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DULUTH — The College of St. Scholastica is marking 50 years of physical therapy education as its newest students prepare to enter a health care field facing continued demand for rehabilitation clinicians across the region.
The college’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program, which graduated its first class in 1976, will recognize the milestone Thursday, Sept. 10, at the Health Science Center at BlueStone. The event will focus largely on current students and the program’s role in preparing physical therapists for hospitals, clinics and other health care settings.
About 48 students begin the three-year DPT program each June. The Class of 2026 graduated in May and entered a regional health care workforce where shortages of rehabilitation clinicians remain a concern.
The program has placed an increasing emphasis on clinical experience before graduation. Beginning in their second year, students treat uninsured and underinsured patients through the pro bono maurices Community Clinic at the Health Science Center. Students then complete three full-time clinical internships during their third year.
Recent classes have posted a 100% graduation rate, 98% employment rate and 95.9% pass rate on the physical therapy licensure examination, according to the college.
St. Scholastica also reports that 67% of the program’s core faculty hold board certification in clinical specialties, compared with a national average of about 48%. Faculty specialties include orthopedic, neurologic, pelvic, geriatric and pediatric physical therapy.
"Our alumni spent the summer celebrating what this program has been. This event is about what it is becoming," said Dr. Dalerie Lieberz, chair and professor of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program. "The students continuing with us this fall are the start of our next 50 years. Our goal for them has not changed in five decades: to graduate well-rounded clinicians who can practice confidently in any setting, with any patient, anywhere."
St. Scholastica was among the first colleges in the region to establish a physical therapy program, creating a pipeline of clinicians who have worked throughout northeastern Minnesota and the broader Upper Midwest over the past five decades.
That workforce connection, college officials said, remains central to the program as health care systems continue competing for qualified physical therapists and other rehabilitation professionals.
"A program's legacy is not an anniversary but the clinicians it puts into practice," said Dr. Michael Wendinger, Essentia Health dean of the School of Health Professions. "St. Scholastica physical therapy graduates are caring for patients in clinics and hospitals across this region right now, and the students beginning their studies this month will do the same. That continuity is what we are celebrating on Sep. 10."
Alumni marked the program’s 50th anniversary during the college’s Reunion weekend in June. Thursday’s gathering will instead emphasize the students now moving through the program and those who will join the regional health care workforce in coming years.
The event is scheduled from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Health Science Center at BlueStone, 940 Woodland Ave. Remarks are expected to begin about 12:50 p.m.
St. Scholastica was founded in Duluth in 1912 and has developed a substantial presence in health professions education, including physical therapy, nursing and other clinical programs.
