Degree Options for entering PT

[Boomer1]

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Helping my son plan for college next year and researching careers of interest to him and he's landed at both Physical Therapy and Rad Therapy. Both have patient interaction which is important for him.

The problem we've noticed is most degree's for PT are in field which don't offer much if you don't get accepted to the Doctorate program in PT. These degree's are typically Biology, Kensiology, Psychology etc. The other option is to get into a Pre-PT program, but again if things don't work out, you're stuck with starting over.

He's now looking a degree a BS degree Radiologic Science with the 1st 3 yrs spent on pre-reques and obtaining your Rad Therapist degree/certification. Your 4th year is totally devoted to your BS degree in your selected specialty, either sonography, radiation therapy or MRI/tomography.

Also, understanding that you can enter PT school with any BS degree provided you have the needed pre-reques, which he indicated he would do, do you see this as a viable plan?

By going this route, he has what we see as many option depending on job market and what his desires are at that time.

Thoughts

 

[nicolej5]

I'm a senior majoring in Kinesiology and if I could do it again, I'd do the same thing. I feel so much more prepared for the start of grad school compared to if I were a Psych major (I'm a minor so I've taken plenty of classes). If your son knows this is what he wants to do and he takes the appropriate actions to do well/study for these difficult classes, do observations, build relationships with professors, etc, then I don't think he will have a problem getting accepted somewhere. If I don't get into PT school this go around, I will keep trying next year because it is truly what I want to do. How it is with pre-PT students in the Kin major at my school is that we all can't imagine ourselves doing anything else and we don't even consider another option. It's all in. Good luck

 

[greco13]

research 3+3 DPT programs. they are rare but offer a BS in pre-PT and the DPT in 6 years. I've taken 6 years just to get my BS, ha!

 

[okramango]

Helping my son plan for college next year and researching careers of interest to him and he's landed at both Physical Therapy and Rad Therapy. Both have patient interaction which is important for him.

The problem we've noticed is most degree's for PT are in field which don't offer much if you don't get accepted to the Doctorate program in PT. These degree's are typically Biology, Kensiology, Psychology etc. The other option is to get into a Pre-PT program, but again if things don't work out, you're stuck with starting over.

He's now looking a degree a BS degree Radiologic Science with the 1st 3 yrs spent on pre-reques and obtaining your Rad Therapist degree/certification. Your 4th year is totally devoted to your BS degree in your selected specialty, either sonography, radiation therapy or MRI/tomography.

Also, understanding that you can enter PT school with any BS degree provided you have the needed pre-reques, which he indicated he would do, do you see this as a viable plan?

By going this route, he has what we see as many option depending on job market and what his desires are at that time.

Thoughts

If he's not sure whether he wants to do radiation therapy or physical therapy at this point, it seems to me that getting the BS in radiologic science is a good idea, as it leaves things open for him. If he does decide to apply to a DPT program down the road, he'll have to explain to programs why he majored in a different field and what was his process in deciding to be a PT. He can also shadow various health professions to get more of a sense of what each is about and help him figure out where his interests are.

 

[NewTestament]

The problem we've noticed is most degree's for PT are in field which don't offer much if you don't get accepted to the Doctorate program in PT. These degree's are typically Biology, Kensiology, Psychology etc.

Also, understanding that you can enter PT school with any BS degree provided you have the needed pre-reques, which he indicated he would do, do you see this as a viable plan?

By going this route, he has what we see as many option depending on job market and what his desires are at that time.

Thoughts

You are exactly right, Boomer. Try to disause him from persuing a degree in kinesioloy, because outside of orthopedic science it's essentially worthless. There aren't too many people like Eric Cressey who can make a living as a kinesiologist. He might want to do PT now, but what if he changes his mind? Then he's stuck with kinesiology.

Biology or pre-med is the best way to go. It keeps his options open. A BS in biology isn't worth much these days, but an MS is valuable. Furthermore, if he studied biology he would automatically satisfy most of the pre-requisites for PT school.

In the end, a BS is a BS. I got a BS in Geography, with an emphasis in BS, and I'm going to a great school. Most of my classmates were psychology (another terrible major without a master's or PhD) or exercise science majors. Some, however, have made career changes.

Kevin

 

[Boomer1]

Thanks for the replies - I really do appreciate them all.

I contiually go back and forth on this subject w/ the idea that there must be a fall back position in case grades are not where they should be or he changes his mind mid stream. I understandand appreciate the "all in" mentality but I have a hard time believing my HS senior know's w/ 100% certainty this is what he wants for the rest of his life. I am confident he know the general direction, the difficult part is him deciding a major that is flexible enough to continue on towards PT if he elects or would provide career opportunties after 4 years if he decides that enough. Much like I read of individuals enters w/ a BS in engineering.

 

[nicolej5]

Thanks for the replies - I really do appreciate them all.

I contiually go back and forth on this subject w/ the idea that there must be a fall back position in case grades are not where they should be or he changes his mind mid stream. I understandand appreciate the "all in" mentality but I have a hard time believing my HS senior know's w/ 100% certainty this is what he wants for the rest of his life. I am confident he know the general direction, the difficult part is him deciding a major that is flexible enough to continue on towards PT if he elects or would provide career opportunties after 4 years if he decides that enough. Much like I read of individuals enters w/ a BS in engineering.

I guess it all just depends on the person, because I knew 100% it was pt when I was a senior but at the same time lots of others don't. If you are worried about him wanting to call it quits after he gets his bachelors and wants to get a job with that, perhaps it's best he gets a degree in an unrelated field and takes the prereqs as his electives. It wouldn't really make sense to get a degree in Biology or Psych if he isn't wanting to get a masters because like Kin, there isn't a lot out there without a masters/doctorate.

 

[djb051]

Agreed about the BS in Biology, I received a BS in Biology, and I know a lot of others that have as well, and they are all now either in graduate school to get a master's or PhD or they are working at jobs non-science related because they could not find a science related job with just the BS. So definitely if you think he will change his mind, it would probably be best for him to get a degree in something that has more options in case he does change his mind. Also, as someone has already mentioned, if he knows for sure that he wants to do PT, a BS in biology does indeed fill most of the prerequisites required for PT school, which will save you more money if he does decide to go on to PT graduate school.