Daughter wants to be a Physical Therapist ?s

There is an Associated degree for Physical Therapy, she would be a Physical Therapist Assistant.  Meaning she could see/treat patients within a plan of care from the Physical Therapist.  Physical Therapist degrees are now a master's degree...moving towards a doctorate degree.

Being a PT is a really good job these days.  She could also consider being an OT.  See which she likes best.  Yes they are MA jobs currently, pay well with good flexibility in where you work.  School systems are always looking for OT and PTs.  We currently pay $800 for one day of an OT to service our school district and that covers the drive time to get here and to drive between school locations.  Maybe I should go back to school myself.  The hospital was offering $150k for a full time OT/PT.  If you work for a school distrcit in a low income area, you can also get school loan forgiveness.  We had a psychologist get like 50k of student loan forgiveness for 2 years of work. 

I know a girl that is just finishing her doctorate for physical therapy / sports medicine at Northern Arizona University. It sounds like a profession in high demand and you are expected to pursue higher education.

The first poster was right. There is a PTA (assistant) that requires at least an Associate's and passing of the national exam.

I believe within a year or 2 all PT programs will be Doctorate programs; 3 years post bachelor's degree.

If she gets her undergrad, the military is also an option. Once she has a B.S. she can commission and go to the military PT program at Baylor University (good program). They will pay for both degrees.

My son wants to do the same thing, so we went down to my local PT's office and asked some questions.

Yes there is an associate degree for PTA. The problem is that it is usually a certificate program and if she ever decided that she wanted to become a full blown PT, she would likely have to start over with her undergrad work.

Some universities are still offering a Master of PT, but most are moving to a Doctor of PT program due to the industry demands. It looks like a really good field to be in.

You might encourage your daughter to try and work in a PT office as an aid or exercise specialist to get a feel for whether or not she would really like the work.

My SIL passed the national accred. exam this past fall---she spent summers during college and then PT school (grad school) working at a PT office that my other SIL is the office manager for to apply the school side of things---also gave her a bit of an edge come exam time, etc---not to mention a nice job offer once she was fully licensed!!!  Seems like a great field to be in!!

I can weigh in.  I'm one.  I went back to school at age 40 in 2001.  At that time APTA required a master degree.  5 years in some colleges, 6 in others.  Now APTA requires you to get you Phd in physical therapy.  6-7 years.  PT school is three years of clinical, A&P, nuero, kiniseology, ortho, treatment and such.  Now there is a thesisl.   Ridgelake is correct there at a number of area of practice.  The schooling is general and rarely does a PT pick what they want to do, at least correctly.  Salaries range all over the place.  From 40K to on up depending on the region but the higher end is with experience and not as common as you think.  There is a lot of work for travelers if your kid wants to see the country.

Most PT clinic will be happy to have interested kids hang out and see what it is all about.  Comet explained it well PTA treat under a care plan from a PT.  They make a descent living. 

My wife is about to get her DPT (don't say PhD).  It's a great field to get into, but you really really really have to be motivated and outgoing.

 Like everyone already said you can become a PTA with an associates.  The DPT is 4 years of undergrad and 3 more of grad school.  Undergrads will usually major in something like Pre-PT, Sports science, athletic training, ect... .

I hardly got to spend any time with my wife during the first 2 years of grad school.  Of eating, sleeping, studying & work she usually had time for 3 of the 4.

I'm currently in my third out of sixth year of school for PT at Northeastern University. By 2020 every school will have switched over to a doctorate program for PT, but as previously stated there is a PTA Associate's degree. It's a lot of work but I enjoy it alot. Before I decided that PT would be my career path I "shadowed" at a clinic and also helped out a physical therapist by stretching an elderly man with MS. PT's are always in demand so there are always jobs out there.

Hey there.  My sis is a PT.  She finished up school in 2001.  She did a 5 year BS/MS from Ithaca.  I believe most of the posters are correct that nowadays the PhD thing is going to be the norm.  But when she graduated a BS/MS was rather typical.

And yes, there are a TON of different areas to specialize in.  There will be much continuing education!  However, I think it's important to note that most PT's don't get to jump right out of the gate into whatever field they find really interesting.  My sister definitely found that most PT places want people with EXPERIENCE.  And that just takes time.  She had to just get ANY job when she first got out of school so she could build experience.  So if your daughter doesn't get right into an area of PT she likes right off the bat, that's okay.  For example, my sis really wants to work with athletes and such.  But she's still sort of "stuck" in a general clinic.  She does have SOME athletes...but she has a lot of old people too.   She finally has enough experience to potentially branch out and head towards a more athlete oriented job, but I think she's laying low for now just happy to have a job in this economy!

It's definitely a great field and I know my sister really likes her job.  It has a lot of perks...like she and her fellow PT's treat each other.  So she's rarely injured.  Her hours can get stupid long but I think that's just because she's WAAAAAY more thorough with her patient notes than just about anybody else out there.  She knows how to do massage.  She was the first person to rake out my IT Bands.  I wanted to kick her.  That hurt!  One of the downsides is that she seems to have to schedule vacations or days off really far in advance.  If it's inside 6-8 weeks she really can't put it on the calendar because she'll already have patients scheduled.  But again, that's probably just her work ethic...I'm sure other people don't have a problem making patients reschedule or getting someone else to cover their patients.  She says it really does stink if someone calls in sick...it kind of scr*ws over everyone for a few days.  But, necessary sometimes of course.

I'm trying to think of what else she's mentioned over the years.  But that's all I can think of.

Best fried is a PT. Just did her DPT at Emory.  I recommend doing a couple of things.  There are a number of schools that have a 4+1 or 2 program- i.e. 4 years of undergrad work that leads directly into a masters program. 

Otherwise, I recommend that she pursue an undergraduate major in a science or at least make sure she has the requisite science courses to be admitted into a PT program. My friend was a Communications/Fine Arts major and took the pre-reqs at a community college and did just fine.

I would then look at the APTA and look for accredited programs that offer solid internship programs and strong clinical affiliations that lead into fellowship opportunities and that have strong job placement or career services depts. 

Also, if she wants to narrow down her choices, she can use the APTA website or go to www.collegeboard.com to create a query that will narrow her options based on a number of variables like size, location, cost, program, etc.  This is more focused on students who are looking for the bachelor's degree and beyond.

The FIRST thing she needs to do is decide what her ultimate goal is- does she want to be an assistant, a PT, own a practice, etc.  That will help you narrow down her options as well.

Just a few thoughts from a well-worn admissions counselor.  If you have any questions, I'm happy to chat.  Good luck!

I don't want to offend anyone. It seems a few people are confusing DPT and PhD.  Soooo.... to clarify, a doctorate of physical therapy (DPT) is different than doctor of philosophy (PhD).  A DPT is clinical doctorate that prepares and trains an individual to work as a higly trained physical therapist.  A PhD is a philosophical doctorate. The PhD prepares a person to scientifically investigate original research for the most part. Some will say it prepares a person to be a professor at a university. But, I know there are many people without the PhD working as profs @ universities. Lastly, there are also programs that combine the PT degree into a PhD/DPT. FWIW........

Edited by Dr Hammer 2010-02-05 10:49 PM

All you wanted to know and can't understand about DPT vs MSPT vs BSPT. 

Its the bloody State certification test that is the .  I had to take it twice and know of others who needed to take it more then that.  Lot of people pass it right off the bat but its a bear.

Thanks for all the input. It was an interesting and motivating read. Maybe I want to be a PT now!