Graduating HS Senior with questions

[AM14]

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Hello SDN, I am a graduating high school in two weeks and i have decided to become a physical therapist. I know that it's going to be a tough goal to achieve for me but I am going to do it no matter what. Well In the Fall i'm going to be attending a local CC because I didn't get into UGA and I really don't want to settle for another school. Basically my problem is that I can't decide on what to major so i don't even know what classes to take while i'm the CC. I was really looking at Athletic Training because i would love to work with athletes. I see that the AT degree covers almost all the prerequisites of a pt and that's a +. But the thing is to get into UGA's AT program (which is competitive) i need to take CHEM 1212, 1212L; CBIO 2200-2200L, 2210-2210L; PHYS 1111-1111L; KINS 2010, KINS2100-2100L, KINS2470 but at the CC they don't offer KINS courses :/

It just seems that when i finally find something i get pushed farther back. Because i think i'm going to have to transfer to another school just to do KINS courses so i won't have to do more years. I'm so confused right now basically my questions are:

1. What do you think about an AT becoming a PT? Will it let me have more options to work with sports?

2. Let's say I decide I don't want to go to UGA, and go to GA southern (they also have a AT program but is recognized as a party school) do PT schools look at where you get your degree and does it affect your chances?

3. Have you guys ever heard of anyone landing a job through all the shadowing they have done, maybe as a PT assistant? (reason why I am asking this is because what if I get a degree that doesn't help me and i don't get accepted to pt school, i'm going to need something to fall back on)

4. Have you guys ever thought about giving up? (Because I'm doubting myself already and i'm not even in college, i know i want to do this but it feels like it's going to take a really long time and I just don't seem to get any support from anyone just because of how long it's going to take. I'm soo confused 😕

Thanks and sorry about the length and I know i have more Q's to ask but i just can't think right now

 

[TheOx777]

First, let me commend you for having a great deal of wherewithal at a relatively young age. By taking the initiative(as a HS student) to begin prudently planning your future is not something to take lightly.

1. If you truly desire to work with a sports team, then doing the AT and then going to DPT school may be the most ideal situation for you. Athletic trainers certainly have the emergency injury experience on the field/court that a PT without ATC credentials may lack.

2. Typically, PT schools do not heavily weight where you received your undergrad degree. That may change if you went to a Top 25 school, though. Contrary to what many ppl say, all schools are not created equally!

3. Shadowing could lead to a job opportunity as a pt aide/tech, but those jobs are few and far between. Focusing on your studies as an AT(or any other career field as you choose your major), shadowing ATs(or any other career field as you choose your major), and getting observation hours in various PT settings should probably be your first priority. You do not have to have a specific degree to get into PT school. You could be an artist, musician, business major, agriculture, etc. You just need to focus on having a strong academic background, build strong relationships with various professors and professionals along the way, and stay out of trouble.

4. Thinking about a 7-8 year journey that culminates in your DPT can be daunting coming right out of high school. There are ways to combat that. Do your very best to stay in the present, while keeping a keen eye to the future. That means, if you are in fall of semester of freshman year then be in fall semester of freshman year. Do not drift to summer semester before senior year. It can a tough chore, but it is imperative to be engaged in what is happening at this point in your life, but plan prudently like you are currently doing. At times if you feel like school/life is too burdensome then lean on the ppl who are closest to you and have your best interests in mind. I believe you can do it, and excel at a high level. Also, SDN can be a great resource, and there will be ppl here that can provide sound advice along the way.

Remember to continuously "Strive for excellence without exception." Best wishes with your journey, and keep us updated along the way!

 

[AM14]

First, let me commend you for having a great deal of wherewithal at a relatively young age. By taking the initiative(as a HS student) to begin prudently planning your future is not something to take lightly.

1. If you truly desire to work with a sports team, then doing the AT and then going to DPT school may be the most ideal situation for you. Athletic trainers certainly have the emergency injury experience on the field/court that a PT without ATC credentials may lack.

2. Typically, PT schools do not heavily weight where you received your undergrad degree. That may change if you went to a Top 25 school, though. Contrary to what many ppl say, all schools are not created equally!

3. Shadowing could lead to a job opportunity as a pt aide/tech, but those jobs are few and far between. Focusing on your studies as an AT(or any other career field as you choose your major), shadowing ATs(or any other career field as you choose your major), and getting observation hours in various PT settings should probably be your first priority. You do not have to have a specific degree to get into PT school. You could be an artist, musician, business major, agriculture, etc. You just need to focus on having a strong academic background, build strong relationships with various professors and professionals along the way, and stay out of trouble.

