Advice on observation hours

[scsu2019]

I am a sophomore in college and wanted to know when I should start my observation hours for physical therapy school. I would like to hear from someone how they went about getting their hours and any advice.

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[dobsonek]

I didn’t decide I wanted to go to PT school until second semester my junior year, so I started getting observation hours that summer. Start whenever you want, the earlier you start the more hours you’ll have.

 

[vmish03]

I started the summer after my sophomore year shadowing in a local outpatient clinic. I didn't do too many hours there and they were quite spread out through the summer, but it got my foot in the door and helped me start to explore other potential places around me I wanted to shadow at. I just emailed the owner of the clinic, since it was a private practice, and he said yes almost immediately and asked when I wanted to start.
I will say not every place is as easy-going is this. Two of my shadowing experiences let me come in to shadow as many hours as I wanted, no questions asked, but some had me fill out paperwork for background checks, immunizations, etc. but it all just depends on where you are shadowing (this was inpatient/sub-acute areas, which is why the screening was a bit more intensive).
My advice: It's great you're looking for advice now! I would definitely get a jump on it, it will really help relieve hour-related stress down the road when you are ready to apply to school so you aren't scrambling to find places to shadow at to get those last few hours and you can take your time finding places you really want to spend your time at and learn from. Most programs recommend or require 50-100 hours, so definitely try to exceed that. Try and find inpatient hours wherever possible, but they are hard to find if you don't already have a job within a hospital or rehabilitation hospital, as I know this was my struggle.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[mcs1225]

I would start as soon as you possibly can! I started accumulating hours during my sophomore year of college. If you can find a standing gig where you go into the clinic on the same day/time every week, you can get a lot of hours that way. Even if you have a hectic school schedule, you should be able to work in 1-2 hours a week at least. Also, utilize your summers to get a lot of hours in too! I would get around 100 hours then. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

 

[mveronin2]

I would agree that the sooner you start the better. I decided just recently that I wanted to go to PT school so I was a little late with it, but I ended up casually inquiring about hours at an outpatient clinic at a local hospital and their sign up process was very laid back. They were all very enthusiastic about helping students. With that particular clinic you could pretty much sign up whenever you wanted, but I found it easiest to stick with a set time once a week, and still managed to build enough hours quickly even with a late start. I know most PT schools recommend that you observe in a variety of settings, so I would say that it is definitely important to try and observe in at least one type of inpatient setting in addition to outpatient. There's a bigger hospital system where I live that has a more structured volunteer program, which is how I did my inpatient hours. This program required you to sign up for full days, and I also found this to be helpful in terms of building hours quickly.

 

[TheDancingWriter]

It's never too late to start them. I started mine before I even returned to school to do prerequisites.

 

[ptperson4534]

Start early! To put yourself in the best position possible, you will need a lot of hours and a variety of settings. It's also never too early to start forming a connection with 1-2 PT's that you would want to ask for a rec letter -- usually the longer they've known you, or the more involved you are with them, the stronger the letter.
Something I didn't do but wish I had, is take notes either during the shadowing or shortly after. Just about what you saw, what you did that day, anything meaningful, etc. This will help a lot when it comes time to write your essays. Especially if you are starting early, you may forget the specifics of some earlier shadowing experiences; those specific treatments/PT's/patients may make for a great essay!

 

[ya1]

I am a sophomore in college and wanted to know when I should start my observation hours for physical therapy school. I would like to hear from someone how they went about getting their hours and any advice.

Anywhere. Whatever is available. Do maybe 40-50 h in 2-3 different settings and you will be ready to apply to PT schools. Hospitals may be more challenging to get into. I was trying to get to Kaiser one time... They gave me like 20 pages of papers to fill out with references and everything -that is too much (unless you are dying to get there, and will not increase your chances for PT school). Most places will not require anything or maybe just TB test and basic note from physician that you are ok healthwise, or maybe will do physical on the site. Check skilled nursing facilities, sub-acute rehabs, assisted living facilities, outpatient (mostly will be ortho or the ones that treat everything, but if you can get to outpatient that specializes on neuro, vestibular disorders, pediatrics that could be consider as a different setting from 'everything ortho"). Make sure you get at least 1 inpatient and at least 1 outpatient setting by the time you apply to PT schools - they like/require various settings.
And do not try to get hundreds of hours (unless you want to). 150-ish hours will be enough and you will not get much credit for completing 200, or 300, or 1000h.