Pre-Physical-Therapy

What Is a Physical Therapist?

Physical therapists are health care professionals who specialize in helping patients to alleviate pain and improve mobility. They frequently work with athletes, the elderly, injured veterans, and people recovering from surgery or injury.

The Path to Becoming a Physical Therapist

First, a Bachelor's Degree

To become a physical therapist, you must first complete a bachelor's degree. This is a separate step, requiring that you choose a major and complete general education requirements. This is different from the system in many other countries, in which health care professionals are on a professional track from the moment they graduate high school. The U.S. system values applicants who have gained a broad education, and who have successfully committed themselves to in-depth study of some particular topic, whether biology or history or exercise science. The point is to show your ability to learn and excel, rather than to complete a narrow preparation for a specific profession..

You must also complete specific prerequisite courses.

After you receive your bachelor's, you will go on to a graduate program in physical therapy to receive a doctorate of physical therapy, often abbreviated D.P.T.

To Gap or Not to Gap

A "gap year" is a year between completing your undergraduate degree and beginning physical therapy school. Taking a gap year has the following benefits:

• Allows more time to complete prerequisite coursework
• Usually results in a higher science G.P.A. at time of application
• Full-time work during the gap year can allow money to be saved for use during physical therapy school
• Provides a break from schooling!

The Application Process

You then apply through PTCAS, a centralized admissions system. Physical Therapy schools admit students on a rolling basis, so it's best to apply early in the cycle, perhaps in September.

As part of your PTCAS application, you will usually be asked to complete "supplementary" information for those schools, in part to make sure you are serious about that particular school.

Once your supplementaries are in, you will (hopefully!) be invited to some schools for interviews. Interviews typically take place in the fall, winter, or early spring prior to when you'll start attending physical therapy school.

After interviews, you finally get to find out who accepted you--hopefully you'll have the happy dilemma of choosing between acceptances!

Physical Therapy School

Once in physical therapy school, it is very likely you'll end up being an physical therapist. Most people accepted to physical therapy school graduate, pass their licensing exams, and become practicing physical therapists.

The first two years of physical therapy school are usually "didactic," meaning that you'll take courses. The next year is "clinical," involving working with physical therapists and patients directly.

At the end of three years, you graduate as a physical therapists.

In order to practice physical therapy, you also need to pass certain exams.

Prerequisite Courses

Regardless of your major, there are certain courses you must complete in order to gain admission to most physical therapy schools. These requirements vary a bit from school to school, so it's a good idea to check the particular requirements of schools you are considering applying to well before graduation.

Below is a list of some of the more commonly required prerequisite courses. For more detailed information, contact the pre-health advisor.

Required by Nearly all D.P.T Programs

Required by Many D.P.T Programs

Timeline

Below is an example of a timeline for a hypothetical student, Maria. Maria is planning to take a gap year and decides to major in psychology. She entered without a strong math background. Your timeline will be somewhat different, because you're not Maria. (Or if your name is Maria, you're not this Maria.) You'll almost certainly take some different courses than Maria did. Be sure to consult with your pre-health advisor to decide what's right for you. Still, Maria's timeline should give you a sense of how it can all work out.