Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency Program

Our Mission

The mission of residency programs within Division of Physical Therapy and UNC Hospitals is to provide a superior, comprehensive, specialist training to licensed physical therapists to meet the needs of North Carolina and beyond. For the UNC Pediatric Physical Therapy residency, this mission is applied to physical therapists and their work with pediatric patients.

Residency Program Philosophy

The faculty and staff of the Division of Physical Therapy and UNC Hospitals are committed to developing residents who are recognized leaders within pediatric physical therapy. Residents will develop excellence in examination, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, teaching and the integration of best evidence into the patient care they provide. They will develop as a resource for the community in pediatrics and will contribute to the profession through teaching, writing, and leadership. Graduates of the residency program will be prepared to sit for the ABPTS Pediatric Certified Specialist (PCS) examination.

Program Structure

The UNC Pediatric PT Residency accepts 2 residents on separate tracks based on where the resident will complete their work hours. For the Outpatient track, the resident will have their own work caseload at the Center for Rehabilitation Care, treating infants-18 years of age in a hospital-based pediatric therapy clinic. For the Inpatient track, the resident will have a 30 hour/week caseload at UNC Children’s Hospital, treating hospitalized infants-18 year olds. Both residents will have clinical mentoring in Outpatient, Inpatient, Early Intervention, and School-based settings in order to prepare them to take the Pediatric Specialty exam and work in a variety of pediatric subspeciality areas upon residency graduation.

The program’s curriculum is designed in modules that address all areas of the pediatric Description of Specialty Practice (DSP). The modules include study in the topics of clinical reasoning, evidence-based practice, teaching and learning, acute care, school-based PT, Early Intervention, and outpatient care. Didactic work is a combination of online study, individualized face-to-face instruction by module mentors. Weekly assignments and module-specific mentor assessments provide the resident with regular benchmarks to ensure their learning progresses throughout the year. There are four written exams and two live patient exams administered at approximately the middle and end of the program. The resident is responsible for two to three independent work days a week during the residency program.

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FAQ's

Program Outcomes

One hundred percent of our graduates have passed the PCS exam on the first attempt.
The program has a 100% completion rate.
Graduates have secured adjunct, part-time, and full-time academic faculty positions
Graduates all work in pediatric clinical subspecialty areas
Graduates have participated and presented at national physical therapy conferences
Graduates have published their work in academic journals

Admission Information

2 residency positions annually; one inpatient slot one outpatient slot
Our residency program participates with the universal match date.
Application will open on October 1. (See RF-PTCAS)
Application deadline is the first Friday in January.
Strong applications will be invited for an on-campus interview on Friday, February 20, 2026.

Additional helpful resources:

ABPTRFE Accreditation Status:

The University of North Carolina Pediatric Physical Therapy Residency program is accredited by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education as a post-professional residency program for physical therapists in pediatrics.