Question for applying DPT

[Leepinlun]

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In the beginning, I appreciate you spent a little time to see my question. I am a student from Taiwan. My nickname is Arlen, and my major is occupational therapy. Recently, I decide to study DPT program in the fall of 2014. But here comes a question: I have no idea that whether OT can study DPT program or not, because the website says that I need a verification of PT observation hour. So I wonder to know that whether a people who major in OT could apply for DPT program or not? If the answer is yes, what should I do next? If the answer is no, is there any other PT program for master degree I could choose?

Here are my working experiences. I don't know whether it's useful r not.
1. Full time OT for a year.
2. Part time OT for a year.
3. A 1.5 years experience of Treating autism children. (One on one cases)

Thank you for your answering.

 

[Myosin]

Yes you can apply to most DPT programs with a degree in occupational therapy as long as your degree comes from a college that the schools accept. The masters program for physical therapy is gone in the US. You can only do the DPT.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you have the proper prerequisite classes needed to apply to the schools you choose. These are generally 2 semesters of biology, anatomy and physiology, physics, and chemistry each. 2 semesters of psychology (general and abnormal) and a statistics class are the remaining ones. If you haven't taken these, you will need to at a community college or university.

After that you need to start getting observation hours or working under a physical therapist. Your OT experience will look good under previous work experience, but it won't count towards your observation hours for the DPT programs. All you have to do is go there and observe them. Your current major doesn't matter for that. You get that physical therapist to verify your hours after you have completed as many as you need.

Then you need to take the GRE.

It varies slightly between schools, but that is the general path for most people.

 

[Leepinlun]

Myosin, thanks for your answering! It's really helpful to me. Thanks!

 

[goyo1010]

Myosin pretty much covered the basics. Check with your prospective programs concerning requirements for admissions, e.g., prerequisites or admissions test requirements. Also, you may need to take the TOEFL for English proficiency.