How do you become a PT aide?

[seherv]

Hello!
I am currently a freshman in college, so I don't really have too much education/experience. I don't have any specific degrees or certificates yet. I was wondering if you need a degree to become a PT aide? I've been looking through some of the posts on here and it doesn't seem like a degree is needed.
Is it possible to become a PT aide even if you don't have enough experience/education?
Do you guys have any advice/tips on how I can become one? Maybe just volunteer first?
Also, I am interested in this job because I want to gain experience and have something to put on my resume for pt programs, of course. What do you think?

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[dropping101]

I think it depends on the location where you apply. Some locations will train while others want experience. I volunteered first (inpatient) then did an outpatient hospital and then worked as an aide in the year between graduation and PT school (starting school in a few weeks).

 

[DesertPT]

It's not really any different than any non-degree requiring job. Some companies looking to hire $8-15/hr labor want people with experience, some don't care. You just have to start applying and looking for work.

More importantly, realize that being a PT tech is in no way a pre-requisite for admission to a DPT program. Sure, you get observation hours while getting paid. But diversity of experience >>> breadth of experience. If you have two people with identical stats (and for our purposes here identical interview scores and everything else), but one has observed in 5 totally different settings for 30 or 40 hours each, and the other has only spent 3,000 hours working as a PT tech, the former will get accepted over the latter every time and twice on Sundays. If you can find a job that pays better or has a better/more flexible schedule than a PT tech job, then personally I'd go for that. If PT tech is the best job you can find anyway, then by all means.

With all that said, the biggest advantage I see to being a PT tech is that you can get to know a PT or two really well, and will have much stronger PT LORs when it comes time to apply than those of us who only had more brief shadowing experiences did. So really if you can't find a job that pays much better than PT tech, than the tech job could definitely be worth it in this regard. Working for a professor can be a good gig too, as you also need a strong LOR here, but paid positions in labs and such can be harder to come by, but they are out there. Lab work also affords a ton of schedule flexibility. Anyway, now I'm just rambling.

If you know as a freshman that you are going to apply to PT school then you have an advantage because you know from the start that your number one priority should be getting A's. There is a lot of other stuff you have to do to be able to apply to PT school, but just keep in mind that nothing else trumps your grades as far as priorities.

 

[Archline]

It's not really any different than any non-degree requiring job. Some companies looking to hire $8-15/hr labor want people with experience, some don't care. You just have to start applying and looking for work.

More importantly, realize that being a PT tech is in no way a pre-requisite for admission to a DPT program. Sure, you get observation hours while getting paid. But diversity of experience >>> breadth of experience. If you have two people with identical stats (and for our purposes here identical interview scores and everything else), but one has observed in 5 totally different settings for 30 or 40 hours each, and the other has only spent 3,000 hours working as a PT tech, the former will get accepted over the latter every time and twice on Sundays. If you can find a job that pays better or has a better/more flexible schedule than a PT tech job, then personally I'd go for that. If PT tech is the best job you can find anyway, then by all means.

With all that said, the biggest advantage I see to being a PT tech is that you can get to know a PT or two really well, and will have much stronger PT LORs when it comes time to apply than those of us who only had more brief shadowing experiences did. So really if you can't find a job that pays much better than PT tech, than the tech job could definitely be worth it in this regard. Working for a professor can be a good gig too, as you also need a strong LOR here, but paid positions in labs and such can be harder to come by, but they are out there. Lab work also affords a ton of schedule flexibility. Anyway, now I'm just rambling.

If you know as a freshman that you are going to apply to PT school then you have an advantage because you know from the start that your number one priority should be getting A's. There is a lot of other stuff you have to do to be able to apply to PT school, but just keep in mind that nothing else trumps your grades as far as priorities.

Everything he said.

I'm an aid at an outpatient clinic. I volunteered for a few weeks then asked to be a tech. Because PT is getting popular, it can be difficult to get a job. I would volunteer, take it seriously, dress nice and work hard. Do anything to make the work of all employees easier. Sometimes a clinic will just have you clean and do laundry. If that happens, make damn sure you ask to shadow the PT's with patients. That's the ticket to get to know people, and making those connections is so helpful in the application process. Plus, if the PT's know you, if the boss knows you, then you are an easy hire. You will probably get put on PRN to start, especially of you are taking classes.

That's all I got. Don't be afraid to ask to work!

 

[l3orecl]

I was an aide at a SNF, and ended up becoming the office manager for the rehab department. I worked alongside nurses, doctors, and administration staff. After 4 years I amassed loads of hours and experience and knowledge of Medicare, PT, and billing/documentation. I had great relationship with the PTs who ended up being my 2 PT references. Working in a SNF, I got geriatric, orthopedic, LTAC, neuro, and some pediatric experience. I credit it getting into PT school for sure.

Edit: I found the Aide job on Craigslist. I guess that was the point of this thread.

 

[seherv]

Thank you all for your responses!!! It helped me clear my mind a lot. I definitely want to look into being a PT aide for personal experience and to get close with some pt's. I'm just going to volunteer a lot and shadow!

Also, I will of course try to get observation hours in different settings. I was thinking of still gathering around 100-150 observation hours outside of my PT aide job. the PT aide job will have nothing to do with the observation hours. sounds about right?

 

[DesertPT]

I was thinking of still gathering around 100-150 observation hours outside of my PT aide job. the PT aide job will have nothing to do with the observation hours. sounds about right?

Yep. Try to spread those hours out between about 4 different practice settings and you'll be golden.

 

[kcrat21]

I worked as an aide in an outpatient ortho setting for years before applying to PT school. I only had another 60 hours total of additional observation (40 geri, 20 acute neuro rehab) and I did just fine. I fully believe it's more about your takeaways from those experiences...are you mindlessly wiping down tables and exercise equipment or are you actively engaged, asking questions of the PTs, learning muscle actions, etc.? PT schools can tell which person you were by your essays and interview. It's not as black and white as "get 20 hours in 5 settings and you will beat out your competitor who doesn't have 20 hours in 5 settings". Make your hours mean something and be able to speak to that meaning.