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What Is Rehabilitation Science?

Rehabilitation science is a broad and growing field that improves the treatment, care, and lives of people with potentially disabling health conditions. It includes researchers, educators, and professionals who advance, teach and apply knowledge to care for people with health needs. 

About the Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science Program

The Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science program at Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ educates students to be innovative educators, researchers, and leaders. Our graduates become scholars in higher education and other settings who advance and distribute knowledge to enrich the lives of people with communication and movement disorders. Our program emphasizes the athletic training, audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology rehabilitation domains. We foster interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration to advance treatment and enablement theories that will improve rehabilitation practice. We welcome qualified students from related clinical and non-clinical backgrounds who are passionate about rehabilitation science, learning, teaching, and research.

Careers in Rehabilitation Science

The Ph.D. RS program prepares students for teaching, research, and leadership positions in athletic training, audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology education programs and related professions. Most of our students enter the Ph.D. program with a clinical degree, and graduates teach in professional education programs in Texas and other universities. Some graduates work in the private sector and focus on clinical research careers.

The demand for rehabilitation science faculty is high. New faculty are needed to support the growth of the rehabilitation professions in Texas and beyond. The Texas Workforce Commission projects the number of athletic training, audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology jobs in Texas will increase by 24-37% by 2030. As a result, postsecondary teaching jobs in related health specialties will increase by 31%. Additional information about postsecondary teaching in health specialties is available on the

The Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Science Curriculum

The Ph.D. RS program offers Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) and Movement Sciences and Disorders (MSD) concentrations. The program's face-to-face curriculum includes several online course options.

Twenty-one faculty members across seven programs and two departments educate Ph.D. students in rehabilitation science foundations, professional development, teaching methods and practices, research design and statistics, technical writing, and research. Students develop an individualized concentration plan, including seminars, research methods, and discipline-specific courses. They take electives from other programs, departments, and schools at Ìð¹ÏÊÓƵ and TTU. Students choose academic and research emphases based on their interests and career goals. All students complete a research project, comprehensive qualifying examination, and doctoral dissertation.

Graduation requires 86 semester credit hours over typically four years, with up to 24 graduate-level transfer hours possible. Ph.D. students may enroll full or part-time, and teaching and research assistantships are available.

Explore our curriculum and research and dissertation requirements.

"The program has a diverse array of faculty who are leaders in their fields and the state-of-the-art research resources that will allow you the opportunity to tailor a course of study that fits your personal needs and interests. The interdisciplinary nature of this program will enrich your learning experience as you are exposed to expert perspectives from different fields. You will be trained to think both independently and with a collaborative spirit in the pursuit of your own intellectual and personal growth."

Birendra Dewan

 PT  PhD Rehabilitation Science