Observation Hrs not done under PT

[psugirl11]

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I've done 50+ hours working with mentally and physically handicapped children as a volunteer swim instructor at a rehabilitation hospital helping them learn to swim. It was not done under a physical therapist. Is there any way to put this down for observation hours?? Thanks in advance!

 

[Apollo#1585...]

Key words here are "volunteer swim instructor." Sounds like extracurricular volunteer hours, not observation hours. You can check with individual schools but I put money on them not allowing it since you're not observing anything related to PT directly. From everything I've seen here, PTCAS requires observation hours to be "signed off" by a licensed physical therapist. So if one is there, you might be able to have them sign off on the hours. But if you get into an interview and they ask about it and find out it's not actual observation hours, itll look like youre lying/fidgeting hours and hurt your chances.

 

[davidtheusername]

I agree with the previous poster. It is a good thing for the extracurricular section though. Even if you had a pt sign off on those hours if that means you would do fewer real observation hours then it would put you at a disadvantage in the interview. You'll probably end up needing to talk in depth about your observation experiences in the interview and the more hours you have that are real observation the better able to do that you are.