Becoming a physical therapist?

Becoming a physical therapist.?

• I'm currently working as a school teacher but wish to change my career. I am extremely interested in becoming a physical therapist. What is the process to become a physical therapist? How long does it take? What qualifications do I need? Any help is appreciated.

• Answer:

  Since you already have a bachelor's degree, you will have met your general education requirements. Your first step would be to look into potential programs that you hope to apply. There will be a predetermined list of prerequisite courses that you most likely will not have had with your current degree. It will involve a lot of chem, physics, bio, psych and math. Once you've completed these courses, you may also have to complete some observational hours. Finally, you may or may not have to take the GRE. As a best guess, if you quit working and did the prereqs full-time you could finish them in 2-3 semesters if you really book it since you've completed your gen eds. Then you could apply to the graduate level program. This is usually an additional three years. I'd suggest going to the APTA website at: http://www.apta.org and go to the education programs section to start scoping out programs. In the US, all PT programs culminate in either an MS or doctorate level degree (DPT)