As part of the Romanian higher education system, The Department of Physical Education, Sport and Physical Therapy from today continues the tradition of the higher education of physical education and sport from Oradea, founded in 1964 within the Pedagogical Institute of 3 years, which became “The Higher Education Institute” in 1977.

As a result of an administrative deed imposed by the state authorities at that time, the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport was dissolved in 1983, together with all the other faculties of the profile from the country with short term learning. Once the Technical University of Oradea was founded through the GD nº 469/2 V 1990, the activity was resumed at the physical education and sport profile, this time as long term higher education, functioning at the beginning within the Faculty of Letters and Sciences and then within the Faculty of Letters and Socio-Human Sciences. Since 1999, by Government Decision, the activity of the physical education and sport profile has been carried on within the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport.

In October 2011, by means of the reorganization which took place at University level, The Faculty of Geography, Tourism and Sport was formed, within which the Department of Physical Education, Sport and Physical Therapy functions and it has the study programs of Physical and Sportive Education and Physical Therapy and Special Motility at bachelor cycle level, respectively the Physical Education and Sportive Training and Physical Therapy in Functional Rehabilitation at master studies cycle level.

Academic formation results from the interaction of structures initially meant for the formation of physical education teachers, trainers in various sport branches, as well as of specialists in physical therapy. A scientific, cultural and, no doubt, social mutation has been made in order to accomplish a genuine academic integration of all these formation programs.

The main mission we wish to define for our specializations, concerning formation, consists in “endowing” students with specific knowledge (resulted from studying the subject-matters) and techniques, directed towards specific objectives: physical and sportive practice (activity), including here the manner of transmitting the knowledge as well, and the prevention and treatment of a wide range of disorders with the help of physical exercises. Scientific formation is thus pluridisciplinary and refers to the two fields of human and social sciences and to the sciences of life. On technical level, it refers to students acquiring the motor techniques and the ways of transmitting these techniques. In both cases, the knowledge consists in knowing how to practice and knowing how to ameliorate these practices, but also in knowing how to transmit them.

The perspective of professional inclusion is diversified, according to the social requirement and the labor market demand, the graduate students being able to choose professional directions from the education domain of all degrees, the health system, the domain of mass and high performance sport, from tourism or leisure.

The mission of the Physical Education, Sport and Physical Therapy Department is to provide high school graduates the following:
• A high quality academic education for Physical education, Sport and Physical Therapy specializations, clearly defining the competences received by the graduates of various training level (bachelor, master);
• A proper background for instruction, formation and improvement in fundamental, applicative and didactic scientific research;
• The necessary conditions for knowledge transfer towards society and for society;
• Development of scientific research towards foreground national and European domains, by attracting students into the research projects of the department and by continuing these projects with the graduates integrated in various institutions.