Charlotte Said:

what classes should i take for physical therapy?

We Answered:

At this point, you do not need to worry about specific courses yet unless you plan to enter a guaranteed acceptance program such as Marquette where you are gauranteed acceptance into the PT program after you finish your undergraduate work. If this is your choice, then you should look at those schools specific requirement.

Since Western Michigan doesn't have a PT program, you don't need to worry about specific courses now. You can still go to WMU for your undergraduate work. For right now, just focus on the courses required for entrance into WMU...for most colleges this is 3 years of math and science, 4 of English and 2 years of a foreign language.

you can certainly do some observation now...it will be good to see if this is really what you want to do, but don't spend a lot of time now. Most likely, when you are ready to apply to graduate school, you will need those places to write you letter of recommendation...since you won't be going to grad school for quite a few years, you can put this off until later to do your "required" observation.

Suzanne Said:

Physical Therapy career questions?

We Answered:

1. Most programs are now doctorate level programs taking 6-7 years to complete including your prerequsite years (assuming you complete your BS in 4 years)

2. The bls predicts that the career will grown "much faster than average at least through the year 2014.

3. The bls lists the national average salary around $66,000. The last APTA survery found that at about 50% of PTs were earning between $50-70,000 a year, but that another 25% earned more than $75,000...yet, this survery is already 3 years old. I don't know if we can predict what it will be by 2014. Our economy is very unstable right now.

4. PTs can work full or part time. If you work for a hospital based facility or nursing home, expect to work at least one weekend a month..

5. I love my job. On a typical day, I interact and problem solve with patients, I show them how to manage and correct their painful condition...usually with specific exercises. Schooling was very challenging and I would consider it a full time job. It requires one to think quite criticially...8 years later, I'm still going to school and taking classes.

The APTA website has some helpful information for future PTs. www.apta.org

Rosemary Said:

Which school should I really consider?

We Answered:

Well, all of these schools are state funded, so if you are not a resident, you will be charged out of state tuition unless they have a provision (ie, sometimes if you are in the top 10% of class you will be offered in-state tuition). U of Madison has a very reputable PT program as well as U of Iowa. Can't say I know much about the others. Some other great schools in the midwest include: Northwestern, Marquette, Creighton, Indiana University, Midwestern University, OSU.

Good luck.

Karl Said:

Physical Therapy Assistant (PTA) .a good career?

We Answered:

PTA is a great career choice. They get to do hands-on, independent work while under the supervision of a PT. The previous answer is correct in that this profession does require patience and compassion in general for people, since many patients will be combative, in pain, etc. However, I worked in an office that combined chiropractic care and physical therapy. Most of our patients had minor problems that they worked on with the combination of chiropractic care. We also treated accident victims for minor injuries. So if you are not the type of person who would work well with stroke victims, or similar serious injuries, there are other opportunities in this field.

They make on avg $46k/yr.

Good luck!

Katrina Said:

Worker's comp injury. How long will it take?

We Answered:

It can go on forever unfortunately, I hurt my knee 6 years ago in a workers comp case and they finally settled 3 yrs later and my issue wasn't as bad as yours seems to be. Unfortunately its up to the doctor to tell your worker's comp whether or not you can work and if you have restrictions they are supposed to give you a job that you can do with those restrictions. I would have your lawyer contact the comp people and try to sort something out.

Minnie Said:

Is Virginia a nice place to live?

We Answered:

Virginia is a great place to live, been here for 28 years. Medical field jobs should be no problem in this area. Sentara Hospitals are numerous, Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters in Norfolk. Cost of living isn't bad, Virginia Beach has the lowest real estate taxes and the better schools. There are community college, Tidewater Community in Va. Beach has medical programs available. Our unemployment rate is around 4% and has been at 4% for years. There is plenty of housing available in our area. I would recommend Va. Beach to live. Lowest crime rate and the weather is great. Good luck and hope this helps. Look at pilotonline.com which is the local paper and check out the career connection for jobs.