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What can I be doing now (in highschool) to be a successful physical therapist in the future?

I am a 16 year old that has a passion for physical therapy. I am currently helping my athletic trainer and am enrolled in health classes at my school but I feel like there is more I could be doing.

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Susie’s Answer

Hi Madison! That's great to hear you are interested in the PT field. I agree with Robert, above. Enjoy your time as a high school student, and in undergraduate, exploring the courses, jobs, and extra-curriculars that you find exciting, enriching, and challenging. You will need a solid base of math, science, history, English, etc. but don't limit yourself to only those courses. I think folks who have also studied music, dance, languages, arts have made the most interesting therapists! But be sure to take all the science courses you can in high school: anatomy, chemistry, bio, physics.

Do you have a passion for something in particular? Spend time enjoying that passion, even if it doesn't seem at all related to the PT field.

Most of us had to work, too, through HS, undergrad, and graduate school, and I found that all of my jobs- from bagging groceries, working at bakery, as an elderly care assistant, line cook, dishwasher, lab assistant- all taught me something valuable about myself, how to interact and care for others, and about the communities I served. If you have time for volunteer work, I'd encourage that. My local high school has a program called Best Buddies and also a program where students can volunteer in the community doing things like shoveling snow for elderly neighbors, or helping refugee families settle into new apartments or learn English as a second language. So any opportunities to learn to serve others, take them.

Also, work on a second language yourself, if you don't already have one. Or, add a third! In Chicago, it is so helpful when a PT can also speak Spanish, ASL, Polish, Arabic, Russian, or Gujarati but really any other language can be helpful and a few hours a month on DuoLingo can be helpful and you can do that in your spare time.

Lastly, you can already start reading about the work as do as PTs and make connections within the field here on Linkedin so you can see articles we post, or find out about other aspects of the PT field that you might not already know about. The American Physical Therapy Association has a website with free Fact Sheets about different topics. Sometimes I just read through the pediatric ones, for fun, as that is my area of interest.

https://pediatricapta.org/fact-sheets/

Good luck and keep us posted on your journey to become a PT!
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Robert E.’s Answer

Madison, it's great to see students like yourself express interest in rehab sciences! PT is a rewarding career and your experience aiding your AT will no doubt help guide you on your path. As far as your question goes... you're doing just fine with what you are doing! Focus on getting good grades and continue to work with your AT in order to gain experience.

You'll have plenty of time to gain clinical exposure and get more focused experience once you are in undergrad. For instance, clinics like mine tend to hire undergrad students who are interested in pursuing their DPT as exercise assistants/techs. This serves a few purposes as a student- it can be viewed as a sort of paid internship where you're getting job relevant training (AND you're making a good wage) and your time worked can serve as clinical exposure time that some programs require for application to their DPT.

My advice for you:
1. Have fun and enjoy your time as a HS student!
2. Continue to help your AT.
3. Research what schools you might be interested in attending for college (some schools have programs that speed up the process for a DPT degree, as long as you have good grades)
4. Go to college!

Hopefully this helps a little, but continue to ask great questions and keep looking into how to be the best candidate you can be!

Good luck!
Robert
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Donna’s Answer

The responses above offer excellent advice and I would like to emphasize that you begin looking at schools with DPT programs that you may be interested in. Information you find may affect where you apply for your undergrad degree. Schools that have DPT programs are listed in the American Physical Therapy Association website. (apta.org)
Identify several PT schools that you want to apply to then go into the school's on-line catalog and see what each particular school requires for admission to PT school. For example, some schools may require a microbiology course or an advanced chemistry but others may not. Just be sure that you use your undergrad elective credits to take any courses outside of those required by your major that you may need to meet the PT prerequisites.
A DPT is the "entry-level" degree needed to practice physical therapy. Some schools that have DPT programs have "bridge" programs for those who get undergrad degrees at the same school that may decrease the time by a semester or two but often a student has to pre-qualify for those programs and adhere to GPA requirements to keep that pre-qualification throughout undergrad school.
So, arm yourself with information and best of luck!
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Margaret’s Answer

Sounds like you are motivated , good for you! It may be possible to volunteer to see first hand what is involved. There is so much online that you can study , muscle insertions and bones/joints. There are surgery videos (if that is ok with your parents) that would help you to see real muscle and bone. If you like to draw you could draw the muscles and bones. Reading alone would help you prepare.
I hope this helps, best of luck to you.
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