Making a career change to DPT - advice?

[itsmebanky]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi all. I happened to stumble upon this community from a google search while doing some research; I sure am happy I found you guys.

I graduated in 2010 with a BA in Communications. I'm toying with the idea of going back to school for a career change and would like to do physical therapy with the goal of doing a DPT program.

I'm currently 28 (29 in february) and would probably spend 1.5 years doing pre-reqs alone because my current degree did not need any kind of science track. If all goes well i'll be 33-34 upon completion of my DPT. Will I need to get a 2nd degree with a BS or will the pre-reqs along with my current BA work?

In your professional/personal opinion, do you think this is a lost cause for me? I'm looking for a rewarding career by making a positive impact in other's lives, job stability, and personal growth. the high salary is really just a nice additional perk.

I'm looking forward to hearing all of your opinions and advice. I'm especially curious if there will be major hurdles for me during the pre-req phase. I havent been able to speak to an advisor at the DPT school yet, shes been on vacation.

 

[FuhLeePlay]

To answer your first question, you do not need a 2nd BS. Any 4-year degree works as long as you have the pre-reqs that your schools ask for. In my personal opinion I think this is a great idea but keep in mind that it will be a challenging one. There are many professionals/career changers who go into PT in their 40s or 50s, in case you think that you are " too old" for some reason. Good Luck to you!

 

[HookEmHorns82]

Hi all. I happened to stumble upon this community from a google search while doing some research; I sure am happy I found you guys.

I graduated in 2010 with a BA in Communications. I'm toying with the idea of going back to school for a career change and would like to do physical therapy with the goal of doing a DPT program.

I'm currently 28 (29 in february) and would probably spend 1.5 years doing pre-reqs alone because my current degree did not need any kind of science track. If all goes well i'll be 33-34 upon completion of my DPT. Will I need to get a 2nd degree with a BS or will the pre-reqs along with my current BA work?

In your professional/personal opinion, do you think this is a lost cause for me? I'm looking for a rewarding career by making a positive impact in other's lives, job stability, and personal growth. the high salary is really just a nice additional perk.

I'm looking forward to hearing all of your opinions and advice. I'm especially curious if there will be major hurdles for me during the pre-req phase. I havent been able to speak to an advisor at the DPT school yet, shes been on vacation.

I'm pretty much in the same boat with you. I'm currently 31 and will be starting PT school in August. Sometimes I wonder if I'll be the oldest PT out there, which is hyperbole, I know. But it's what I want to do, so I'm doing it.

 

[okramango]

You don't need another bachelor's. Just do all the prereqs. take the GRE, and get plenty of observation hours in a variety of settings. Make sure to develop good relationships with PTs and professors to get good letters of recommendation. There are a lot of people doing the same thing as you. Check out this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=972920

 

[WarriorPT]

I love being a therapist. It's a wonderful feeling getting people that wheelchair or cane they need to improve accessibility to life. Rehabilitating someone from surgery, getting someone back to work, educating caregivers to lighten their loads, etc, etc......

As for your aspirations: Age is irrelevant. You will be turning 30, 40, 50, etc regardless. Why not do what you love at the same time?

Prereq GPA is extremely important. Also get some observation hours done. Really investigate the field before you make the leap into the application process.


_______________________
Licensed Physical Therapist

 

[DesertPT]

Well this is going to be trite but true...

I will say from my own recent existential crisis experience (😉) you have to pick a career because it's something you seriously want to do, not because the logistics pan out. The economics and logistics of a choice are critical, but don't provide the whole answer. As an example, becoming an accountant is one of the fastest and surest ways to a college education, high job security and $60k salary. That adds up on paper, but sitting in a cubicle 40 hours a week for 40 years doesn't sound like my thing.

Make sure you really focus on school and nail those pre-reqs. Getting A's in all of them will help you get into PT school more than anything, but I will say from experience it can be hard when you've been out of school mode for a few years.

 

[NewTestament]

You need to pick a career you like and one that will pay your bills. If you really enjoy philosophy or history, that's great, but I would still not get a major in those subjects, simply because there are no jobs in those fields. Accounting and engineering pay a lot, but if you don't enjoy those fields, or if you don't like the working environment, you will be miserable. So pursue what you love, but also take into account logistics and reality. I know it sounds romantic to do "what your heart" wants to do, but life is life, and it takes money to live.

Kevin

 

[DesertPT]

If you really enjoy philosophy or history, that's great, but I would still not get a major in those subjects

True dat...

I did not mean to imply that money is not critical...if it wasn't few of us would get educated or get a job at all...