I've accumulated over 120 hours in both outpatient and in-patient (neuro and ortho mostly) at the hospital/clinic. I won't be applying to PT programs until the summer so I'm wondering if it's a good idea to continue to volunteer at the same place or should I branch out to nursing homes? Would that setting also be considered in-patient? I feel like it would be a good idea to stick around until I need a letter of recommendation so the PTs I've observed don't forget who I am.. thoughts?
observation hours/setting help
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A lot of grad schools like to see diversity. I think it would be smart to get just a few (20) hours in another setting such as nursing home, pediatrics, or something if you have time. Nursing home is considered inpatient but in a different category. But definitely keep ties with where you are now for letters of rec. I only did two settings and I didn't have trouble with that because I had 225 hours but getting another setting even if it's over the summer would be great for grad schools to see. You can always add in hours after you submit your application so you can always do another setting after you get your letter of rec. best of luck to you! And if you have any questions about applying you can always message me!
Branch out! When I applied to PT schools last year, I went in with 9 different "settings" and in every single interview I received, the interviewer(s) commented on my vast experience. One of the schools I applied to required at least 30 hours in a setting to count it, so thats exactly what I did. I got 30-35 hours in 9 different settings, and then I worked as a PT tech in an outpatient spinal clinic and accumulated hundreds of hours there.
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The more settings you observe in, the better. Like 02143 says, your observation hours in multiple settings will be a great source during your interview, and your application will stand out.
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Interesting approach. One thing I don't really get though - you were able to get quality recommendations with only 30-35 hours working with someone
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Want to get people's opinion on this - is it poor form to ask the PTs I'm observing for a LOR well before I begin applying to PT schools?
I'm volunteering right now and I still have a year before I finish my preqs, so I'll be applying to PT schools in the summer/fall of 2016.
If you are going to stop working with them before then, at the end of your observation experience, you should ask them and tell them when they can expect to hear back from you. If it is going to be more than a year later, don't bother.
If you are going to still be working with these PTs during your application process, you can give them a heads up a month or so before you will actually send them the request via PTCAS.
It all depends on how well you know the recommender, and what you consider "well before." The main problem that is seen on this forum is asking people you are not close with and they completely fall off the radar and never get around to completing the recommendation form and you can't get a hold of them. Even when they have had months of notice and have received the link from PTCAS/other app system.
It is poor form to ask random PTs you observed for 10 hours or your freshman year A&P prof for letters.
As far as your situation, if you're applying in 2016, it would be a waste to ask for a letter now. What would be the benefit?
If you are going to still be working with these PTs during your application process, you can give them a heads up a month or so before you will actually send them the request via PTCAS.
It all depends on how well you know the recommender, and what you consider "well before." The main problem that is seen on this forum is asking people you are not close with and they completely fall off the radar and never get around to completing the recommendation form and you can't get a hold of them. Even when they have had months of notice and have received the link from PTCAS/other app system.
It is poor form to ask random PTs you observed for 10 hours or your freshman year A&P prof for letters.
As far as your situation, if you're applying in 2016, it would be a waste to ask for a letter now. What would be the benefit?
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Thanks a lot for the response Watson. I appreciate you weighing in. However, I'm not totally following you; there must be something I'm missing. Let me clarify some things. Currently I'm volunteering an an outpatient clinic. So far I'm at 35 hours, and I plan to stop there once I hit 75-100 hours or so. I'm also going to start volunteering soon at NYU Langone Rusk, and will complete a min of 100 hours there. I'm going to complete both of these this Spring, over a year before I begin applying to PT schools.
That said, what would prohibit me from asking for LORs from the PTs I observe as soon as I finish volunteering, and then use those same LORs when I'm applying to PT school?
- Would the PT schools disregard my LORs if they are a year+ old? In other words, does the LOR have to be within a certain time-frame of the application for it to qualify?
- Are there specific requirements or formats that each school has for the LOR?
Thanks so much for your help
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LOR'S are done when you open up PTCAS and start the endless cycle of typing. PTCAS sends an email to your reference and the reference emails the LOR back to PTCAS. You don't see the letter. So you have to wait until you're on PTCAS to do this. I would give your reference a heads up a couple weeks before I started filling it out so they have time to write something good. The most important thing is not to delay. Get started on your application the day PTCAS opens, which I believe is July 1. Before it opens, research the DPT programs thoroughly so you find the RIGHT programs. You want to make sure your PTCAS application is completed at the earliest possible moment and get it submitted to your programs. The early bird gets the worm!
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@StartingAt29 I would ask the people you would like to write your LOR now if they would mind doing it for you in the future, and tell them when you will be applying. Reason why this is a good idea: PTs and teachers get asked to write LOR all the time, and if you are going to be not seeing those people right before the application cycle opens up, this will give them a chance to remember you. I did this with all my LORs because I knew that the key teachers I had and PTs I worked with would be overloaded with other people's requests for LOR over the summer, and I wouldn't have them for a class or be observing at the clinic that summer. One PT asked me to write up a cover letter and resume with my "greatest hits" so when the time came he would have something to help recall who I was and how much he enjoyed having me at the clinic (maybe I'm editorializing, but you get the picture 
). And another teacher was so grateful I asked ahead of time because he often finds himself at a loss trying to describe a student he had in class over a year ago who was less-than-memorable.
Hope this helps
). And another teacher was so grateful I asked ahead of time because he often finds himself at a loss trying to describe a student he had in class over a year ago who was less-than-memorable. Hope this helps
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@Lots of Praying. Thanks. I'm already on PTCAS...filled out a good chunk of it and saw a section for "References", so I thought I could get the LORs in advance. I didn't realize that everything I enter in there is specific to a particular application cycle =/. Don't get why it's set up that way. Question, is this the case for Observation Hours as well? In that I can't have the PTs that I'm observing verify my observation hours until the summer of 2016 (will be applying in fall 2016 to start in 2017).
