Faculty Path....
- Thread starter UMDeeMan
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anyone going to reply?
It is pretty much the same as any other type of professional program. To be a professor...you gotta get a PhD. At least all of our professors were. You can go several routes with the PhD. Pretty anything that interests you such as higher education, neuroscience, exercise phys., biomechanics, physiology, etc.
You can be an instructor at a PT program with a straight PT degree, usually at least a Master's or DPT these days. Usually....but possibly not at all schools, a DPT won't allow you to be a "professor". If you are going the instructor route, it usually helps to know someone, or have some sort of contact with the school. Best way is to try and start out as a clinical instructor or lab assistant etc. and then work your way in.
I am not sure this helps at all.
You can be an instructor at a PT program with a straight PT degree, usually at least a Master's or DPT these days. Usually....but possibly not at all schools, a DPT won't allow you to be a "professor". If you are going the instructor route, it usually helps to know someone, or have some sort of contact with the school. Best way is to try and start out as a clinical instructor or lab assistant etc. and then work your way in.
I am not sure this helps at all.
Start working as a clinical instructor. Perform research and volunteer your time. It all depends what it is that you like to teach. Our school, all of the basic sciences where held with on the medical school carriculum, so most of the professors held a PhD or equivalent. For physical therapy related fields, most had a PhD or EdD, but some had an advanced masters with some areas of experiese.
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At BU, most but not all, our professors had PhD's. A couple were working on the PhD while they were teaching us. The difference that made them qualified to teach were a combination of advanced master's and/or board certifications in their field... e.g. a neuro class taught by a NCS, a cardiopulm class taught by a CCS. Also, some professors did residencies in their specialty (e.g. manual therapy).
If I were you I would call up PT departments and ask them too. I eventually want to be a PT and Med school professor one day. How I've prepared myself is by teaching labs in exercise physiology, and gross human anatomy. I started a preparation program for organic chemistry at BU. I did a practicum in curriculum development and an independent study on how to teach Evidence Based Practice. Currently, I'm an online course facilitator for BU's transitional DPT program. I also teach karate, which has some element of health promotion in it. Eventually, I plan on becoming a lab TA part time at a PT school to make some extra cash.
Bottom line is do something in education throughout your time other than take classes and you'll be set. Even if it is administration and program planning for a student body... that is still a large part of a faculty's job. Start writing a CV because resumes don't cut it in the academic world. I'm sure there are plenty of resources on how to write one... keep track of all presentations etc. If you do that I'm sure you'll be able to one day obtain a faculty position.
Best of luck!
If I were you I would call up PT departments and ask them too. I eventually want to be a PT and Med school professor one day. How I've prepared myself is by teaching labs in exercise physiology, and gross human anatomy. I started a preparation program for organic chemistry at BU. I did a practicum in curriculum development and an independent study on how to teach Evidence Based Practice. Currently, I'm an online course facilitator for BU's transitional DPT program. I also teach karate, which has some element of health promotion in it. Eventually, I plan on becoming a lab TA part time at a PT school to make some extra cash.
Bottom line is do something in education throughout your time other than take classes and you'll be set. Even if it is administration and program planning for a student body... that is still a large part of a faculty's job. Start writing a CV because resumes don't cut it in the academic world. I'm sure there are plenty of resources on how to write one... keep track of all presentations etc. If you do that I'm sure you'll be able to one day obtain a faculty position.
Best of luck!
