Physical Therapy Assistant Programs

Physical Therapy Assistant Programs

On this page I will answer some of the common questions involving Physical Therapy Assistant Programs.

First and foremost, how long does it take to complete one of the physical therapy assistant programs available? The short answer to that is two years.

Do community colleges offer physical therapy assistant programs? Some do and some don’t. You need to check with your local community college to ascertain whether a program is available. Also, there may be a waiting list to get into the program. So you need to do your research.

With a career as a physical therapy assistant, what options do I have and how wide a field is it? It is a tremendously wide open field and you can specialize from pediatrics to geriatrics. You have sports medicine also available. There are also tremendous advances in bionics especially for veterans and this field is in its infancy.

Will there be a job when I graduate and what does the future hold? The physical therapy assistant will be in demand now and for the foreseeable future. With an aging population as well as innovation in bionics, the future looks bright. Also, there is a higher concentration in the current population on exercise which has its own related injuries that are mostly dealt with by the physical therapy assistant!

What colleges and universities offer physical therapy assistant programs? As noted earlier, the range of colleges and universities offering physical therapy assistant programs is quite large. If you want to go to school: locally I suggest you begin doing a search of websites for all of your local community colleges, junior colleges, and also universities in your area. This is where you really need to do your research. Remember that this decision shapes the rest of your life!

What are some of the attributes I should have? You really need to be a people person. You need to enjoy interacting with people intimately on a daily basis. You need to have problem-solving skills. As you are working with your patients you will need to evaluate their progress or lack thereof. If they are experiencing problems, you really need to find out why.

You also need to be able to teach. Remember you’ll be teaching your patients the various motions they have to perform in order to recover. So you also need to be patient and gentle in guiding them to correct the various mistakes they may be making.

You will also be doing some form filling and administrative work as required by various health insurance companies and Medicare.

You need to be a good communicator as you will be reporting the progress or lack of progress to a physical therapist. You will also need to be able to follow directions that the physical therapist outlines for your patients.

In conclusion when searching through the various physical therapy assistant programs available you need to weigh your budget versus what is offered from each program. I cannot emphasize this enough, research research research! You need to visit each college and university on your final list. Request to see the facilities you will be using in your training. Find out class-size as well as how much hands-on and one-on-one training in the various Physical Therapy Assistant Programs that you are looking at.