Wednesday, July 10, 2013

PT Schools - How To Choose The Best Physical Therapy School


Physical therapists are very important to the modern health care system. They are the professionals who specialize in movement dysfunction among patients who have suffered from a certain illness or injury. The main job of a physical therapist is to help patients restore maximal function of their bodies. Needless to say, this kind of job is fulfilling, and for most physiotherapists, the satisfaction with their profession comes not from the salary they get, but more from the help and support they give their patients. If you are looking for a job that's challenging yet very rewarding, you may as well become a physical therapist. Now the question is how you are going to choose the right physical therapy school.

Look For an Accredited Physical Therapy School

The very first thing that you need to look for in a physical therapy school is its accreditation. When doing your search for such schools, you had better go through a list of all the accredited institutions from the American Physical Therapy Association. This is an important factor because schools with accreditation are those that have passed the standards for top quality instruction. What this means for you is that you will get a training and coursework which are updated and highly relevant for practical application. More importantly, good training will increase the likelihood of you passing the licensure exam.

Go For a Physical Therapy School with a High Licensure Passing Rate

No physical therapy graduate is allowed to practice without passing the National Physical Therapy examination. So you would want to study in a school that will help you easily pass the licensure test. In order to find a physical therapy school that offers the best training, you can take a look at the list of state exam passers and find out from which school they come from. The best physical therapist schools or universities will belong to the top 10 or 20 list. Of course, the higher the licensure passing rate, the better quality of the PT school.

Choose a Physical Therapist School with Great Clinical Education Opportunities

At the end of the day, your job as a physiotherapist will be all about interaction with patients. With that being said, the ideal physical therapist school is the one that can provide you with enough exposure and experience through real life training. You need to know if a particular PT college has work partnerships with certain medical institutions or hospitals. You can check out the website of the physical therapy universities you are considering and see what their affiliations are as well as the internship programs they offer their students.

How to Find the Best Physical Therapy Schools

The internet is the best and most convenient means of finding the right PT school. Look for the programs available in each school and make a comparison of the schools' coursework, entrance requirements and school fees. Confirm also the physiotherapy schools' APTA accreditation as well as their licensure passing rate.

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