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What degree should someone looking to pursue a career as a physical therapist earn and what is a typical day consist of in this career?

I am a college freshman interested in pursuing a career as a physical therapist and would like to know a little bit more about this career and its education requirements. #physical-therapist #physical-therapy

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Robert E.’s Answer

Brisa,

The current educational requirement to work as a licensed physical therapist is to complete your Doctorate of Physical Therapy, or DPT for short. This is a graduate level degree that typically takes 3-4 years to complete, depending on what school you attend. You are also required to take a post-graduate licensing exam which is held at national level.

No specific undergraduate degree is required to get into a program, however specific science and math prerequisites are required for admission. Health science or kinesiology degrees are common backgrounds for incoming students, however many schools have pre-PT undergraduate curricula which prepare students for direct entry, given good standing and other requirements are met.

I encourage you to check out the Physical Therapy Central Application System, PTCAS, for further guidance on schools within your area as well as their requirements for admission.

http://www.ptcas.org/home.aspx

Don't hesitate to reach out to local DPTs as well!

Good luck,

Robert
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Brian’s Answer

Hi Brisa!

The people at US News & World Report have a created great resource to help provide some insight to this very kind of question. They cover 184 different jobs across 12 different industries currently. They cover everything from required education to earning potential to reviews and advice on what the job is like. They even directly link to current job postings for each.

Brian recommends the following next steps:

Check out the US News and World Report synopsis on a job or career as a Physical Therapist: https://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/physical-therapist
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Melanie’s Answer

There are not requirements for a specific undergrad degree prior to applying to PT school, but most people get some type of science or health-related undergrad degree, such as biology, kinesiology/physiology, psychology, sports med.

The second part of your question is a bit more difficult to answer, as I don't think there really is a "typical" day. It really depends on the setting you end up working in and the patient population. I recommend you contact several local therapy clinics and/or rehab facilities to see if they would allow you to shadow a therapist.
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