Should I take advanced physiology for pre-physical therapy?

[mitherapy]

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Hello everyone,

I need some advice. This is my last semester as an
Undergrad. I will have my bachelors in health science with a pre physical therapy concentration and a minor in exercise science.


Here is my question, I only need one more class to graduate but I wanted to add a few other courses that will help better prepare me for PT school.
I have already taken physiology. I just signed up for advanced physiology and just started this week. However, I am the only student in the class who is pre-PT. the rest are pre-med and physician assistants. Does anybody know if this class will help
Prepare me for the concentrated material of a DPT program? Because there is alot of biochemistry references from this professor.
Please, any advice will be appreciated. I may consider dropping.
Thank you!

 

[jdaniels360]

I'm pretty sure upper level anatomy and physio is a pre-req for most PT schools no? Correct me if i'm wrong somebody.

JD

 

[nomattic]

I've done a lot of research and the only school I've found that absolutely requires upper division Cadaver Anatomy and Physiology separate from each other is the University of Colorado, which is my top choice (added about another semester and a half on to my pre-req schedule, lucky me). All other schools said they accept combined A&P I and II in lieu of upper division courses.

With that said, I'm finishing up advanced physio right now and while it's challenging, it's an awesome class. My friend who just finished her first semester of PT school took a look at my book/course notes and said there was a significant amount of overlap from what she was learning in her Exercise Physio class, actually even more detail than they were going into. She gave me the impression that it would give me a little taste of what PT school will entail.

 

[mitherapy]

Thank you so much for your advice. I think I'll stick w/ the class. I guess what I really want to know
Is the in-depth level of physiology that will be taught in PT school. Because just looking over the syllabus and after 3 lectures, it seems like we go very deep and specific with certain pathways. I don't need this class to graduate, I already took A and P and their labs and none of the programs I'm applying to require the upper level physiology. (and i already took upper level bios, micro and genetics) So I was debating If I should stick w/ it or just glide with only 1 other course this semester until I graduate.

 

[nomattic]

Being that I'm on the very last exam for the course (should be studying, but clearly procrastinating), I can say that it basically takes the same concepts that I learned in A&P I and II, and at the point where my A&P professor used to say, "there's the overview, but you'll learn the details later," well.. here they are. If you've taken upper level bio classes and Gen Chem, you will definitely find this class manageable, especially if you've taken Cell and/or Molecular Bio. I'm taking Cell & Molec currently and find a decent amount of overlap between the two, yet physio has been focusing solely on human processes (obv).

I think it could make your application stronger if you show PT programs that you took the initiative to tackle the course even if it's not required AND succeed in it. With that said, only take it if you think you can put in the time to pull that off, because doing poorly in it would have the opposite effect and wouldn't be worth pulling down your GPA, especially since you clearly already have plenty off upper division street cred.

 

[Litlwarrior08]

It would not count in you GPA pre requis. for PTCAS ......they take the intro or combined AP and labs. Do well.......w/ B or higher so it does not effect your overall GPA poorly. The knowledge you learn can't ever hurt or work against you (unless you get less than B grade).

 

[djb051]

I took an advanced 400 level human physiology course at my school as one of my biology electives (wasn't required but did count towards my degree). I learned a lot in that class and felt like a lot of it is relevant for PT school. It may not count as a prerequisite for most schools, but I agree with above and think having that on your application with a great grade in the class would be a plus because they will see you can handle something like that. I took it before knowing I was going to apply to PT school, but I am hoping now that my A+ in the class will look good to the schools I apply to in this cycle.