Advice before starting PT school?

[jay801]

I'll be starting PT school in May and was wondering if any current students or graduates could give me some advice or tips on how to get ready for the transition. I'm really excited to start but also a bit nervous.
Thanks!

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[jblil]

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/incoming-pt-student-advice.1238272/

 

[PTMattI]

do nothing and enjoy yourself

 

[pegasuscvc]

Brush up on your anatomy, and write up a budget. Probably the biggest regret of new PT grads is too much debt, as you've probably noticed on these forums.

 

[TO6]

Enjoy your time off because you'll be really busy once you get started! Brushing up on anatomy if you need to from time to time wouldn't hurt tho.

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[OLYPT]

There is not much you can do until you actually start school. I think the problem for new students is not the difficulty of the material but adapting to the pace of a graduate program. In my opinion, nothing in PT school is any harder than the 300 or 400 level classes I took in undergrad. The problem is I am taking 7 or 8 of them at the same time and I have to remember 95% of it on top of hands on skills. Take this time to reflect on how you learn. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to learn when your in PT school. You can get by memorizing the material maybe one or two terms in, but by the later courses when everything is combined, you will suffer and you will forget everything. Mnemonics will only get you so far. I would say don't study anything right now because most likely you will just be memorizing. The first step when you start PT school is to learn how to learn.

 

[SuperSwimming244]

Take a vacation, continue working or volunteering at a place you enjoy, spend time with your friends and family. I had the same question last year before I started, and my initial knee-jerk response was to start studying frantically since we had a test the first week. In hindsight, my studying gave me only a minor edge, and by the 3rd or 4th week of classes I was on the same level as my classmates.

By all means, if you want to study, go for it. Don't go overboard and forget to enjoy the abundance of free-time that you have now because you'll definitely have less of it later. PT school so far has been tough yet as rewarding and exciting as I was hoping it would be. However, it will require adjusting to a new lifestyle, so go on and have fun before it starts!