Is this a silly idea?

[chabco]

Hi forum. I'm quite fresh to this site but I see how helpful it is I decided to throw my thoughts in.

Here's my plan:
I'm currently a Pre-Nursing Sophomore and I plan on eventually graduating with a BSN degree. If everything falls into place, I will have taken most of the pre-req's (everything except Physics I+II, I think...) thanks to the Pre-Nursing major. I then want to apply to a 3 year PT program (Are all PT programs 3 years?).

So my end goal is to have flexibility in both careers working part-time in one, full-time in another, or other combinations.

I love both careers. I was told that programs like PT do not require a particular bacc degree (which is amazing) However, is this ridiculous? Should I drop one? I still need to do more research on the PT career but I thought this would be a good place to start.

Thanks for any feedback!

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[cameronWA]

That actually sounds like a great idea to me. Also, since there is accerelated programs for a BSN (3 years), and the DPT program is 3 years after you apply.. would that make it 6 years of school if it all goes perfectly? In that case your saving a year of tuition, which isn't much but it helps.

I thought about nursing alot, but I don't think I could handle some of the gross stuff, guts/bile/vomit.. but that does sound like a great idea to me.

-Cameron

 

[markelmarcel]

that actually sounds like a great idea to me. Also, since there is accerelated programs for a bsn (3 years), and the dpt program is 3 years after you apply.. Would that make it 6 years of school if it all goes perfectly? In that case your saving a year of tuition, which isn't much but it helps.

I thought about nursing alot, but i don't think i could handle some of the gross stuff, guts/bile/vomit.. But that does sound like a great idea to me.

-cameron

+1

 

[DeepSouthPT]

I think that is a great idea. I encourage everyone who is pursuing an undergrad with intentions of grad school to get a useful degree. You never know where you will be several years down the road, situations change and so do career plans, so make sure you don't regret those 4 yrs of school.

 

[lee9786]

Hi forum. I'm quite fresh to this site but I see how helpful it is I decided to throw my thoughts in.

Here's my plan:
I'm currently a Pre-Nursing Sophomore and I plan on eventually graduating with a BSN degree. If everything falls into place, I will have taken most of the pre-req's (everything except Physics I+II, I think...) thanks to the Pre-Nursing major. I then want to apply to a 3 year PT program (Are all PT programs 3 years?).

So my end goal is to have flexibility in both careers working part-time in one, full-time in another, or other combinations.

I love both careers. I was told that programs like PT do not require a particular bacc degree (which is amazing) However, is this ridiculous? Should I drop one? I still need to do more research on the PT career but I thought this would be a good place to start.

Thanks for any feedback!

Great idea. It would open up doors for you to continue grad education as a PT, PA, or NP. If I could go back, I would have done something like this. The fact that you get a marketable BS degree is a huge, and often overlooked benefit. Good luck!

 

[markelmarcel]

Great idea. It would open up doors for you to continue grad education as a PT, PA, or NP. If I could go back, I would have done something like this. The fact that you get a marketable BS degree is a huge, and often overlooked benefit. Good luck!

+ 1 million

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

I thought about nursing alot, but I don't think I could handle some of the gross stuff, guts/bile/vomit.. but that does sound like a great idea to me.

-Cameron

FYI Cameron not to burst your bubble, but PTs see a lot of vomit, bowel movements, etc...as they taught us on one of the first days of class "you get patients up and moving, and you really get other parts of them moving as well" (in reference to the fact that many patients will have a BM during their session). And cadaver lab is very guts oriented. lol.

 

[jbizzle]

FYI Cameron not to burst your bubble, but PTs see a lot of vomit, bowel movements, etc...as they taught us on one of the first days of class "you get patients up and moving, and you really get other parts of them moving as well" (in reference to the fact that many patients will have a BM during their session). And cadaver lab is very guts oriented. lol.

Yup!!! My very 1st day volunteering in acute rehab at a hospital, I helped the PT I was shadowing clean an elderly person who hadn't pooped in a week. So when we got him up and moving we let him go right on the floor (we had to use a lift because he was scared of falling) and you know what, its part of the job which showed me to become a PT, you need to be compassionate and poop and guts don't matter, what matters is the well being of the patient and we need to be caring and professional.

Cadaver lab was cool. I am still a little a little nervous about that. I dont mind cutting up the cadavers, but when we get to the facial muscles, IDK how Im going to be able to do that, as I will be looking at them eye to eye.

 

[cameronWA]

FYI Cameron not to burst your bubble, but PTs see a lot of vomit, bowel movements, etc...as they taught us on one of the first days of class "you get patients up and moving, and you really get other parts of them moving as well" (in reference to the fact that many patients will have a BM during their session). And cadaver lab is very guts oriented. lol.

