Here’s my latest post for The PT Project about the classes I’ll be taking before I can apply to a DPT Program:
When I decided to pursue physical therapy, I knew I’d have to take some additional classes before I could even apply to a Doctorate of Physical Therapy program. I was surprised to realize, however, how much the pre-requisite courses vary from school to school.
Luckily, I finished many of the classes physical therapy programs expect you to have completed as a psychology major at Cornell: psychology, statistics, writing and a few other elective humanities classes.
When it came to classes I hadn’t taken, however, I had some choices to make. Two semesters each of chemistry, physics, and anatomy and physiology seem to be the only standards. Most schools also wanted at least two semesters of biology, while others had additional prerequisites, some of which were pretty confusing. Would one school really insist that I take pre-calculus in college even though I took AP Calculus in high school?
All in all, there are probably over a dozen classes I could take if I wanted to be able to apply to any PT program in the country, and it was hard to figure out which to pick. To organize my thoughts, I created a spreadsheet of each school I am looking at and what their requirements are.
From this, I created a yearlong schedule that should allow myself to take all the pre-req’s necessary to apply to a number of schools I’m interested in this fall.
I have a lot of science classes and labs coming up, and I also need to enroll in CPR and First Aid classes. Although it will be a busy schedule, I’m excited to tackle it in the hope that in Fall 2012, I’ll be starting a DPT program!
Now I’m on to my next step: finding a PT clinic or hospital to work at this summer …
I’m curious what experiences others have had with going back to finish up pre-req’s before applying to a PT program.