Pre physical therapy vs exercise science vs athletic training

[phenom832]

Want to get into sports medicine so for anyone who has majored in these areas how do you like it pros and cons? Which is best for sports medicine

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[dizzy88]

"Pre physical therapy" (at least at my school) is just considered a status, not a major. With all programs turning into DPT's, they require that you major in something/anything and then go on to apply to PT school.

Exercise Science and Athletic Training were 2 different tracks in the same degree at my university. Both had the same intro classes, then after 2 years, AT students apply to go through that particular track. It's actually pretty competitive at my school! The other tracks were the basic Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology (chemistry, physics, honors ex phys/biomechanics were added on) and Fitness Leadership. No matter what track you took, we all graduated with an Exercise & Sport Science degree. But, each had it's own benefits for each individual student.

Pre med/pre PT/pre dent/sports med students typically did Exercise Science or Exercise Physiology. I enjoyed it. I considered it more of "applied biology" in a sense. You would learn all the biological sciences, but apply them in a matter of looking at how physical activity influences your body systems. To me, it made learning the sciences a little easier and more enjoyable.

I don't know much about the AT program, but if you're looking for a more hands-on type of education, I would definitely look into it!

 

[goyo1010]

Pre-Physical Therapy is not a major in any schools, I believe. It is similar to Pre-Med or Pre-Pharmacy--it's just a status that identifies your academic track. It just means you're going into Physical Therapy and you're taking the necessary classes to do so.

I'm an Exercise Science major at the University of Houston (http://www.hhp.uh.edu/ you can find info here about degrees offered. may give somewhat of an idea) and I love it. You can major in Exercise Science, but that does not limit you from adding other science classes or such or adopting a minor in another discipline with which to supplement your Exercise Science major. You can find more information on the website about the Exercise Science Health Professions Option, which helps to prepare you for careers health professions, such as Physical Therapy or Sports Medicine, among others. I'm pre-physical therapy, by the way.

I'm not so sure about the Exercise Science Primary Option (usually for personal or athletic trainers), but there are similar classes between the two; however, there's about 20 hours worth of extra science courses required for the health professions option, while the Primary Option requires a minor.

I know the program at my university will not correspond completely with other university programs, but they are comparable. If you want to get into Sports Medicine, as in an M.D. specialized in Sports Medicine, then I'd recommend you go for the Exercise Science track because of the emphasis on science courses, but it's up to the programs at your university. You should compare them first and choose. What college are you attending?

 

[johncronejr]

After looking at several of the sports PT fellowship programs, I have noticed that they all have a requirement that you be either a 1) certified athletic trainer, 2) certified EMT, 3) certified first responder.

If I had known that I wanted to be a PT when I first started school, I would have chosen the athletic training undergrad.

 

[markelmarcel]

If I had known I wanted to be a PT when I did my undergrad I would've absolutely done AT. Although, I do have a friend that's an AT and she makes crap money. I'm talking just barely over $20K a year (she had to move from eastern PA to VA to even get a job; and she works for a university). She's now decided she needs more money to have a comfortable life (can't buy a house with a $20k salary when she's single) and is going onto PT.

I can tell you she absolutely LOVES AT, but the money just isn't there.

Exercise Science, in my opinion, is a waste-- It's a great degree knowledge wise and is definitely super interesting, but at least around where I am from there are ZERO job opportunities. I had considered getting my masters in Exercise Science before going to PT school and was actually told not to waste my time by the program coordinator, because there weren't any jobs and that I should just go straight into PT. Now, that may be different in other parts of the US, but at least in Western PA - there's zero opportunity.

And, as others said, Pre-PT is just a "track" if you will... Mostly offered through the Biology departments of colleges, as I understand. You need to see what type of degree you get with the PT-Track... Is it a BS in Biology? Is it something else useful? At the college I went to, our PT-track grants you a BS in "Natural Science" - aka totally useless if you decide not to go into PT/don't get accepted.

If you go pre-PT pick a school that gives you a decent degree that you can do other things with, if you would ever need to.

 

[atstudent]

I'm not so sure about the Exercise Science Primary Option (usually for personal or athletic trainers), but there are similar classes between the two; however, there's about 20 hours worth of extra science courses required for the health professions option, while the Primary Option requires a minor.

Just want to make sure it's pointed out athletic trainers and personal trainers are two COMPLETELY different things. Most personal trainers, if they have any sort of degree at all, have some sort of exercise science degree. Few of those programs would even compare to an athletic training education program. There is a reason athletic training programs are competitive--they are hard. Lots of time and some difficult classes.

 

[markelmarcel]

Just want to make sure it's pointed out athletic trainers and personal trainers are two COMPLETELY different things. Most personal trainers, if they have any sort of degree at all, have some sort of exercise science degree. Few of those programs would even compare to an athletic training education program. There is a reason athletic training programs are competitive--they are hard. Lots of time and some difficult classes.

Agreed *most* Personal trainers are nowhere NEAR the caliber of AT students.

Personal trainers don't have to have a degree of any kind... you just need to study/take a test to gain certification through ACE or some other personal training granted program. Sometimes people are "self-proclaimed" personal trainers, who know absolutely NOTHING about the body or biomechanics.

IMHO, I think that the fitness industry needs to do a LOT of cleaning up, and by letting idiots run free (ex: Jillian Michaels- she has absolutely NO official certifications of ANY kind fitness related, nor a degree of anything related to health/fitness) and ruin those who do strive to do their job by getting certifications and having proper education. /end of tangent.


Back to the topic...

 

[meliffy18]

Personal trainers don't have to have a degree of any kind... you just need to study/take a test to gain certification through ACE or some other personal training granted program.

Scary thing is, some places don't even require you to pass a test to train. They let you take on clients and build your base with ZERO knowledge. How scary is that?! I worked for one and saw some of the most horrendous "training"; it was an accident waiting to happen!

 

[goyo1010]

Agreed *most* Personal trainers are nowhere NEAR the caliber of AT students.

Personal trainers don't have to have a degree of any kind... you just need to study/take a test to gain certification through ACE or some other personal training granted program. Sometimes people are "self-proclaimed" personal trainers, who know absolutely NOTHING about the body or biomechanics.

IMHO, I think that the fitness industry needs to do a LOT of cleaning up, and by letting idiots run free (ex: Jillian Michaels- she has absolutely NO official certifications of ANY kind fitness related, nor a degree of anything related to health/fitness) and ruin those who do strive to do their job by getting certifications and having proper education. /end of tangent.


Back to the topic...

I realize that and I did not mean to equate personal trainers with athletic trainers. I simply meant that the Primary Option degree plan at my university was intended for those going into athletic training, but could also be used if a personal trainer wanted a advanced degree for more opportunities, e.g. get into athletic training or advance in the field.

my university's tracks are all under KINESIOLOGY, with subplans of exercise science (health prof), primary option, health administration.

don't worry guys. i know the difference between athletic and personal trainers. and i apologize if there was any misunderstanding yo

 

[mjh8956]

If you are trying to go the PT/Sports Med route the best option is Athletic Training. You are able to get the knowledge in the classroom and the hands on experience outside of the class room by being able to work with sports teams etc. I know many people who had Athletic Training as there undergrad major and then went straight to PT school and knew a lot more than other students because they were able to have a lot of clinical experience other students did not get.

 

[markelmarcel]

don't worry guys. i know the difference between athletic and personal trainers. and i apologize if there was any misunderstanding yo

but sometimes other people don't! plus, I like to complain about the fitness field (as I'm a part of it as well) and its lack of regulation.