I will study in a cadaver lab? This and the fact that I don't want to study internal medicine.. my view is changed now. Now i'm confused.. haha. I wan't to help people, just that idea kind of grosses me out, I don't know what I would do though, I haven't experienced it.

 

[jbizzle]

I will study in a cadaver lab? This and the fact that I don't want to study internal medicine.. my view is changed now. Now i'm confused.. haha. I wan't to help people, just that idea kind of grosses me out, I don't know what I would do though, I haven't experienced it.

This is something you can ask your program that you are interested in. I know some schools (with low budgets) may not have a cadaver. It just so happens that Temple has an amazing cadaver lab, and when I went for the tour, there were about 20 cadavers laying there and we were all just standing around talking in the lab full of bodies which is kind of meh. Im not sure which schools have cadavers and which schools have just models that we use duing undergrad anatomy and phys.

Also, at Temple, they give you a bone bag (which is from real people) that you can take home and study the insertions, etc. on them.

 

[cameronWA]

This changes my views about PT. I didn't know you would deal with many of the gross things that.. say some of which a RN would do?

I thought it was more based on rehabilitation and movement, so that means its mainly external. I don't know.

Anyone have examples of other medical careers that are either a Associates, Bachelors, or Masters that doesn't have that to deal with.

I want to help people, it just seems that every medical job you have to clean up poop and wipe ass, and although I want to help people, maybe not in this way.

Sorry if i've offended anyone :-/

-Cameron

 

[jbizzle]

Ummm....you dont have to work in acute care once you graduate dude.

You can work in outpatient, and from my experience, I haven't seen a patient crap on themselves. You do have to do clinicals but once you graduate just work at an outpatient clinic.

You know RNs draw blood right? IV therapy? Clean patients when the floor is understaffed?
You know PAs do cadavers too right?
You know CNAs clean up after patients right?
I dont know of many healthcare related fields that doesn't deal with some type of the things that you mentioned.

You can try pharmacy, which requires a phramD now, so you willing to go to school for 8 years?

You can go to law school and help out convicts.
You can be a social worker and not get paid (which from your old post it looks like you want some money)

Well, then good luck finding your direction.

Turning the thread to the OPs original question, that doesn't sound silly at all!!!

 

[dizzy88]

Chabco - excellent idea.

To join the conversation on cadaver labs...you will eventually get used to it haha. You'll get bodily fluids/adipose tissue all over you and use a bone saw and it will all seem like normal day to day stuff after a few weeks!

Cameron - if you want to go into anything health care related, you'll probably take a cadaver lab at some point in your academic career (human or animal). Granted, you probably won't have to dissect in undergrad, but you will have to be comfortable seeing/smelling/touching pre-dissected pieces. As far as actual careers, seems like outpatient ortho is your thing. Just be aware that in school, they will expect you to complete internships in a variety of settings (acute, snf's, neuro) and you have to be prepared!

 

[cameronWA]

Chabco - excellent idea.

To join the conversation on cadaver labs...you will eventually get used to it haha. You'll get bodily fluids/adipose tissue all over you and use a bone saw and it will all seem like normal day to day stuff after a few weeks!

Cameron - if you want to go into anything health care related, you'll probably take a cadaver lab at some point in your academic career (human or animal). Granted, you probably won't have to dissect in undergrad, but you will have to be comfortable seeing/smelling/touching pre-dissected pieces. As far as actual careers, seems like outpatient ortho is your thing. Just be aware that in school, they will expect you to complete internships in a variety of settings (acute, snf's, neuro) and you have to be prepared!

Thanks! I understand I will have to rotation through some acute/neuro settings, but I guess I was wondering if all PTs deal with that? But I got my answer. I don't mind doing it, but I dont want to make a career out of dealing with that stuff, I can do it, I just dislike it haha.

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

most PTs schools have cadavers...there really is no better way to learn. Personally, I really like it - I find it freaking fascinating. I did dissection in undergrad, and so this is my second round. Just seeing the differences between bodies (i.e. those with or without a palmaris longus, different heart dominance, etc.) is crazy and something you don't really get to experience in books. It's also interesting to discover what your person had...we found out our guy had no ascending colon or gall bladder, and he had many hernias. We also found a ton of internal stitches. One cadaver has a feeding tube, so it was cool to trace that, and one had like an 8 pound fibrous cyst in her uterus (although her cause of death was unrelated). It's kinda like playing medical examiner

You really do get used to it though. Quite a few people were using Vicks vapor rub under their noses the first few days, but by week 2 or 3 no one was. It's a little smelly the first few minutes you're in there, but you adapt really quickly.

 

[cameronWA]

I am fascinated / grossed out in a way.. like if I see anything internal I think I should look away but I kinda stare because i'm curious. Maybe I would like it, I just should go experience it, it could never hurt. Thanks for all the advice, really helps!