@dancing_DPT. Thanks, that's great advice. After reading what the other posters said in this thread, I began thinking something along those lines as well. That said, why not take it 1 step further and ask the people that you would like to write your LOR to actually write it at that time (i.e. within the next couple weeks). And then just ask them to save the file and hold onto it until you're able to send them the request through PTCAS. It would be much easier for them to write when they still remember you well, and then they can just copy/paste what they wrote earlier into the PTCAS form.
Is it too idealistic to think that people would write you a LOR that far in advance, without the pressure of you needing it in the immediate future?
@StartingAt29 Unfortunately, all the work you have done in PTCAS now is only good for the 2014 application cycle... 2015 opens July 1 of this year. Meaning you will have to wait until July 2016 to start your application. Unless you actually hit the "Submit" button, in which case you can rollover your info as a reapplicant. But I heard there are major changes coming to PTCAS this year?
@dancing_DPT is correct in that you should provide your recommenders with your CV. It is very helpful. That way they can see what a rockstar you are outside of the clinic or class
I guess my issue with asking them to write a letter now is, how do you know that in 1.5 years, they will be the best person to write a LOR for you? You say that you will be completing observation in a new setting soon. What if you really hit it off with a PT there? And another at a different location? But the current PT already spent their time and took the effort to write a letter and save a file. And then you decide not to use them as a recommender?
Everyone has their own rules and preferences for the application process. I've shared mine, but they might not be right for everyone. But I think there are a few things you should absolutely do when asking for a LOR, whether you do it now or in 1.5 years:
1. GET THEIR PERSONAL CELL PHONE NUMBER - not office phone number, not email. Recommenders have a sneaky way of disappearing from July - October. It will save you a lot of stress.
2. Ask in person or on the telephone - it's just good etiquette.
@dancing_DPT is correct in that you should provide your recommenders with your CV. It is very helpful. That way they can see what a rockstar you are outside of the clinic or class
I guess my issue with asking them to write a letter now is, how do you know that in 1.5 years, they will be the best person to write a LOR for you? You say that you will be completing observation in a new setting soon. What if you really hit it off with a PT there? And another at a different location? But the current PT already spent their time and took the effort to write a letter and save a file. And then you decide not to use them as a recommender?
Everyone has their own rules and preferences for the application process. I've shared mine, but they might not be right for everyone. But I think there are a few things you should absolutely do when asking for a LOR, whether you do it now or in 1.5 years:
1. GET THEIR PERSONAL CELL PHONE NUMBER - not office phone number, not email. Recommenders have a sneaky way of disappearing from July - October.
It will save you a lot of stress.2. Ask in person or on the telephone - it's just good etiquette.
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Even if you hit the submit button you still have to have your application verified and pay your money or everything you did will be deleted. I would write the essay portion and save it on my computer. The essay may change, but if it doesn't you'll be way ahead. Plus you want to make certain that your essay is grammatically correct, honest, and interesting. ADCOMS read over a thousand every year and you want your essay to grab and hold their attention. When you start asking for LOR's, have a couple people as a back up option. I had a PT that I did a ton of hours with and got along very well with turn out to be the biggest procrastinator I ever saw. I found out others had the same issue. I asked one of the other PT's and she did it and submitted it within a couple days. It wouldn't hurt to talk to the PT's you're observing about writing you a LOR. Get the three people lined up that you want. I'd definitely want one of them to be a professor. Also, make copies of your essay so you can give it to them. That gives them more knowledge about you and will make for a better LOR.
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Thanks for the advice all. Very much appreciated
@Watson27, do you have any more info/links about the possible changes coming to PTCAS? I scoured this forum but couldn't find any threads related to that.
Coming from the business world, where reference letters are shared with you and you can choose which you want to use and when you want to use them, the PTCAS references section is a PITA heh. I have a great rapport with the PT I'm currently observing, so it would be a shame to have to ask her in over a year to write me a LOR. Maybe I'll keep observing there 1 day every 1-2 weeks, even while I'm going back to school to take my prereqs. Though that does go against the advice others have given here (esp @02143, which seemed a bit extreme to me) about varying your settings as much as possible. Like a lot of things, it's a trade-off.
@Watson27, do you have any more info/links about the possible changes coming to PTCAS? I scoured this forum but couldn't find any threads related to that.
Coming from the business world, where reference letters are shared with you and you can choose which you want to use and when you want to use them, the PTCAS references section is a PITA heh. I have a great rapport with the PT I'm currently observing, so it would be a shame to have to ask her in over a year to write me a LOR. Maybe I'll keep observing there 1 day every 1-2 weeks, even while I'm going back to school to take my prereqs. Though that does go against the advice others have given here (esp @02143, which seemed a bit extreme to me) about varying your settings as much as possible. Like a lot of things, it's a trade-off.
PTCAS tweeted something about it. Or posted on Fb. I can't remember which. But I do remember them saying that all re-applicants will have to start over in the 2015-2016 cycle due to a format change.
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Yep, I called them a couple hours ago and they confirmed that the website is getting a complete redesign for the 2015-2016 cycle. Glad we had this conversation...saved me dozens of hours of filling out PTCAS "in advance", only to lose everything and have to start all over.
I also just realized that I'm going to have to have the PTs I'm observing validate my observation hours 16 months from now as well heh. Kind of ridiculous
