Mentorship by exceptional faculty and exciting opportunities for interdisciplinary research and collaboration: these are among the many advantages that draw students to our PhD program in Rehabilitation Sciences. In this interdisciplinary field, we engage in research focused on understanding the factors that promote activity, function, and participation in daily life among people who have disabilities or are at risk of developing them. Our PhD program prepares studentswith and without professional degreesfor academic careers in research and teaching.
The goal of the rehabilitation sciences program is to prepare graduates with the skills needed to become successful educators, researchers, and innovators in the field of rehabilitation sciences. Graduates develop the strong research, teaching, and leadership skills necessary for a successful academic career focused on research and teaching. Through didactic training and mentored research activities, we prepare students to teach in higher education, conduct research, and disseminate scholarly work to peers, colleagues, and consumers.
Rehabilitation sciences is a highly interdisciplinary field of study aimed at enhancing activity, function, and participation in daily life and promoting health and wellness among persons with or at risk of developing disabilities. Rehabilitation sciences spans the entire life course, from infancy to older adulthood, and addresses a wide variety of acute and chronic physical and psychological conditions that may negatively impact people's abilities to perform daily activities and participate in their lives fully. Rehabilitation sciences integrates knowledge from diverse fields such as psychology, social sciences, movement sciences, engineering, community and family systems, health services, and epidemiology with the foundational sciences of rehabilitation clinical practice.
Research in the Function, Participation, & Environment concentration is guided by biopsychosocial and socioecological theories of health, function, and disability. These approaches are used to investigate the dynamic relationship between the person and their environment, and the impact of that interaction on function and participation at home, school, work and the community. The overall goal is to identify pathways to successful participation that guide the creation of strategies, supports, programs, services, and social environments that enable persons with and without disabilities to achieve full participation in society.
