Degree before PT school? (Full Version)

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fixedgear -> Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 10:00:00 AM)

I was wondering if one degree or another would be more helpfull going into PT school? Like Kinesiology or Physiology? Somehting like that. I was looking in to a BS in Kiniseology with major in Athletic training. Any suggestions or words of wisdom?
Thanks.



vt2c1ms -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 10:09:00 AM)

Don't forget biology.



jma -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 12:03:00 PM)

Those sound okay. A little bit of science and physiology will give you an edge, once you start taking PT courses. But you can have any degree as long as you have the prerequisites.



Jon Newman -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 5:35:00 PM)

Don't forget to take a "philosophy of science" course.

jon



AllenB -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 6:18:00 PM)

If you're positive that you want to go to PT schools, the PT prereqs will give you plenty of science. As stated above, get your degree in whatever you want but do well in the prereqs...you may still want to get a degree in Kinesiology or Physiology but certainly don't think you have too.



MinnDasota -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 6:30:00 PM)

Any degree is fine as long as you have good grades. In my undergrad, I found most of my classes required for my BS in Kines also filled my prereqs for PT school thus saving a lot of time and money. That is probably the biggest benefit to having a degree related to PT. I think having a BS in Kines/athletic training is a great foundation and will give you a head start in how the body moves and the anatomy/physiology behind it once you move onto the next level.



Synergy -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 7, 2005 7:50:00 PM)

One of my classmates in school majored in athletic training and he was one of the more exceptional PTs in our graduating class...especially when it came to differential diagnosis (very important) and manual skills. If I were to do it over again, I may have gone that route as well. Either way, I wish you the best of luck on your journey. :)

MinnDasota,

Glad to see you posting here! You are a familiar face from the PhysicalTherapist.com forums. Welcome! :)



vt2c1ms -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 8, 2005 5:32:00 AM)

My advice would be this:

Find out your weaknesses and make them stronger. In our class, the biology/chemistry (science) degrees are excelling in those courses (pathophysiology) but having a harder time with the therapeutic exercise courses. The students who got kiniseology degrees, are struggling with the science courses but excelling in the therapy courses. It's a matter of balance. What I would do, is get the degree YOU want and work hard. No matter what, when you get into PT school, you will struggle with some courses as everybody does (unless your a genius like ol' Jason Silvernail :) . )

Mark



fixedgear -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 8, 2005 5:45:00 AM)

You guys are great, thanks for the advice. I'm currently and LMT so I have some grasp on the physical part and I imagine my weakness would be the science aspect-but I'm hopeing to turn out to be a genious. Thanks again.



Bournephysio -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 8, 2005 8:05:00 AM)

One thing to be careful of. Not all Kin programs are created equal. Some are just PE programs that have been renamed. Be wary of programs that offer BAs in kin or have required activities courses. There are exceptions though. My current school still has a required activities course but is considered one of the top kin faculties in the world (at least at the graduate level). A kin program should be heavily science based. My undergrad kin program (not at my current school) was heavy in physiology, and anatomy and offered strong electives in neurophys/motor control, histology, neuroanatomy, and ergonomics. That background made PT school quite easy. I even had the opportunity to TA a couple of courses. An AT program will likely have less science and more clinical.

As a graduate student, I really appreciate the strong science background including the biochemistry electives that I took.

Doug



JLS_PT_OCS -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 8, 2005 8:54:00 AM)

Good points, Doug.

I should admit now that I am really Mark, or vt2c1ms.
No other way the word genius could be used for me. Though other names have been suggested on this site...
I promise I won't run to Chiroweb for sympathy, though.
:)
J

hey mark that moniker fits Doug and some others here a lot better than it does me...
:)



fixedgear -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 8, 2005 8:55:00 AM)

Well my wife and I are probably going to be moving to Austin by the end of the year and I was planning on the Athletic training program at UT. Any word on that?



MinnDasota -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 8, 2005 4:33:00 PM)

As Bournephysio said,

Not all Kines programs are alike. My experience at the University of Minnesota was excellent. I had many classes like:

motor control, learning, and human development, measurement and evaluation,
psychology of sport injury,
developmental/adapted physical education, biomechanics (with a gait lab),
human physiology, exercise physiology, and physiology of sport,
prevention and care of athletic injuries,
anatomy (with cadaver labs),
nutrition for health and human performance,
biochemistry,
etc...


We had an excellent program (I would attribute to the fact that most of the Big 10 schools are heavily focused on research). Other classes like Neuro, Human factors and ergonomics, advanced electrocardiogram, graded exercise testing, and prescription, as well as many classes at the medical center were all electives which I now wish I would've taken.


As stated from other posts, follow your interests because education is expensive, but priceless (I'm not sure if that even makes sense). But if you can hit 2 birds with one stone by getting a BS and hitting some prereqs at the same time, save some money and try it out!



Bournephysio -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 11, 2005 9:00:00 AM)

Thanks Jason, but if that was true, I think I'd be a little further along in my PhD.

fixedgear, Sorry, I don't know anything about AT programs nor US Kin programs.

Doug



AllAboutMovement -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 16, 2005 3:12:00 AM)

Is anyone familiar on the average cost for an entry level dpt program should cost? University of St. Augustine will cost around $100k by the time it's done. Is this a fair price? Any input would be great.

thanks,
David



FLAOrthoPT -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 16, 2005 4:51:00 AM)

personal opinion, stay away from usa...



MinnDasota -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 16, 2005 7:00:00 AM)

If you are talking about just tuition and nothing else (student fees, books, etc), then that seems a little bit on the higher end. My school is quite expensive, 27K for tuition (actually that is only for the first year, I think it is 25K the second and 22K the 3rd). and then you add all the other costs and living expenses in NYC.... I chose my school because of where it is located and the excellent medical center it is a part of (and not for the cost). Hopefully I can get some scholarships in the future to help alleviate the expenses/cost.

I don't know too much about st. aug. but I have worked with a PT from there and she was very good. If you think it is worth the cost for the education you will be getting, then I would definitely take a good look at it. Good luck!



eam -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 16, 2005 5:08:00 PM)

I sort of skimmed this post but I have an MBA as well as a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology and I think in the long run, the MBA actually helped me more. PT school is a long haul right now, so getting another degree beforehand seems like a really long road. I would not advise it.
Erica



AllenB -> Re: Degree before PT school? (August 17, 2005 1:28:00 PM)

AllAbout,
USA is on the med-low end of private school tuitions (which are very expensive anyway). You really need to look at the school itself and ask graduates if it seems worth it. Have you seen the campus? What about state schools? There are really good state schools where you may be able to get in-state tuition and the program is in many cases better than a private school education. You might even want to start another thread as this one has been around several days and is not directly related to your issue.



Sean_Collins -> Re: Degree before PT school? (October 24, 2005 1:21:00 AM)

I like Jon's reminder to take a philosophy of science course and would add a Logic or Critical Thinking course before you take your stats / research methods course.
Perhaps a BA/BS with a double major - philosophy and biology; focus philosophy on logic and inductive reasoning; and biology on human bio; systems bio; and population bio.
Also - to save on tuition - do the first 2 years at your local community college - complete your Associates degree and then all 60 credits will transfer to your 4 year college of choice (especially for those two majors which are mighty universal). People will only ever look at your 4 year degree, your GPA from that 4 year degree, and if you need to explain your rationale - no one can argue against a common sense approach to higher education. The first two years are very universal.
Best -
Sean



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