4. Thinking about a 7-8 year journey that culminates in your DPT can be daunting coming right out of high school. There are ways to combat that. Do your very best to stay in the present, while keeping a keen eye to the future. That means, if you are in fall of semester of freshman year then be in fall semester of freshman year. Do not drift to summer semester before senior year. It can a tough chore, but it is imperative to be engaged in what is happening at this point in your life, but plan prudently like you are currently doing. At times if you feel like school/life is too burdensome then lean on the ppl who are closest to you and have your best interests in mind. I believe you can do it, and excel at a high level. Also, SDN can be a great resource, and there will be ppl here that can provide sound advice along the way.

Remember to continuously "Strive for excellence without exception." Best wishes with your journey, and keep us updated along the way!

Hey thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, I was also wondering how is the job field for ATs? or is is like exercise science where you can't do much with a b.s only a masters. Thanks for the advice i'm going to try to take it one step at a time and not think about the future/length of time

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

3. Have you guys ever heard of anyone landing a job through all the shadowing they have done, maybe as a PT assistant? (reason why I am asking this is because what if I get a degree that doesn't help me and i don't get accepted to pt school, i'm going to need something to fall back on)

You can't be a PT Assistant (PTA) without completing an accredited PTA program. That job requires a licensure exam. But, you could be a PT aide for sure, since that just requires on the job training. (Theoretically you could do that now...most places just require a high school diploma and some require experience but others don't. When I got my first aide job I literally had only had PT done on myself and that was my only real PT experience).

Another option, if your CC offers it, is to do a PTA program. That way, if for some reason you don't get into UGA, you have a pretty decent degree/career already. I'm not sure what the laws are in GA, but in IL the practice act is pretty flexible with regards to PTAs...sure, they make less money (maybe 2/3 of what a PT makes), but it's only a two year program. Primarily they can't do patient evaluations or make the decision to discharge a patient (the PT has to do that), but they can do pretty much any treatment, as long as a PT is "supervising" (technically the PT doesn't even need to be on-site...as long as they can be reached by telephone it's considered supervision).

The PTA program will also give you your anatomy and physiology prereqs for a DPT program, and depending on the school possibly the biology requirements as well.

If I had to do it all over again, knowing I wanted to go into PT, I would either get an AT degree, or do the PTA thing, work part time as a PTA while finishing my bachelor's, and then apply to DPT school (either via a program designed for PTAs who want to become DPTs, or just through a regular DPT program). I know a few PTAs, who got their bachelor's degrees (or decided to get the PTA after their bachelors degree), who decided never to go through with the DPT because they loved their PTA job and didn't care about changing the letters after their name.

Just something else to think about 😛 Hope that helps

 

[TheOx777]

Hey thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, I was also wondering how is the job field for ATs? or is is like exercise science where you can't do much with a b.s only a masters. Thanks for the advice i'm going to try to take it one step at a time and not think about the future/length of time

The job field for ATs, as I understand it, can be variable just like it is for Kines/Exercise Science majors. You will have to commit a great deal of time and often be the low man/women on the totem pole before you see some advancement. This is what former classmates and other professionals have told me. If you were to get to the point where you were the Head AT for a D1 program or professional team, then you definitely would start to have much more autonomy, responsibility, and higher compensation.

I would thoroughly research the profession to get a true sense of what the job entails!

 

[markelmarcel]

The job field for ATs, as I understand it, can be variable just like it is for Kines/Exercise Science majors. You will have to commit a great deal of time and often be the low man/women on the totem pole before you see some advancement. This is what former classmates and other professionals have told me. If you were to get to the point where you were the Head AT for a D1 program or professional team, then you definitely would start to have much more autonomy, responsibility, and higher compensation.

I would thoroughly research the profession to get a true sense of what the job entails!

A friend of mine is an AT and barely clears over $20k a year. (I'm a secretary with no schooling and make that currently.) She took the rest of the courses to apply to PT school, but then got pregnant with her first child and decided not to go.

 

[AM14]

You can't be a PT Assistant (PTA) without completing an accredited PTA program. That job requires a licensure exam. But, you could be a PT aide for sure, since that just requires on the job training. (Theoretically you could do that now...most places just require a high school diploma and some require experience but others don't. When I got my first aide job I literally had only had PT done on myself and that was my only real PT experience).

Another option, if your CC offers it, is to do a PTA program. That way, if for some reason you don't get into UGA, you have a pretty decent degree/career already. I'm not sure what the laws are in GA, but in IL the practice act is pretty flexible with regards to PTAs...sure, they make less money (maybe 2/3 of what a PT makes), but it's only a two year program. Primarily they can't do patient evaluations or make the decision to discharge a patient (the PT has to do that), but they can do pretty much any treatment, as long as a PT is "supervising" (technically the PT doesn't even need to be on-site...as long as they can be reached by telephone it's considered supervision).

