For DPT programs · Questions from DCEs
Questions from our DCE colleagues.
The questions DCEs most often ask us as we start working together. If yours isn't here, we'd be glad to hear it.
Getting started
Do we need an affiliation agreement before our students can apply?
Not at all — students are welcome to apply whenever they're ready, and we'll let you know when one of yours does. We do need an agreement in place before we send an offer, so if you're new to us, it helps to get it started early.
Why do programs use EduGlobal's affiliation agreement?
Because we work on behalf of our partner clinics rather than being a clinic ourselves, a school's standard facility agreement doesn't quite fit how placements abroad work. Ours was written for exactly this: one agreement covers every site in the network, and it includes the things an international placement needs — student data handled under FERPA and, where it applies, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, the professional insurance the host country requires, and health insurance valid abroad, including evacuation home. We're always happy to walk your risk or contracts office through it.
Our agreement is coming up for renewal. What do we do?
Just drop Brett a line and we'll take care of it together. Your DCE portal shows your agreement's status and the date it runs to. We send new offers once a renewal is in place, so starting a little early keeps things easy for everyone.
When do students apply, and when do they hear?
The 2028 round opens on 1 January 2027 and closes on 18 April 2027. Once it closes, we match each student with a site, and offers go out by DocuSign — to you first, then to your student. Placements begin anywhere from the following January into the autumn.
Do we approve each student's placement?
Yes — you're part of every decision. Each offer comes to you first in DocuSign, with the placement sheet, and your signature is your clearance of the site. Your student then signs to accept, and we countersign. If a particular site doesn't feel right for a student, tell us and we'll look for one that does.
Clinical education
How long are rotations, and when can they run?
Between 6 and 12 weeks, depending on the site. Most sites welcome students year-round; 16 of our 25 pause in July and August for ferragosto. Let us know the dates your curriculum allows and we'll suggest sites that fit.
Who supervises our students, and how closely?
A licensed, English-speaking physiotherapist at the site serves as your student's clinical instructor. Most sites host one or two students at a time, so your student gets their CI's real attention. Hours are typically 35–40 a week, Monday to Friday, and some sites can add weekend time if your program needs more — just ask.
Which assessment instrument do the CIs use?
Yours. The electronic CPI, including CPI 3.0, is the most common, and our CIs work with the other instruments in general use, so the evaluation comes back to you in a familiar form. Our fee includes training and continuing education for CIs. If your program is moving to competency and entrustment-based education, we're preparing to assess against entrustable professional activities too, with a partner program piloting it from spring 2027 — and we'd love to hear how you're approaching it.
What settings and caseloads are available?
Mostly outpatient orthopedic and sports, alongside a good range of others: post-acute rehabilitation with brain injury, stroke and spinal cord injury, a large regional hospital, skilled nursing, a cardiopulmonary inpatient site, a hand centre and pelvic floor. Each site page describes its settings, populations and caseload, so you can see how it fits your curriculum.
Do you place students from other professions?
Occupational therapy, on a small scale: Ospedale San Giuseppe in Milan welcomes OT students — a hand and wrist centre, surgical and non-surgical, where students also learn splinting. Athletic training is something we're still designing, and we'd welcome conversations with AT program directors who'd like to help shape it.
Insurance, documents and travel
How are students insured?
We arrange health and emergency insurance valid abroad, including evacuation home, through iNext, enrolling each student about two weeks before they leave; if your school's travel office has its own program, talk to us and we can look at it together. We also provide the professional insurance the host country requires, at no cost to your program or students. Alongside that, the agreement asks for your program's general and professional liability cover for your students ($1,000,000 per occurrence, $3,000,000 in aggregate). If your school asks for anything more, we'll add it to your students' checklist.
What do students prepare before they travel?
A passport valid for six months beyond their return, an immunization record (tetanus-diphtheria, MMR, hepatitis B, and a negative TB test or chest x-ray within six months), Healthcare Provider CPR, blood-borne pathogens training, the handbook acknowledgement, and a short introduction for their CI. Students upload these to their portal, we help them along, and you can see their progress in yours. If your program has other requirements, we're glad to add them.
Is there training students need before the first day?
At 21 of our sites, Italian law asks everyone working in a clinic, interns included, to complete workplace safety training — a four-hour general course online and a twelve-hour healthcare course with an instructor, before the first clinical day. We walk each student through registering with our training partner, Phisiovit, and the student pays the fee (EUR 225.70 including VAT) to them directly.
Do students need a visa?
Not for most sites: US citizens can stay up to 90 days in Italy and Luxembourg without one. Switzerland has its own visa process, which we guide students through, and its cost is included in the Swiss administration fee. If a student's circumstances are different, we're happy to look into it with them.
Where do students live?
We help each student find somewhere to stay, through people who know these towns well, and the student agrees the arrangement directly with their host. Every site page shows what housing typically costs in that town, and our Costs page brings it all together.
Money, and when things go wrong
Who pays, and can our program help?
Students usually pay the administration fee in installments, starting with a deposit when they accept. Some programs like to cover the deposit, or the whole fee, for their students — if yours would, let us know and we'll invoice the program, as one invoice for the group if that's easier. Your portal shows whether each installment has been paid.
What if a placement can't go ahead?
It's rare, and when it happens we work hard to find a comparable site — which is usually what happens. If we or the site have to withdraw a placement and we can't offer something similar, the student is refunded everything they've paid. If a student decides to withdraw, the deposit isn't refundable, but we always look kindly at each situation.
How do you look after students who are struggling, unwell or injured?
Our in-country team are practising physiotherapists based in Italy, and they're who students and sites turn to. Most early wobbles are ordinary culture shock and pass; anything more is much easier to help with early. If something affects your student's progress or wellbeing, we'll be in touch with you, and you can always message your student directly from your portal.
How do we stay in touch?
Through your DCE portal day to day, and by email whenever there's something to share. We also write to our university partners each quarter with program news, and hold informational meetings for DCEs — we'd be glad to include you.