Physical therapy aide a useful job?

[searun]

I graduated in from college in 2005 and am in the 2007 application cycle. I am working part time as a high school soccer coach this fall. I have an opportunity to apply for a position as a physical therapy aide, with extensive patient contact. Obviously, I would be working for a physical therapist, and not an MD....Would Admission Committees view this type of work and patient contact favorably or not? Thanks for the input. I need a job to support myself until, hopefully, I start medical school in about a year.

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[Delicate Genius]

I graduated in from college in 2005 and am in the 2007 application cycle. I am working part time as a high school soccer coach this fall. I have an opportunity to apply for a position as a physical therapy aide, with extensive patient contact. Obviously, I would be working for a physical therapist, and not an MD....Would Admission Committees view this type of work and patient contact favorably or not? Thanks for the input. I need a job to support myself until, hopefully, I start medical school in about a year.

PT Aides make pretty good $ compared to other jobs typical premeds have (emt, cna,...). PT aides also work very closely with the PTs which will allow you to get a great LOR. I think Adcoms will view this experience favorably because it allows you to meet a wide variety of patients and monitor their progression over a long period of time.

 

[LizzyM]

^I agree that this is a good job: pays well & gives you considerable experience with patients. The fact that you will not be working with physicians is not relevant. (Some SDN posters will point this out so I'm beating them to the punch.)

The point is that you will be learning about the experiences that patients, particularly post-op patients.

Go for it!

 

[JimmyG]

I am an OT who works at a rehabilitation hospital. One of our "techs" (as we call them) is pre-med and came into his position with a chip on his shoulder. He knew he wanted to be a doctor and thought that this would be some easy, schmesy job to get some experience. He will tell you to this day that he has learned more than he ever thought he would being a PT/OT tech. It will (1) familiarize you with medical terminology, (2) allow you to work hands on with patients in order to help them achieve their therapy goals (very rewarding, in my opinion), (3) learn biomechanial techniques that you may be able to integrate into your medical career one day and (4) really teach you your anatomy and physiology. I think it is a good opportunity for you to really get into the meat of one side of health care. Good luck!

 

[thinknofu3]

I definitely agree. I was a student athletic trainer in college, which has lots of overlap with the experience you get being a PT aide. I think it was looked favorably upon in all my applications/interviews, not so much because of all the medical stuff you learn (and you will learn a lot!), but more because you get great clinical experience interacting with patients (as LizzyM puts it, you can "smell" them), and learn really valuable communication skills that will serve you tremendously as an MD. I say go for it 🙂

 

[WAOZA]

I have been a hospital volunteer and a physical therapy aide, and I can tell you that being a physical therapy aide was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY more significant in my decision to become a physician than being a volunteer was. When you are a physical therapy aide, you actually get to perform some of the therapeutic methods on patients and you have a chance to know them on a personal level. At the same time, it is very rewarding seeing how you had a direct impact on patients' progressions over the weeks of therapy. As was stated in an earlier post, you learn how to thoroughly apply anatomy on a biomechanical level. I say go for it.

 

[fpr85]

Ah, so that's what a PT Tech is... was wondering about that - saw a few at the hospital I do some work at. I would imagine it's not too easy to become one though. Don't you need to be certified by a board or have some training -- or is it all on-the-job training?

 

[JimmyG]

Ah, so that's what a PT Tech is... was wondering about that - saw a few at the hospital I do some work at. I would imagine it's not too easy to become one though. Don't you need to be certified by a board or have some training -- or is it all on-the-job training?

Tech = on the job training

However, the majority of our PT techs have bachelor degrees....

 

[jelliott]

I am in complete agreement with many of the above statements, and currently work as the PT aide in the local hospital (out patient department). It has been a wonderful experience, this will be my seventh month there and plan to continue until I graduate. The pay is not too shabby, hours are flexible, tons of patient contact, lots of hands on, and connects me to many rehab doctors as well. I will end up with a few awsome LOR from the therapists and a few rehab docs as well from this job. Basically, there is nothing to lose, if at the very minimum it will look good on your resume for future jobs. Best of luck, go for it, just remember the question of "why not PT then?" will most certainly arise.