The PTA program will also give you your anatomy and physiology prereqs for a DPT program, and depending on the school possibly the biology requirements as well.

If I had to do it all over again, knowing I wanted to go into PT, I would either get an AT degree, or do the PTA thing, work part time as a PTA while finishing my bachelor's, and then apply to DPT school (either via a program designed for PTAs who want to become DPTs, or just through a regular DPT program). I know a few PTAs, who got their bachelor's degrees (or decided to get the PTA after their bachelors degree), who decided never to go through with the DPT because they loved their PTA job and didn't care about changing the letters after their name.

Just something else to think about 😛 Hope that helps

Thanks for your input i really appreciate it but i think that as of right now i will go towards finishing my bachelor's first but who knows after the shadowing i might want to be a pta. If you don't mind me asking what did you major in?

The job field for ATs, as I understand it, can be variable just like it is for Kines/Exercise Science majors. You will have to commit a great deal of time and often be the low man/women on the totem pole before you see some advancement. This is what former classmates and other professionals have told me. If you were to get to the point where you were the Head AT for a D1 program or professional team, then you definitely would start to have much more autonomy, responsibility, and higher compensation.

I would thoroughly research the profession to get a true sense of what the job entails!

Thank you and i will do more research on the AT profession, but from what i've read i like what they do and i wouldn't really mind starting on the bottom. We all got to start somewhere right? haha

A friend of mine is an AT and barely clears over $20k a year. (I'm a secretary with no schooling and make that currently.) She took the rest of the courses to apply to PT school, but then got pregnant with her first child and decided not to go.

Yikes! Now I really have to think about if I want to major in AT, Do you know what he/she does exactly?

 

[markelmarcel]

Yikes! Now I really have to think about if I want to major in AT, Do you know what he/she does exactly?

She works for Radford University in Virgina and she is the women's lacrosse AT and the women's softball (I think) AT. Basically she has a sport to work with in the fall and a sport to work with in the spring. She goes with them everywhere- practice, games, etc. I got to see her working in action and was in LOVE with what she did until she told me what her salary was... Didn't seem fair. It's been a couple years, so maybe now that she has experience she makes a little more? But I honestly don't think it's over 30K.

 

[TheOx777]

What markelmarcel is saying is correct. This is what I meant by starting low and working your way up. An entry level AT(depending on where they work) can make 20k-mid 30s. I have heard of professional team ATs who make a considerably nice salary(100k+), but mind you this is only what I have heard!

 

[AM14]

Thanks for the info, I've been doing a great deal of research on AT, It seems that it is what I want to major in. Even if I don't make much money I know that I will enjoy my job. But becoming a physical therapist is my main goal so I really don't see myself working as an AT that long it's just a back up plan if I don't get accepted into PT school.

 

[TheOx777]

AM14,

My goal was not to dissuade you from choosing a possible career as an AT. If you believe that being an AT is "calling you" then by all means go for it, and try to be the very best ATC possible. If you decide to get your DPT afterwards then you would more than likely be "a cut above", especially in ortho and sports medicine clinics! Whatever you decide, I wish you the best!

 

[AM14]

Well If AT doesn't work (it's really competitive) I think I'll do exercise science or biology but i'll keep my options open since I haven't started college yet.

But another question, When is a good time to start shadowing?

 

[markelmarcel]

Thanks for the info, I've been doing a great deal of research on AT, It seems that it is what I want to major in. Even if I don't make much money I know that I will enjoy my job. But becoming a physical therapist is my main goal so I really don't see myself working as an AT that long it's just a back up plan if I don't get accepted into PT school.

Oh absolutely, in a heart beat I would do it. In fact, I wish that's what my bachelor's was in so that I'd be a double threat as a PT, but life works in its own ways.

I say go AT, if you decide not to go PT, you can still make an ok living- you would be able to raise a family (as my friend is doing) and it makes for a good second income (if you were with a partner who had a better job) 🙂


As far as shadowing- why don't you see if you could shadow an AT? I basically did that with my friend, it was awesome! Even if you just asked the AT at your HS. As far as beginning shadowing for PT, I wouldn't stress about it, you can shadow/volunteer for hundreds of hours (you could shadow during breaks like in winter/summer) over the entire course of your college career... But, I know I did mine in about 6 weeks and got my 100 hours (a little over) and that was it.

So, it's up to you- if you think that you'll do really well in school grade wise/GRE, then having a ton of hours probably isn't as important as long as you have around the minimum. But, if you are afraid you may have to combat some lower grades, then more shadowing hours will look good!

I would at least shadow for 2-3 days now to make sure that this is something you're interested in before you get too far into it! 🙂