O/T Physical Therapist...

[Diesel1981]

Guys and Gals,

I'm looking for someone to help me with some questions. I graduated college with a business degree (finance). My junior year of school I realized my passion was for sports medicine and therapy. It was too late to switch majors so I finished with my finance degree. I have been in the corporate finance world for 6 years now. While the money has been decent, I have absolutely no interest in my field.

I am now in a position where I can change career paths. What is necessary to be a licensed PT? What schooling is required? I am located in Florida if that matters.

I have heard it is an 18 month course. I am having a hard time finding an accredited school and the requirements.

Any insight is appreciated.

Thank you very much.

 

[muscle96ss]

Guys and Gals,

I'm looking for someone to help me with some questions. I graduated college with a business degree (finance). My junior year of school I realized my passion was for sports medicine and therapy. It was too late to switch majors so I finished with my finance degree. I have been in the corporate finance world for 6 years now. While the money has been decent, I have absolutely no interest in my field.

I am now in a position where I can change career paths. What is necessary to be a licensed PT? What schooling is required? I am located in Florida if that matters.

I have heard it is an 18 month course. I am having a hard time finding an accredited school and the requirements.

Any insight is appreciated.

Thank you very much.

What part of Florida are you in? I did my graduate work at U of M. Anyways, you will need to get a doctorate degree(when I graduated in 1998 there were still masters programs left but I think they have been all phased out). Its basically 4 years of grad school but you will probably need more than that as many of the required undergraduate courses will have to be completed before you start. There are quite a few schools in Florida, NOVA has one too.

 

[brineal]

youll need a doctorate in physical therapy, a masters is probably not gonna cut it anymore...not sure what your gpa and extracurriculars look like from before but PT school is very competitive (most i have looked at youre looking at 3.7 and up to get accepted) and they like you to have experience workng and or volunteering in a clinic as well...i was in the same boat as you with a business degree and im getting my second bachelors in kinesiology then on to a masters in exercise science but my goal is strenght and conditioning coaching...its gonna be tough to just jump into a masters or doctorate sport science program because you dont have the background in chemistry, biology, physiology, anatomy etc. that you have to have in order to succeed..you might want to look at taking comm college courses or something to get the basic courses down..

 

[blackpossom]

i am in the same boat as you, business degree, found my passion too late ect, and have been researching this extensively. There are 3+3 programs which are 3 years undergrad and 3 years post grad to get your DPT. Since you already have a bachelors you can probably get out of some of the undergrad classes but will need the science, chemistry, ect...

**broken link removed**

this chart shows all PT doctorate programs and the minimum requirements.

this should get you started, i have found that it is difficult for someone with a business degree to switch into the excercise/sports education field.

Hope this helps.

 

[7_Deadly_Sins]

Professional Muscle - View Profile: COASTAL
Coastal is a PT, and lives in Florida oddly enough.
He's a really stand up guy and incredibly nice, I'm sure he could help you at.

 

[Diesel1981]

Wow...

Very interesting.. Its funny how easily a person with a non-business degree can switch into the business field but how difficult it is visa versa.

I have some thinking to do. Maybe there are other avenues besides a full on PT that would yield a comfortable income in the field that I enjoy.

Thank you for the info, I appreciate it.