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Physical Therapy Curriculum

Velma Said:

Occupational Therapy or Physical Therapy????

We Answered:

Both professions involves 1-to-1 patient contact. They are probably the professions that require most patient contact time. OTs deal with all patients of any conditions who have difficulty in caring for him/herself, returning to the community and return to work. OTs establish plans of care with their patients (they prefer to use 'clients') to help their clients to re-learn self-care skills, activities of daily living, and maximize their occupational performance so the clients may reach their desired therapeutic goals. OTs also prescribe devices to help patients with their activities of daily living.

Some specializations or disciplines of OT include hand therapy, neurorehabilitation, mental health, pediatrics, geriatrics, vocational training, etc.

PTs treats mainly movement disorders of the 4 main systems: integumentary, cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal and neurology. PTs may employ manual therapy (including soft tissue mobilization, joint mobilization, etc) to treat specific conditions of these systems. Basically, a PT facilitates movement and uses movement (in a broader sense, exercise) itself as a primary mode of treatment to treat human movement disorders.

Some specializations or disciplines of PT include orthopedic and manual therapy (the most popular specialty), pediatrics, geriatrics, neurorehabilitation, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, sports physical therapy, etc...

Both PT and OT share somewhat similar body of scientific knowledge, particularly the motor control and motor learning theories. Both professions also share common foundation sciences in anatomy, physiology, psychology, etc., although PTs tend to deal more with anatomy and physiology than OTs.

They are both scientific. So I too am confused by what you mean by 'involves more science'.

Currently, in the USA, the entry-level qualification for PT is the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree (all US PT schools are offering the clinical doctorate in physical therapy), and for OT is the Master's degree (MS or MOT); some schools offer the entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree e.g. Creighton University in Omaha, NE.

You should request to shadow PTs and OTs working in various disciplines to understand what each profession entails. I suggest you observe PTs and OTs working in the following units: neurorehabilitation unit (you can observe both PT and OT working together), outpatient or private physical therapy clinic (you can observe a PT in his/her own private practice), hand therapy clinic (usually OT, but there are PTs who specialize in hand therapy), and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation facility (PT).

Veronica Said:

I want to go into the medical field; Physical Therapy. I have a business degree already... need advice for PT?

We Answered:

http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Sect…

Sherry Said:

Becoming a Physical Therapist-Undergrad and etc?

We Answered:

Yes, you do not enter this program until you've completed a bachelor's degree, met the prerequisite requirements and have been accepted into the program.

Yes, you can do your undergraduate major at Duke.

I'd recommend talking to a counselor at Duke. They may have "feeder" majors into that program that allows you to take the required courses without having to take a lot of extra classes. This might include "health care sciences", kinesiology, exercise science, exercise physiology, etc.

Wayne Said:

Advice on choosing major (Very long, I warn you)?

We Answered:

As a retired college professor who taught and advised students for 40 years, I would lean toward the broader field with the possibility of graduate school advancement. Since you don't have a clue right now if there will be a job available in radiation therapy when you want one, Biomedical Engineering at least would give you the option of continuing on in grad school. And, even though I don't know the actual salaries, I would bet that a doctorate in Biomed Engineering would certainly pay you you more than $77K. Good luck to you.

Duane Said:

Will a Physical Therapist be able to do surgery too?

We Answered:

No. Surgeons do surgery. Physical therapists do physical therapy.

The course you're talking about teaches "how to do physical therapy for patients on a medical/surgical hospital unit." This is in distinction to intensive care, rehabilitation and home care.

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