Quantum mechanics is almost all about application. It's a 'known law of physics'. Quantum computation is about manipulating the known laws of QM to process information. If QM is all about 'theory' then it would be useless is the sense that it cannot be used for application at all. For example, Feynman diagram calculation is an example of application of quantum field theory. The laws governing interactions between light and atoms, i.e. QED, is also application of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. Formulation of new theory, say, say an alternative approach for quantum mechanics, is an extremely difficult stuff to do (as far as I am concerned). Formulation of 'new theory', as a prerequisite would require it's inventor tremendous amount of experience in application of existing theory. Quantum optics is also an quantum 'application'. It makes use of quantum interactions to describe exotic behaviour between light and atoms under specific conditions to see if there is any 'exotic' phenomena can be predicted and tested experimentally. But quantum optics itself is not a new formulation of QM but merely an application.
So my opinion is that a physics student has to learn more application of quantum mechanics. Although the quantum laws are known, the effects that could result under certain exotic physical conditions could be very very interesting. In other words, the law of QM may be pretty much 'dead' but the consequences of it could be infinitely many, of which some are not known before. For example Josephson junction is a consequence of quantum mechanical laws but was not known until the 1970s when Josephson (then just a graduate student in Cambridge) 'discovered' it. If one really wants to discover exotic thing like Josephson, he/she must gone through many 'application' exercises before exploring further into the more fundamental aspect of the law of quantum mechanics.
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