact the department for which equivalency is being sought. (See www.dalonline.dal.ca)
 

Unless identified with a specific course number, the prerequisite courses can be at the first year university level or above.

No.

Yes, as long as they are completed no later than June 1 of the admission year, but students MUST show proof of registration in any/all outstanding prerequisite courses by January 31st of the admission cycle in order to be considered for a seat in the MScPT program. We need a final transcript showing completion of degree and all prerequisite courses by June 15th of the year of admission.

We do accept online courses provided they meet Dalhousie’s equivalency.

Languages involve the study of spoken or written communication. Examples include the study of specific languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, etc. Humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative. Examples include History, Religion, Philosophy, Classics, Literature/English, etc. Social science is the scientific study of human society and social relationships. Examples include Anthropology, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Psychology, etc.

Human motion, joint function and exercise prescription are all components of a physiotherapy in which biomechanics are strongly integrated. We do teach human biomechanics in Dalhousie's Physiotherapy Program, therefore, these courses are no longer required as a prerequisite. Your admission into our program will not depend on whether you have taken them or not.

The average admission GPA over the past 5 years is 3.946/4.3.

No. Marks from programs leading to Chiropractic, Naturopathic or Homeopathic diplomas are not included in the GPA calculation.

No.

Your GPA is used in the calculation of an admissions score. The admissions score is made up of GPA and CASPER outcomes at a ratio of 75:25 respectively.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies will allow applicants who have already completed a four year undergraduate degree to take a maximum of five courses at third and fourth year levels to increase their 60-credit hour applicant pool GPA for consideration into a graduate level program at Dalhousie University. These courses must be completed by December 31st. The grades obtained from courses taken after your 4 year degree will replace your earliest grades (typically, first term of 3rd year) so you need to look at your transcript to see what grades you received in that term and if it is worth it to upgrade. You do not want to replace an A or an A+ to risk getting a lower grade. Regardless of how you do in these courses, they will contribute to your 60 credit hour admission GPA. These cannot be courses already taken during your undergraduate degree. 

Prerequisite courses (at 1st or 2nd year level) taken after a 4-year undergraduate degree are not included in the 60 credit admission GPA. These courses are only checked off as having completed the prerequisite course requirement for admission.

We will consider your last 60 credit hours completed by December 31, starting with the fall session of your current academic year and working backwards. 

Refer to the GPA calculator website on how to calculate your GPAs on the 4.3 grade scale. If you are still unsure, email your concerns to ptadmissions@dal.ca

Yes, as long as they are at the university level.

Allow 5 business days for your referee(s) be contacted by the e-reference system.

We encourage all applicants to view all program and application information (including downloadable forms) on our website. 

The fee for applying to our program is now $115.00 (Canadian dollars) for each application submitted. This fee is non-refundable. Applications which do not include the application fee will not be processed. DO NOT SEND CASH. If paying by credit card, cheque, or money order, please indicate method of payment on your Dalhousie Graduate Application (Page 3). Please forward your application with payment to the Registrar’s Office at the following address:

Registrar's Office
Dalhousie University
PO Box 15000
Halifax, NS  B3H 4R2

If you are reapplying to the program, transcripts can be reused only if you applied last year, and as long as they are the most up-to date versions of all transcripts. If you have completed any additional courses at any of your institutions, you should re-submit new copies of official transcripts. Reference letters cannot be reused. You may ask the same academic referees as last year to provide a reference letter, but the referees well need to submit a new reference letter through the e-reference system.

Please note that the online application only replaces the Dalhousie Graduate Application of the application process. All applicants still need to ensure that all other supplemental documents are submitted directly to the School of Physiotherapy. Detailed information on which documents are required can be found on in the Admissions tab on our webpage.

Applicants who have been out of University for more than five years qualify as mature applicants. Mature applicants must still meet the same admission requirements as all other applicants. Mature applicants must submit two academic references as well, but can include a third letter from a professional experience. The professional referee must use the Confidential Reference Letter Form [PDF - 161 kB] (hard copy), check off the non- academic box on the form, and can attach a personally-written letter to the form.   

1. School of Physiotherapy did not receive a Supplementary Application Form to accompany your Faculty of Graduate Studies application.  
2. The Supplementary Application Form was missing information.
3. Only one academic reference was provided. Please follow up with your academic referees to ensure they have completed their reference.
4. The academic referee was not “Academic”, meaning they did not have an appointment at a post-secondary educational institution and/or the academic referee has not completed Graduate level studies (MSc or PhD).
5. Volunteer hours were submitted, but it was unclear from your supervisor whether these were accumulated in the past two years. Please ensure that volunteer hours listed are only those accumulated in the past 2 years.
6. Missing volunteer supervisor confirmation letter. We have provided a template for this letter that directs your supervisor to include the required information. Please follow up with your supervisor to ensure they have completed their reference and emailed it to the School of Physiotherapy.  
7. Grade point average (GPA) below 3.3. We do not accept students with a GPA under 3.3 (based on the Dalhousie University Grade Point Scale).

