Pre-Physical-Therapy
- What Is a Physical Therapist?
- The Path to Becoming a Physical Therapist
- Prerequisite Courses
- Timeline
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 atheletes, 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 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!
If you are not taking a gap year, you need to apply to a D.P.T. program the summer after your junior year.
If you are taking a gap year, you will apply the summer after graduation.
The Application Process
The application process to a D.P.T. program begins more than a year before you plan to enter physical therapy school.
At some point in your junior or senior years of college, or early in the summer after graduation, you will take the GRE General Test. This test is similar to the SAT, in that it tests basic mathematical, verbal, and writing skills. It does not test the science topics you learn in the prerequisite courses, so you can take it before all of your prerequisites are complete.
Most, but not all, D.P.T. schools are part of PTCAS, a centralized admissions system. To apply to PTCAS schools, you first complete an application for PTCAS. D.P.T. schools admit students on a rolling basis, so it's best to apply early in the cycle, perhaps in August. For non-PTCAS schools, you need to apply directly to each school you are interested in.
After you apply to PTCAS and specify the schools you are interested in, you will often be invited to complete "supplementary" applications for those schools. These supplementaries request more information, 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 or winter prior to when you'll start attending D.P.T. school.
After interviews, you finally get to find out who accepted you--hopefully you'll have the happy dilemma of choosing between acceptances!
D.P.T. School
Once in D.P.T. school, it is very likely you'll end up being a physical therapist. Most people accepted to physical therapy school graduate, pass the NPTE, and become practicing physical therapists.
The first two and a half years of physical therapy school are usually "didactic," meaning that you'll take courses. The last half year is "clinical," involving working with physical therapists and patients directly.
At the end of three years, you graduate as a D.P.T. In order to practice physical therapy, you also need to pass a test called the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE).
Some physical therapists go on to complete a residency and/or a fellowship, particularly if they'd like to specialize in one particular aspect of physical therapy. Residencies and fellowhips typically take a year or two, during which you are paid, but under the supervision of a more experienced physical therapist.
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 some from school to school, so it's a good idea to check the particular requirements of schools you are considering appling 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
| Course Name | Lehman Code | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|
| Gen. Chem. 1 | CHE 166 + 167 | MAT 171 or MAT 172 is corequisite |
| Gen. Chem. 2 | CHE 168 + 169 | Gen. Chem. 1 |
| Gen. Physics 1 | PHY 166 or PHY 168 | (MAT 171 + MAT 108) or MAT 172 |
| Gen. Physics 2 | PHY 167 or PHY 169 | Gen. Physics 1 |
| A & P 1 | BIO 181 | |
| A & P 2 | BIO 182 | BIO 181 |
| Gen. Bio. 1 | BIO 166 | |
| Statistics | Multiple courses fulfill | |
| Gen. Psych. | PSY 166 |
Required by Many D.P.T Programs
| Course Name | Lehman Code | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|
| Gen. Bio. 2 | BIO 167 | |
| Developmental Psych. | PSY 217, 218, or 219 | PSY 166 |
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.
| Semester | Coursework | Consult Pre-Health Advisor Regarding... | Application | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshman Fall | MAT 104, BIO 181, PSY 166, ENG 111, LEH 100 | Get to know each other | ||
| Freshman Spring | MAT 172, BIO 182, ENG 121, Gen. Ed. | Choice of major, internships, progress | Begin to plan for internships | |
| Sophomore Fall | PHY 166, PSY courses, Gen. ed. | Progress, internships | Intenships | |
| Sophomore Spring | PHY 167, PSY courses, Gen. ed. | Progress. Gap or no gap? | Begin investigating which D.P.T. schools to apply to | Internships Declare major |
| Junior Fall | CHE 166+167, PSY courses | Progress. Summer plans | Internships | |
| Junior Spring | CHE 168+169, PSY courses | Progress | Internships | |
| Senior Fall | BIO 166, LEH, PSY courses | Letters of recommendation | Internships Plan gap year |
|
| Senior Spring | PSY courses, LEH | Personal statement | Arrange for letters of recommendation; mock interviews | GRE prep |
| June after graduation | GRE | |||
| August after graduation | Application to PTCAS | |||
| Fall after graduation | Supplementary applications for PTCAS schools and applications to non-PTCAS schools | Gap year activities | ||
| Winter after graduation | Interview preparation | Interviews | Gap year activities | |
| Spring after graduation | Inform pre-health advisor of acceptance | Accept admission to D.P.T. school of her choice | Gap year activities | |
| One year after graduation | Begin D.P.T. school! |
