Students seeking a doctorate degree in physical therapy can take advantage of a new program at a New York college, which will feature online coursework with just a single residency component held on the school's Sarasota, Florida, campus. The post-professional doctor of physical therapy program residency will feature a keynote speech from Dr. R. Scott Ward, president of the American Physical Therapy Association.

The university's vice president for strategic initiatives said the move will be beneficial because it will erase fears of winter weather delays.

"Moving the January residency to Sarasota is the first part of a multi-faceted approach to expand our healthcare education opportunities to a broader scale," he said. "Our students come from all over the U.S. – as well as other countries - and this location has been identified as one that offers many benefits. The campus is strategically located between Ft. Meyers and Tampa along the Interstate 75 corridor, allowing our operations to be easily serviced by three major airports, making domestic and international travel much easier."

There may be more students seeking a physical therapy degree in coming years, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 30 percent growth in the field from 2008 to 2018. Many health and medicine degrees that typically require a bachelor's or master's degree also are expanding to offer doctoral degrees.