Question for those in PT school

[MJHUSKERS]

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For those of you who are starting PT school or finished PT school; I'm curious what pre-req courses have been the most useful in PT schools? Chem? Physics? General Biology?

The hope is that you have retained that knowledge from pre-reqs so you do not put yourself at a disadvantage when you begin PT courses. However, I took Chemistry I & II early and probably haven't retain a lot from it like other courses such as A&P, Physics, biomechanics.

 

[kbouw]

I am not currently enrolled in PT school as of yet so I apologize if my assumption may seem out of context. (correct me if im wrong)

I would assume that all 3 would be useful to some extent in PT school.

Physics: covers the bio mechanical aspect of PT and helps you to rehabilitate your client (especially if an athlete) back to their everyday activities. Certain activities (such as tennis) require understanding of acceleration to the ball, the force required to hit the ball "swing rate", and so forth. The basis of these calculations and understanding how to increase them come from the basis of physics.

General Biology (The Study of Life): In this class, you cover quite a lot (hence "general") such as plant biology, cell biology, some anatomy, the earth, and other minute aspects of scientific life. I never took much from this except the anatomy section and the cell biology. This is just a pre-req for the other classes you will take [i.e., Anatomy, Kinesiology, Nutrition, etc.]

Chemistry: This class DOES concern us at PT but it is more directed to Nutrition. Chemistry primarily teaches you the compounds (of atoms), their structures, behaviors, and how they react in isolation as well as combination with other materials/chemicals. So as you can tell, not a class you should entirely focus on but there are some good key points along the class (such as the structure of a fatty acid chain) to know.

Morale of the post: All of these classes have "aspects" and certain points that you should take away from each class but all 3 of them are such basic, general courses that you should not lose sleep over memorizing all the information in them. You will run into much deeper and specialized classes following these; these 3 classes just give you some baseline knowledge for each area will help create a foundation that you can carry with you as you go more in-depth with your higher-thousand classes.

Hope that helps and like i said, I am not currently in PT school so take this post with a grain of salt but I hope this has helped you in some way.

 

[DPT ATC]

finishing 3rd year of PT school. don't worry about chem, it's not that critical. review any kind of biomechanics and A&P you've had, that is the basis for a huge majority of the material in PT school.

 

[MIDPT2012]

The most important pre-req to me is A&P: I'm in my first semester and let me tell you - it's Anatomy, Anatomy, Anatomy.

Course work is:
Gross Anatomy
Functional Anatomy
Pathology - focused on what can go wrong with your anatomy
Clinical Medicine - the disability models of anatomy

To me, Chemistry, Biology and Physics are just the building blocks to A&P - once in grad school, it's all about Anatomy and Physiology.

 

[Akiramay]

I definitely agree: Anatomy and Physiology!! I have been using some Physics in Kinesiology (Biomechanics) but A&P is the majority of what you need to know.

 

[MinnDasota]

A&P, motor learning and human development, biomechanics were the most helpful for me...although I understand that not everyone takes thos unless they're kines or ex sci majors.

 

[MJHUSKERS]

Yea, Bio/Chem major don't take motor learning usually.

So don't sweat it if Chemistry was not your expertise?

 

[MinnDasota]

Yea, Bio/Chem major don't take motor learning usually.

So don't sweat it if Chemistry was not your expertise?

Ya, don't sweat it!

 

[MJHUSKERS]

How about calculus?

 

[DPT ATC]

How about calculus?

worthless

 

[Akiramay]

worthless

Couldn't have said it better myself! XD

 

[DRCOOP2010]

Personally, I went to a crappy school for undergrad, so pretty much none of my classes were helpful, but I'm in my second year of a 28 month program, and I'm doing great.

 

[PharmDan2]

undegrad chem and physics are a waste of time in grad school. The ones that are most relevant (because of the courses we have to take in grad school) are ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, and BIOLOGY. Thats about it. Other then that... nothing.

 

[pwrtrainer]

...

 

[SportEhab120]

To add to what everyone else has mentioned, taking an exercise physiology or kinesiology course during undergrad would not hurt as well. It comes in handy when it comes to treating patients and when you have to take the equivalent in the program.

