Claudia Said:

Physical Therapy...?

We Answered:

There are two phases to the schooling...first is the pre-professional phase where you complete your prerequisite courses, general education and credits towards your major. You may or may not have to complete your BS or BA prior to being accepted into the physical therapy program. If your program does require it, you will need to choose an undergraduate major. It can be anything, really. However, before you can apply to the professional phase, you must still complete the prerequisites; therefore, most students declare their undergraduate major in kinesiology, exercise science or biology, etc. It will vary from school to school, but the prerequisites usually involves a year of chem and physics, three to four semesters of bio, anatomy and physiology, statistics, trig and/or calc, and 1-3 semesters of psychology. These are the core upon what all your professional level courses will be built upon, so they are very important. Since admittance into the professional phase is usually competitive, your performance in these prerequisite courses will be highly scrutinized. However, at this point, you are still a "typical college student..." there is just pressure to perform well. This pre-professional phase lasts 3-4 years for most students.

Once you have completed the requirements, you may apply to the professional phase. As I said before, entrance is usually competitive (unless you are in a direct admit program...but that's a story for another day), but once you are in, you can remain in the program as long as you maintain the required GPA. The coursework at this point is typically rigerous...it's not uncommon for you to be in class from 8 or 9 am to 4 or 5 in the evening. It is like a full-time job. At this point, you coursework is direct application of anatomy, physiology, exercise principles, ethics, research, and your hands on technique classes. This phase is usually 3 years.

In all, most programs are designed to be completed in 6-7 years...depending on if you enter a master's or doctorate level program.

I highly suggest you go the the APTA website at: http://www.apta.org to get a more detailed description as well as a list of accredited programs.

Jordan Said:

What colleges have majors for physical therapy?

We Answered:

Physical therapy is not a major. Physical therapy is a graduate program and they award either a master's degree or a doctorate. Before you ever go to a physical therapy program you would first need to earn a bachelor's degree and complete whatever classes are required by the physical therapy program (pre-physical therapy classes). You can do your pre-physical therapy work at any 4 year school.
This site lists accredited physical therapy programs
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?sect…

Dean Said:

Physical THerapy?!................?

We Answered:

Texas
Angelo State University (A4, D6, F1, PU)
Hardin-Simmons University (A4, D6, F1, PR)
Texas State University-San Marcos (A4, D6, F1, PU)
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (D6, E1, E3, F1, PU)
Texas Woman's University (A4, D6, E1, E3, F1, PU)
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (D6, F1, PU)
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (A4, D6, F1, PU)
University of Texas at El Paso (D5, F1, PU)
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (A4, D6, F1, PU)
US Army-Baylor University (A4, D6, D7, F1, PU)


...however, remember that PT is a graduate degree...you can major in almost anything as an undergraduate as long as you complete the prerequisite courses for the graduate program.

Jared Said:

PHYSICAL THERAPY MAJORS ! !?

We Answered:

Your firs step is to decide where you MIGHT go to grad school and look at what that schools requirements are for their prerequisite courses. Once you know that, you can start looking into majors that encompass those courses. However, it might vary from school to school as to what courses are involved in which majors.

Some considerations could be kinesiology, health care sciences, rehabiliation sciences, athletic training, biology, etc.