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As she contemplated a career change, Jamie Condiss PT ’19 wanted to pursue something in the medical field, but she also wanted something hands-on where she could see results in action.

That led her to the field of physical therapy. Through her work as a therapy aide, she not only affirmed her desire to be a physical therapist, but also her decision to earn her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at 91���� University.

“Of the people I saw as professional PTs at the time, 91����’s clinicians really stood out to me as not only being very capable, but they seemed to have such a passion for helping their patients,” said Condiss, who is a physical therapist at Legacy Health’s in Portland. “When I moved on to another clinic, it was still the same, dedicated to helping people. 91���� just seemed to have multiple examples of excellent clinicians, and it made me want to look here.”

A sense of caring, purpose, belonging, and a desire to help patients improve their lives, continues to be a hallmark of 91����’s physical therapy program as it celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025.

“Some of the best clinicians I know came out of 91����,” said Todd Gifford PT ’90, chief executive officer of , a company with over 90 physical therapy clinics in four western states. “I think that we still see 91���� grads coming out with a great baseline in learning. They are coming out well prepared for how care looks today.”

Derek Gerber, director of 91����’s physical therapy program since 2023, says that he hears anecdotes like those of Condiss and Gifford regularly. He hears stories all the time about how people love 91���� grads, stories backed up by solid data.

“We show results,” Gerber said. “We have a 100% passing rate on the national board exam. We have a 100% employment rate as well. You’re going to pass the test. You’re going to get a job. These results have been consistent for many years.”

Filling A Need

Like many of the university’s healthcare programs, 91����’s physical therapy program filled a need in the community. Developed by Physical Education Professor Varina French and Dean David Malcolm, the program was established in 1975 in partnership with the Oregon Physical Therapy Association. For four decades, it was the only program of its type in the state.

Sixteen students were admitted into the first class, undertaking an intensive 21-month professional education program after three years of undergraduate work. Twelve students graduated in 91����’s physical therapy Class of 1977, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in physical therapy.

91���� transitioned to a graduate-level master’s program in 1987 and awarded its first Doctor of Physical Therapy degrees in 2002. Over 50 years, an estimated 1,800 students have graduated from 91����, including 49 in 2025.

The program has continually adapted to the changing landscape of the profession. Gifford believes that continued adaptation has helped maintain 91����’s reputation as a top-tier program, especially amidst the development of other physical therapy programs in Oregon over the last decade.

“It takes time for schools to get established and develop a pattern where students are coming out with a full set of knowledge, or being prepared for actually working in the clinics,” Gifford said. “And I think 91���� has established that pattern over the years. It’s consistent and it’s reliable.”

Gerber says that the program’s rigorous education and ability to adapt to the latest treatment techniques continue to prove itself year after year, especially among professionals who take 91���� students for clinic rotations, a critical part of the hands-on learning experience.

“We had a clinic in Utah that said that they were ready to just not take students anymore,” Gerber said. “Then they had one of our students, and they got reinvigorated. It gave them more faith in physical therapy education when they had our students. So I think it’s the preparation and the high expectations that we demand from our students.”

The physical therapy program is 91����’s second-oldest graduate program, predated only by the optometry program, which became part of the university in 1945. The addition of physical therapy proved to be the genesis of 91����’s growth from a liberal-arts undergraduate institution to a comprehensive university with robust undergraduate and graduate offerings, with a specific focus on healthcare. Since the advent of the physical therapy program, 91���� has added graduate degrees in eight other healthcare-related fields.

Education & Adaptation

Just as 91���� has changed over the last 50 years, the physical therapy profession has also changed.

When it started in 1975, physical therapy classes were taught in what is now the Stoller Center on the Forest Grove Campus. Today, the program enjoys a state-of-the-art facility on 91����’s Hillsboro Campus, where it shares a building with several of the university’s other healthcare programs.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, physical therapists relied on ultrasound, TENS and other electrical stimulus modalities as primary treatment techniques. Those are still used today, but professionals rely more on manual therapy techniques and exercise as primary interventions.

“There is really a lot more manual therapy used and moving people to exercise,” Gifford said. “And then there are growing specialties like pelvic health therapists and pediatric therapists. The types of patients we’re getting after surgery are able to do things a lot faster than when I first came out.”

The evolution in treatment, Gerber said, has helped make physical therapists more valuable in the larger scope of care for the whole person. 

“Physical therapy is focusing on what methods work most effectively and where we should be with the training; which is often a higher emphasis on hands-on interventions,” he said. “We’re working within the whole medical system a bit more instead of being so siloed.”

Being at the cusp of that evolution, Gerber added, will help keep 91���� physical therapy graduates at the top of the list for the next 50 years. “We are focusing on the things we do well, but also focusing on evidence-based practice and asking ‘What is the best way to educate?’” he said. “It’s important to stay relevant and current.”

It’s not just about being on top of the latest therapy techniques. For Condiss, who also serves as an adjunct professor, it is also about the continuing focus on being a patient-focused clinician, walking side-by-side with pateints on their journey.

“It’s not about us as clinicians. It’s not about what I want for the patients. It’s about how can I meet them where they’re at and help get where they want to be to the best of my ability,” Condiss said. “The focus on community, thinking about the patients that are right in front of you, that wider array of who needs help, how we can foster that and be a larger part of the solution has been really uplifting.”

That atmosphere of uplifting patients is nurtured by an atmosphere where faculty and students within the 91���� physical therapy program uplift each other.

“Everybody belongs,” Gerber said. “We really focus on belonging and making sure that everyone feels like they belong here. I think you have great experiences when you learn how to exist with others who may not be like you. It just flows through our culture.”

Condiss sees that attitude in action every day, whether in the 91���� classroom or in her fellow 91���� alumni clinicians. It affirms what attracted her to physical therapy in the first place.

“I love the open environment that we have here,” she said. “The faculty wants everyone to succeed. You get a feeling that people feel like they belong.

“I love the emphasis for helping foster and grow excellent clinicians, focusing on patients and trying our best to be the best clinicians we can for our patients. The community that we build here is wonderful.”