 

[artizzle]

Reading research articles in the physical therapy field would help a lllottttttt. Not only does it help with interviews and getting an idea of current issues in PT, it will help with the research classes.

 

[MJHUSKERS]

So obviously, A&P is extremely important. This is a course I took my freshman year which was close to 6 years ago and I'll be going to PT school next fall. My question is do you guys think A&P in PT school is going destroy me?

My master's degree is in a related field: human performance. So I have been using a lot my A&P knowledge for courses such adv. exercise phys, neural, adv. biomechanics, etc. as well practical use training D1 athletes. Wish I had the time to take a refresher in A&P…but not enough time.

 

[pwrtrainer]

...

 

[teacher2PT]

This was all really helpful! I plan on acing A&P since it's most relevant. What I'm nervous about is physics (and Trig, which I'll take next semester before physics)...how bad were these courses?

 

[vapt]

^^It depends on how good you are at math. I took A & P this summer, loved it, and got an A without much work. Took chem and worked hard as hell to get a B. In physics now; hard, but chem in my opinion is the hardest of all prereq's. It's def frustrating because of the point being raised in thread: that all of these seem useless, but they def weed out those that aren't willing to work hard for their dreams. Dedicate yourself to those classes (get a tutuor if needed, that's what I've been doing) and you'll do fine.

 

[PTtoBe]

It's all relative to the professor, certainly (so by all means do you research on the professors teaching Physics), but I think that at some point most students find Physics to be pretty challenging, and they have to sit down and dedicate some time to it to perform well in it.

For me Physics 1 wasn't too rough (especially after a Physics intro course warmed me up to some general concepts). Physics II definitely took it to a more difficult level (over half the class from Physics I didn't make it to Physics II), but like most things it can be conquered with good old fashioned obsessive hard work when necessary. Then it's done and behind you and you more or less never see it again.

 

[artizzle]

a&p.
they teach you everything else you need. the prerequisites are simply to weed out the weak.

+1

 

[lee9786]

Wouldn't physics be useful in determining how electrostimulation and ultrasound works? You'd think torque would be a pretty important concept as well.

As for anatomy and physiology, what is the major component tested on in gross anatomy? My guess would be the muscles and nerve innervations. Would this be correct?

 

[PTtoBe]

Lee, I think most programs have a course or two on Pathophysiology too, which gets more into diseases of the various systems (endocrine, cardio-pulmonary, etc.). With the dawn of the DPT, courses like this and Pharmacology were added.

Whereas it's true that the lion's share of your classes will be on clinical training and muskuloskeletal stuff, you'll likely find yourself revisiting a LOT of the A&P systems again relating specifically to diseases and in more detail. The idea is to make you more familiar with them so you can recognize symptoms, etc. in your patients and refer as needed.

 

[pwrtrainer]

...

 

[artizzle]

A question we went over in pathokinesiology that gives you an idea of how you take knowledge from different areas to "figure it out".

If you were to receive a blow to the back of the knee that severed the nerve running through that area, what can happen?

A. altered sensation in the skin of the medial leg
B. loss of function in ALL plantar flexors
C. loss of function in ALL palmar intrinsic foot muscles
D. A and C
E. All of the above

 

[MJHUSKERS]

This thread has been one of my favorites and I have another question about a course. I am finishing up Cell Biology next monday and I have to say it has been my least favorite course since freshman year in gen chem. 1) I absolutly hate studying all the different proteins and micro molecules etc. functionng within the cell and 2) I suck at the course! This is the first time I am going to recieve a B since gen chem (I'm a senior).

Does cell biology have a huge role in PT school? I know it's not a pre-req, but a lot of schools allow you to use in place of a Biology course. I realize cells make up everything...but is it really that important in your studies at PT school?

 

[artizzle]

The focus of PT is not at the cellular or pathology level, so I don't think you have to worry about it. PTs treat the impairments and functional limitations that can result from pathology, which is outside the scope of PT. However, you will encounter some cell bio in neuro classes. But, don't even worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing compared to what you're used to in a class that is dedicated completely to cellular biology. That's all I know, someone further along in PT school might be able to give you a better idea what to expect.

 

[MinnDasota]

Knowing cell biology will help, but isn't a huge part of PT.