Doctor of Physical Therapy Health Information

All DPT students are responsible for purchasing and maintaining health insurance coverage throughout the DPT program. Distance education students should seek health services in their local communities. During on-site lab intensives, students will need to seek medical care for illnesses or injuries at local urgent care facilities or emergency rooms. Students are financially responsible for any services rendered by these medical facilities. Students are responsible for maintaining personal health insurance coverage during their entire tenure in the DPT Program.

Everyone deserves access to affordable, quality health care coverage and services. You can find and enroll in affordable health insurance plans at  Healthcare.gov.  You may also find information about Open Enrollment, How to get or stay on a parent’s plan, how to enroll or change health insurance plans, and tips about the Health Insurance Marketplace on this site. 

Please note that students without health insurance cannot participate in patient contact activities both in the didactic and clinical phase, and therefore cannot successfully complete the program.

Before entering the Augustana University DPT program, students must submit proof of health
insurance and updated proof of immunizations.  Health and immunization forms require completion
and signature by a licensed healthcare provider.  Suggested references are the  Recommended
Vaccines for Healthcare Workers  and  COVID-19 Vaccines for Healthcare Personnel. 
Specific related requirements include proof of : 

•  Personal health insurance throughout the entire program. 
•  Annual Tuberculosis (TB) two-step testing through one of the following:  Tuberculin Skin

Test (TST), QuantiFERON-Gold Blood Test (QTBG), or documentation from a healthcare
provider assessing tuberculosis status with a copy of any diagnostic reports. 

• Hepatitis B vaccine series (3 doses) OR immunity by titer. 
• MMR vaccine (2 doses) OR immunity by titer. 
• Varicella history, vaccination (2 doses) OR immunity by titer. 
• Influenza vaccine (required annually during influenza season: October through May). 
• Tetanus, Diphtheria, & Pertussis (Tdap) vaccine within the last 10 years. 
• COVID-19 Vaccine- Students will be considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving

the requisite number of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. A student will be considered partially
vaccinated if they have received only one dose of a two dose vaccine. Full vaccination is
required to begin the program. 

Before entering the clinical phases of the program (year 2), students must update their immunization
and health certificate and provide proof of: 

• Updated annual Tuberculosis (TB) testing. 
• Influenza vaccine (required annually during influenza season: October through May). 
• Current personal health insurance throughout the clinical year. 
• For some clinical sites a physical examination may be required at additional expense.  
• COVID-19 vaccine boosters students are working as health care personnel in high-risk environments. 

For more information about immunization of Health Care Workers, go to the  CDC
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Students enrolled in the DPT Program are covered by professional liability insurance for at least one million dollars ($1,000,000) per occurrence and three million dollars ($3,000,000) in the aggregate. Students will be provided Worker's compensation insurance coverage for clinical education experiences that occur in states where it is required. The Clinical Education contract will specify if the state and clinical education site require students to have worker's compensation coverage. Certificates of insurance are provided to the clinical education sites where coverage is required.