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ACAPT is committed to the academic physical therapy profession, representing over 95% of accredited Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs in the United States.

In October 2023, ACAPT rebooted its structure by launching four strategic Institutes. 

These Institutes serve as hubs of innovation and collaboration, each focused on advancing distinct but interconnected areas of academic physical therapy.

• Institute for Academic Advancement – Promotes leadership development, program innovation, and equity in academic physical therapy.
• Institute for Teaching & Learning – Enhances curriculum design, clinical education, and professional formation.
• Institute for Scholarly Inquiry – Strengthens research, evidence-informed practice, and scholarly productivity.
• Institute for Community Engagement – Builds partnerships that extend beyond the classroom, advancing health, equity, and societal impact.

Each Institute is led by a chair and vice chair and engages members through task forces and work groups. This structure ensures that ACAPT remains responsive to the evolving needs of academic physical therapy while advancing its mission to prepare graduates for practice, scholarship, leadership, and service.

Institute for Academic Advancement (IAA)

Support & promote institutional characteristics that reflect an intentional pursuit of excellence. This Institute will encourage institutional programmatic and clinical development; foster leadership excellence;; and facilitate programmatic innovation.

Institute for Teaching & Learning (ITL)

Support & promote curricular attributes that ensure outcomes of educational excellence. This Institute will help to encourage institutional educational excellence; facilitate excellence in clinical education; foster curricular innovation; advance educational technology; and integrate professional formation.

Institute for Community Engagement (IoCE)

Support & promote community and stakeholder engagement in the shared pursuit of excellence. This Institute will promote educational and clinical partnerships; engage in societal health and wellness; and enhance engagement across healthcare disciplines.

Institute for Scholarly Inquiry (ISI)

Cultivate a culture of scholarship and research and ongoing assessment of outcomes in academic programs. This Institute will support scientific research to grow the profession; encourage implementation of discoveries into practice and education; develop best practices for scientific, educational, and community-based research; cultivate research leadership and bolster educational preparation through research outcomes.

Read the ACAPT ISI Vision White Paper

The ISI 2025 Research Task Force created the "Assessing and Fostering Scholarship Culture in Academic Physical Therapy Programs: A Self-Assessment Discussion Guide," which supports programs in achieving the vision by providing a systematic framework for evaluating and strengthening scholarly culture across five key domains: Strategic alignment, Support, Collaboration, Impact, and Engagement. Using a discussion-based self-assessment approach, it guides programs through reflection and goal-setting, whether they are initiating new scholarly activities or expanding existing efforts. The framework enables all physical therapy programs to advance the profession's scholarly impact through systematic assessment and strategic institutional alignment.