 

[chabco]

Wow I'm surprised of the amount of feedback. Thanks! I feel a lot more confident with this idea. As well as the whole cadaver thing is really eye opening, no pun intended . I'm already feeling nervous/excited about that part of school. I'm pretty sure that once you graduate, you'll just think of dissecting cadavers as simply going to class.

I know people get so so so scared when they look at health care and think about cleaning poop/vomit/etc. But that's definitely not a factor where you should consider life goals such as career choices. I see it as that you will be READY when you're finished with the training/education, if not, then you probably haven't graduated yet. If that makes sense...

Fear shouldn't be a factor. :]

Thanks again for the responses!

 

[CmichStudent]

most PTs schools have cadavers...there really is no better way to learn. Personally, I really like it - I find it freaking fascinating. I did dissection in undergrad, and so this is my second round. Just seeing the differences between bodies (i.e. those with or without a palmaris longus, different heart dominance, etc.) is crazy and something you don't really get to experience in books. It's also interesting to discover what your person had...we found out our guy had no ascending colon or gall bladder, and he had many hernias. We also found a ton of internal stitches. One cadaver has a feeding tube, so it was cool to trace that, and one had like an 8 pound fibrous cyst in her uterus (although her cause of death was unrelated). It's kinda like playing medical examiner

You really do get used to it though. Quite a few people were using Vicks vapor rub under their noses the first few days, but by week 2 or 3 no one was. It's a little smelly the first few minutes you're in there, but you adapt really quickly.

Do some DPT schools really not have a cadaver lab for anatomy? I find that extremely strange, at best. Is it odd then, that my undergraduate anatomy class is done with cadavers? I suppose this should help me in the long run, considering DPT school is done with them also.

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

Do some DPT schools really not have a cadaver lab for anatomy? I find that extremely strange, at best. Is it odd then, that my undergraduate anatomy class is done with cadavers? I suppose this should help me in the long run, considering DPT school is done with them also.

I've never come across a DPT program without cadaver lab, but there may be some out there. I know some med schools have stopped using cadavers and gone virtual, but talk to any anatomist and they'll tell you nothing can replace cadavers, no matter how good technology gets.

Did your undergraduate do dissection or were the cadavers already dissected and you just looked at them? Most people in my class have had cadaver lab experience in the sense that they had a lab with the dissected bodies in it. However, only a few of us (maybe less than 1/4 of the class) had ever actually done the dissection part before.

In PT school we do all the actual dissection stuff...nothing has already been done.

 

[markelmarcel]

I've never come across a DPT program without cadaver lab, but there may be some out there. I know some med schools have stopped using cadavers and gone virtual, but talk to any anatomist and they'll tell you nothing can replace cadavers, no matter how good technology gets.

Did your undergraduate do dissection or were the cadavers already dissected and you just looked at them? Most people in my class have had cadaver lab experience in the sense that they had a lab with the dissected bodies in it. However, only a few of us (maybe less than 1/4 of the class) had ever actually done the dissection part before.

In PT school we do all the actual dissection stuff...nothing has already been done.

Absolutely. Nothing replaces actually looking at the real thing. I did dissections in my undergrad anatomy class and I know that one of the schools I applied to doesn't have the PT students dissect (I guess the biology majors or PAs or someone else does it...), they just go in to observe/study. Kind of a bummer since I really, really enjoyed dissecting. Like someone else said, it's like playing medical examiner. Super interesting!

 

[futurept15]

I actually started out as a nursing major. I was accepted at a college and for financial reasons I went there. The only remotely medical major they offered was nursing, so I majored in nursing-knowing full well that I wanted to be a physical therapist. I changed my major more than halfway through the BSN program I was accepted into. I was going to need Physics 1 & 2 along with a Bio course and another Psych course. I originally planned to work as a nurse, and take those extra courses while I was working as an RN and applying to PT school. However, personally I just did not enjoy the nursing aspect. I loved learning and the patient interaction; I just did not enjoy the type of interaction nurses have with patients. However, I did learn a lot while I was in nursing and thoroughly enjoyed all of my classes. I think that my nursing background has helped me grow as a person. I have a clinical background in Med-Surg and SNF plus all of my PT observation hours/PT tech hours. But, I do not think that I would have been able to take classes and work as a nurse, as nurses usually work 12 hour shifts and as a beginner nurse you usually work nights. That cuts back the time that you can take classes.

So, back to the original question: NO, I do not think majoring in nursing and then PT is a bad idea. My advice: If you get into nursing and do not like it get out--I've worked with way too many nurses who hate their jobs and make costly/dangerous errors. Also, be sure that you plan ahead and contact schools to be sure that they will accept your nursing courses (for example-I took a nursing chemistry course that was very difficult, but some PT schools did not accept it). But you can do it if you really want to and are dedicated! Good luck!