Would being a Chiropractic Assistant help my DPT application?

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leon24

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I am planning on applying to DPT school in the next year or two. I am graduating this May 2011 with a degree in Human Biology/Exercise Science. I have decided to take atleast a year off before applying to DPT school and have been looking for a physical therpy aide job for a while and have not been able to find one (they are scarce where I live). I was originally planning on getting certified as a personal trainer and working as a trainer for the next year or so, but I recently was presented with the possibility of working full time ($11-12 an hour) as a Chiropractic Assistant. Do you think working as a chiropractic assistant will strengthen my application to DPT school anymore than being a personal trainer would?

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Doesn't really matter. All they care about is GPA, GRE, and observation hours.
 
Hmmm... I'm actually not very sure about this. I have no doubt that it will help you personally with the experience and knowledge you will gain under the practicing DC, but in relation to PT school admissions... It won't count toward your observations hours, as that needs to be done under a PT supervisor, but you could use it for an LOR and you may put it in your resume to beef up your application.

So, I guess it will help you, but it won't help you as much as you would like it to. I believe that a DC assistant will look somewhat better than a personal trainer on your application.
 
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I'll share my insight with you, as I did both after graduating with a degree in kinesiology and intending on going back to school for PT. Both situations have their benefits and negative opportunity costs. Ultimately though, as someone else mentioned, your direct PT observation or work experience will be more important than either of these situations. As a chiropractic assistant, you will get the patient management skills and experience that you can talk about, but with Chiropractics working outside of the traditional medical model, your time their won't mean as much to the schools as it does to you. A couple things about training. First, if you intend on going back to school in a year, realize that your first several months of training will be just building a client base. That's just the nature of the business. You don't show up and start making real money out the gate, especially without any experience. So if you don't have that financial flexibility, forget it. The tradeoff is that you make your own schedule. So presumably you could get a ton of observation hours to offset it. That flexibility could also lead to getting a PRN (as needed) rehab tech job that demands that type of flexibility to fill in as needed. That's how I got my tech job while I was training. The other benefit to training is being in a field that will require you to stay fresh on your anatomy and physiology. But again, schools aren't going to put a lot of emphasis on your training experience, but it is a decent means to an end with the flexibility it allows for other PT related pursuits.

I also left school thinking I would only take a year off. What you don't realize is how early you have to start on the process. Many schools applications are due in early fall. So to be ready, you have to be on top of your essays, observation hours, GRE, any additional pre-reqs. Don't get caught by short-handed on time and get educated early on what your timeline is like for all of your schools.

That's my two cents anyhow. Good luck with your planning. Let me know if you have anymore questions.
 
but you could use it for an LOR and you may put it in your resume to beef up your application.

Check the LOR's that the schools you are thinking of attending ask for. Some will only accept them except from PT's and professors.
 
Agreed. I forgot to mention that. Check with the schools about what sources of LORs they will accept.

Check the LOR's that the schools you are thinking of attending ask for. Some will only accept them except from PT's and professors.
 
One of the girls in my program worked as a chiropractic assistant during undergrad. She says it was good because you got that patient interaction, but she's confident it didn't help her actually get in the program. As someone said above, most (if not all) programs will only look at experience under a licensed PT. I don't really know that being a trainer would "help" any more than chiropractic assistant. It'll just be good to interact with people and learn a little more about exercise prescription. You will probably find that knowledge helpful when you take classes like therapeutic exercise. It can be challenging to find clients though.

Anyway, my 2 cents would be to take the assistant job if you aren't already a certified personal trainer. A year is not a whole lot of time! Although, I'm not sure how long it takes to actually study for and sit in the cert exam...

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the feedback guys! Yeah, I didn't think it would be very helpful application wise. I wish I could just find a PT aide job lol? Does anyone have any suggestions as to getting one? I have been checking craigslist and hospital websites and nothing yet.
 
I ran into the same situation coming out of school when I looked for rehab tech positions. Hospitals don't necessarily need many techs, and outpatient clinics even less so. And people tend to stay at these positions until they go back to school. Keep up with your search, but like I said earlier, if you can't find a tech job right away, keep looking for PRN positions. A PRN (as needed) position is easier to come by and enhance your application, while still allowing you to work full-time in one of the other areas you were looking at. You'll also be first in line if another fulltime position opens up, since you've got experience. Good luck.
 
Won't help much other than possibly patient interaction.
You may just be a glorified towel folder and not learn much. You could have a quacky chiro or a good one, you probably won't be able to tell with your current education level. All you really need is 100-200 experience hours in 2-4 unique settings observing PT that can be done easily during your school breaks. Observation is better as you can wholly see what the PT does throughout the day and what their work is like. If you are working you won't be able to view these sessions from start to finish usually.

Get a good gig in research or sales that provide more tangible skills that you can use your whole career if you're looking for a great experiences while an undergrad. Being a PT tech is by no means necessary to get into top schools around the country. Having countless hours is unnecessary, go for quality instead for good PT recs.
 
I picked up a job as a secretary at the local university... making way over minimum wage-- it's been the perfect "in between" job. Is it related to PT? No, but I still got in to the schools I applied to, and I've definitely been able to save a good bit of money!
 
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