We have provided a detailed overview of our admissions procedures and selection criteria on our admissions weblink.  All applicants for graduate programs at Dalhousie must complete the Faculty of Graduate Studies Application for Admission Form. In addition, Physiotherapy applicants must complete the School Supplementary Application Form (open mid to end of September).

We will be making offers to candidates by May-end. Applicants who have been placed on a waiting list will be contacted if a spot becomes available; this may happen at any time between May and the first week in September.

Due to the volume of applications, we are unable to confirm receipt of admission documents to applicants via phone or email. You can check the status of your received documents by logging into the online application system (for questions on how to do this, please contact the Registrar’s Office at 902-494-2450). Please note, however, that it can take up to five weeks after the admission deadline for the online checklist to show the status of received documents.

No. When you apply using the online version of the Dalhousie Application, you will have the option in your online application to enter your academic referees’ university email addresses for electronic submission. The electronic reference system will ONLY accept references from accredited university email addresses. Non-academic reference letters must be submitted by the referee using their institution email account to ptadmissions@dal.ca using the Confidential Reference Letter form.

No. The Admissions committee can address specific questions pertaining to your application that may need to be clarified from information in the admissions application package. The committee cannot provide guidance on program selection and professional questions. Please see the FAQ “Is physiotherapy right for me?” and consult appropriate university websites including the Faculty of Graduate Studies, School of Physiotherapy, Dalhousie Accessibility, etc. In addition, students are encouraged to not only focus their attention on Dalhousie University but to explore other physiotherapy programs, both national and international, to increase their awareness of physiotherapy education models and school structures.

Casper is an individual online test that assesses for non-academic competencies and interpersonal characteristics that are important for successful students and graduates of our programs; it complements the other elements in our applicant selection process. The competencies and characteristics include:
• professionalism 
• communication
• collaboration
• ethics
• empathy
The Casper test is comprised of 12 video or text-based scenarios. Following each scenario, you will be required to answer a set of 3 probing questions within a total of 5 minutes; each response is graded by a different rater.

Applicants must manually register on takecasper.com, have their identification validated, and reserve a test time that matches their choice of program(s) and application cycle.

You are required to take Casper prior to the January 31st application deadline.
 
Applicants who have not completed a Casper test designated for Fall admissions by the application deadline will have their application cancelled by the university.
 
Casper results are only valid for the indicated application cycle, and only for the specified program type.

Because it is a test of your personal characteristics and non-academic competencies, no studying is required for CASPer.

You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the test structure and technical requirements by exploring the sample CASPer content at www.takeCASPer.com, and ensure you have a quiet environment to take the test.  You can also view the company's video information session here.

The results of the Casper test are never disclosed to applicants.

See https://takealtus.com/dates-times/ for details.

Use the support button on takecasper.com  or email support@takecasper.com.

Approximately 3 weeks.

Your CASPER score is used in the calculation of an admissions score. The admissions score is made up of GPA and CASPER outcomes at a ratio of 75:25 respectively.

A (Standard/Intermediate) First Aid/CPR certificate, Level C or Health Care Provider is required. This certificate will need to be valid throughout the program.

Yes, you can have all vaccinations completed at the Dalhousie Student Health & Wellness Clinic by appointment?

Yes, in some instances the record of Hep B immunisations are not available. 

Your health care provider will make the call on whether you have one booster or need to repeat the Hep B series.  In many cases, one booster followed by serology testing, one month later establishes immunity to Hep B. Some students will have to repeat the series of shots and serology and this process can take up to 7-months to complete. Students have gone on placement without being immune and the school assumes the risk of legal action in this case. These students will receive information on Hep B and will need to sign a NSHA waiver absolving NSHA of legal repercussions. In case of infection, I.E., Dal assumes the risk.

Yes, CRC/VSS results can be mailed or emailed to the Clinical Education Assistant (ptclined@dal.ca).

Yes, the school will provide a letter for you to give to the police stating that the CRC/VSS is a requirement for the MScPT program.

You can go to the Dalhousie Student Health and Wellness Clinic at 1246 LeMarchant St.

Please go to the Dalhousie Student Wellness Clinic and request serology.  They will give you a requisition for the required serology and you can take that requisition to the Halifax Infirmary, where they will take blood.  The HI will send the report back to the Dal clinic where you can pick it up and bring to the school.

Yes, the school will accept it.

No, it is recommended, but not mandatory.

Your CRC/VSS must have been done within the last 6 months.  For serology records, 6 months is ideal, but they must have been done within the last 12 months.

You will need to submit a record of a prior 2 Step TB test and a current 1 Step test.