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Newbie here. I have a few burning questions for all you DPT students regarding observation hours.
How many observation hours is generally the average amongst most students accepted into DPT programs? Today my co-worker said he had accumulated 300 hours and he said that 300 is a "low number". So now I am concerned that I don't have enough hours to stand out amongst applicants.
Back story-- I am a fifth-year in college. My overall GPA is 3.7 and prereq GPA is 3.8, my GRE is 1400 (690V, 710Q, 6W), and I will have about 250 hours when I apply. I have ongoing work as a PT aide at an outpatient clinic, and I do PT work at a gym and aquatherapy setting for individuals with special needs. By the time PT school starts, I will have 800+ hours.
Since I didn't decide on PT by my third year of college, and I was out of the country that time, I couldn't start shadowing until my fourth year. I live in rural Wisconsin so it's difficult to find PT clinics in that area, and I was taking 20-credit semesters plus labs so I couldn't find much free time to shadow. I did what I could and found several outpatient, inpatient, and LTC sites (albeit the commute was lengthy) as well as two ongoing jobs as PT aides in outpatient and aquatherapy sites.
Although it isn't PT, I am also wondering if my experience with special-needs children and adults will give me some extra credibility. I did a 48 hour/week employment gig at a respite care center my first two years of college, and some of the children had physical disabilities so I had some prior experience.
Do PT schools like it when work is ongoing, or when your employment deals with some sort of client care (even if it isn't PT)? What numbers will help your chances of getting into a DPT program? I am planning to apply by 1 October so any feedback would be great regarding my chances of getting in. Thanks! 🙂
How many observation hours is generally the average amongst most students accepted into DPT programs? Today my co-worker said he had accumulated 300 hours and he said that 300 is a "low number". So now I am concerned that I don't have enough hours to stand out amongst applicants.
Back story-- I am a fifth-year in college. My overall GPA is 3.7 and prereq GPA is 3.8, my GRE is 1400 (690V, 710Q, 6W), and I will have about 250 hours when I apply. I have ongoing work as a PT aide at an outpatient clinic, and I do PT work at a gym and aquatherapy setting for individuals with special needs. By the time PT school starts, I will have 800+ hours.
Since I didn't decide on PT by my third year of college, and I was out of the country that time, I couldn't start shadowing until my fourth year. I live in rural Wisconsin so it's difficult to find PT clinics in that area, and I was taking 20-credit semesters plus labs so I couldn't find much free time to shadow. I did what I could and found several outpatient, inpatient, and LTC sites (albeit the commute was lengthy) as well as two ongoing jobs as PT aides in outpatient and aquatherapy sites.
Although it isn't PT, I am also wondering if my experience with special-needs children and adults will give me some extra credibility. I did a 48 hour/week employment gig at a respite care center my first two years of college, and some of the children had physical disabilities so I had some prior experience.
Do PT schools like it when work is ongoing, or when your employment deals with some sort of client care (even if it isn't PT)? What numbers will help your chances of getting into a DPT program? I am planning to apply by 1 October so any feedback would be great regarding my chances of getting in. Thanks! 🙂
