Association Between Ethnic-Racial Minority Status, Admissions Data, and Academic Performance in Student Retention from a Physical Therapy Program in a Minority-Serving Institution.

Ethnic-racial under-represented students (URM) exhibit greater attrition rates from physical therapy (PT) doctoral programs. Most predictive analytics in PT education are based on predictors of success in passing the licensure examination. However, data predicting the reasons why these groups of URM students withdraw from PT school are scarce. Admissions variables and academic perform¬ance of seven entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) cohorts (n = 191) from a US university were analyzed from their application and admission through graduation or withdrawal from the program. Through a binary logistic regression, it was found that the main predictors of with¬drawal from the DPT program were URM status (X2 = 8.77; p = 0.004; OR = 21.4) and failing the first practical exam (X2 = 12.30; p < 0.001; OR = 14.2). Those from URM back¬grounds were more than 20 times more likely to withdraw from PT school, while failing the first clinical practical exam increased 14 times the odds of withdrawing from PT school. Admission criteria and targeted retention strategies need to be addressed to ensure the success of URM students to ensure a more diverse PT workforce.