PT aide position on application

[ktrieu05]

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I was just wondering how much do schools take into account an applicant with a PT aide position? Do you see a PT aide position more of a personal benefits towards the individual in terms of what working as an aide offers (hours, pay, LOR, connections, etc) or do you think schools highly regard the position for what it is in terms of its title when admitting applicants? Sorry if that is a little confusing because obviously its a little of both, but just wondering how much weight it holds on admission.

Also, has anyone with a PT aide position with 1000+ experience not get accepted anywhere? Thank you in advance for any response!

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

In my first year PT class I would say roughly 80% of us worked as a PT aide at somepoint in the 1-3 years before coming to PT school.

You could interpret it two ways: First, that it's a highly valued position and something PT schools look for. Or, that it's such a common position that it's inevitable that a PT school class would have a lot of people with an aide history. I'm inclined to say it's the latter...75% of our class probably have worked a retail job during college as well, but that certainly wasn't required for acceptance, but it's just such a common thing. PT aide positions are not the same as retail, of course, but in pre-healthcare fields, it's a logical choice for people wanting exposure to the medical field and thus there are an abundance of applicants with that title.

A PT aide position won't hurt your application by any means. Nor is it required for applicants. Honestly, I think PT schools don't really care one way or another. In many PT aide positions the job is 75% changing linens and scheduling patients and not much hands-on work...in those cases, students who spent their time volunteering/shadowing and getting really solid patient work but weren't hired as an aide are better off from the PT preparedness standpoint. That's why on the application they like to see that there are a variety of experiences. For example, I had probably 900 hours at the time of application as an aide in a clinic, and then about 100 of observation in other settings. I don't think having 900 hours as an aide put me above someone with 200 hours as an aide, or behind someone with 2000 hours as an aide. At a certain point the number of hours stops mattering.

But after rereading your original question, here is my answer: the main benefit of working as an aide is the connections with a PT for LORs, the pay (although you'd likely get paid better doing something else), and exposure to the general feel of the field. The title really won't help you a whole lot, in my opinion. Someone with solid experience as an aide will likely have slightly better LORs because the PTs will undoubtedly know you better than when you only observe for 10 hours.

 

[ktrieu05]

Thank you for your input. What you brought up was very informative and interesting. I've volunteered at two different outpatient ortho clinics and both were completely different in how the aides were utilized. At the first clinic, the aide pretty much did all the changing of linens, filing, cleaning, and sometimes ultrasound. Wheres, at the second clinic the aide pretty much did everything but the 15 minutes of hands on treatment from the PT (teaching/monitoring exercises- up to 5 patients at a time sometimes, cleaning, filing, documentation, laundry). I guess PT schools won't know how much hands on experience the aide actually acquires, rather it is the LOR that they will attain the most insight. With that said, I guess i'll have to just build a very good relationship with the supervising PT.

I only asked because I wanted to know how much a PT aide position would make up for low GPA/GRE.

 

[PTisfun]

In my first year PT class I would say roughly 80% of us worked as a PT aide at somepoint in the 1-3 years before coming to PT school.

You could interpret it two ways: First, that it's a highly valued position and something PT schools look for. Or, that it's such a common position that it's inevitable that a PT school class would have a lot of people with an aide history. I'm inclined to say it's the latter...75% of our class probably have worked a retail job during college as well, but that certainly wasn't required for acceptance, but it's just such a common thing. PT aide positions are not the same as retail, of course, but in pre-healthcare fields, it's a logical choice for people wanting exposure to the medical field and thus there are an abundance of applicants with that title.

A PT aide position won't hurt your application by any means. Nor is it required for applicants. Honestly, I think PT schools don't really care one way or another. In many PT aide positions the job is 75% changing linens and scheduling patients and not much hands-on work...in those cases, students who spent their time volunteering/shadowing and getting really solid patient work but weren't hired as an aide are better off from the PT preparedness standpoint. That's why on the application they like to see that there are a variety of experiences. For example, I had probably 900 hours at the time of application as an aide in a clinic, and then about 100 of observation in other settings. I don't think having 900 hours as an aide put me above someone with 200 hours as an aide, or behind someone with 2000 hours as an aide. At a certain point the number of hours stops mattering.

But after rereading your original question, here is my answer: the main benefit of working as an aide is the connections with a PT for LORs, the pay (although you'd likely get paid better doing something else), and exposure to the general feel of the field. The title really won't help you a whole lot, in my opinion. Someone with solid experience as an aide will likely have slightly better LORs because the PTs will undoubtedly know you better than when you only observe for 10 hours.

Almost all students have done so and schools know what these positions entail (described in quoted post). We count it as just a bit of observation experience, which for us is a minor part of the application. We do not require verification of hours or a minimum numbers knowing that an applicant's understanding of PT will be shown in the interview. 4.0 and 1250 students are surprised to get rejected after the interview; it is because they lack understanding of the breadth and depth of PT... a deal breaker for us.

 

[Seatown87]

For the past 2 years myself and 2 co workers have applied to PT school. We were all hired around the same time. The first year all of us had roughly 1500 hours from just one setting. We were all rejected everywhere. The second time we all had about 3000 hours from this one setting. I was accepted to a few schools but my co workers weren't.

Our stats are all about the same.

GPA 3.2-3.4
GRE 1100-1300
Hours like a 3k-4k in 3-5 different places.

Sooooo who knows. Hours are good to have but obviously they aren't the end all be all of your application.

 

[blewis15]

In many PT aide positions the job is 75% changing linens and scheduling patients and not much hands-on work...in those cases, students who spent their time volunteering/shadowing and getting really solid patient work but weren't hired as an aide are better off from the PT preparedness standpoint.

I'm going to have to disagree with this statement. Working as an aide, I have had the opportunity to interact with the patients in a way I could not have as a shadow. When you are shadowing a PT, the PT and the aides do all of the pertinent patient interaction, and you are just there to observe. As an aide, I am in a position to work with patients, teaching them stretches/exercises, answering questions, inquiring about levels of pain/irritation and building rapport with them. Some patients are very easy-going and compliant, but there are those patients that will push your buttons, or are just plain rude. I am still learning how to effectively communicate with these types of patients, as each one of them is different, but I am definitely gaining numerous amounts of skills involving patient interaction.

In addition to that, I also get to work side by side with my therapists, and I get to better understand what they are thinking in terms of care. I get to ask questions and get coached up when I do something wrong or am unsure about something. As a shadow, you don't have any responsibilities, so you don't have to make sure you are learning correct techniques. Not only do you learn the "what" but you also learn first hand the "why" behind everything.

Such has been my experience so far as an aide. Different settings and clinics will most likely produce different, yet similar experiences