Physical Therapy

Description of the Profession

Physical therapists (PTs) are licensed healthcare practitioners who diagnose and treat individuals of all ages, from newborns to the aged. PTs evaluate and develop treatment interventions for persons with health problems resulting from injuries, illness and disease. Their patients have medical problems or health-related conditions which limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities in their daily lives. PTs help individuals restore and maintain overall fitness and health by using physical and mechanical means. They also work with other health care providers to reach those goals. In addition, PTs work with individuals to prevent loss of mobility before it occurs by developing fitness and wellness-oriented programs for healthier and more active lifestyles.

Physical therapists provide care for people in a variety of settings including hospitals, private practices, outpatient clinics, home health agencies, schools, sports and fitness facilities, work settings and nursing homes. State licensure is required in each state in which a physical therapist practices.

Skills and Characteristics Important to this Profession

Physical Therapists must have problem-solving skills, resourcefulness, patience, manual dexterity, physical stamina and the ability to work closely with people. From initial examination and evaluation through the discharge of a patient or client, the physical therapist's responsibility is to work with the individual to ensure maximal function. A love of lifelong learning, a positive attitude and an outgoing personality will serve a therapist well in this field.

It is important for prospective DPT students to take courses that develop critical thinking, problem solving and writing skills; that expand their understanding of social, cultural, emotional and mental development; and that strengthen their physical science skills. It is also extremely important that future DPT students are willing to work with people of all ages in varying stages of health in inpatient and critical care settings. These skills should be developed and honed during high school and college through coursework and volunteer opportunities (or through employment in PT settings). See Professional Development and HPPLC-Sponsored Clubs for further suggestions.

Description of the Indiana University Physical Therapy Program

The IU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences currently offers an accredited clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy (a DPT rather than a Ph.D.). The DPT program requires three years of post-graduate study on the IUPUI campus in Indianapolis. This means that completion of a bachelor's degree is required before beginning the program. The DPT program consists of 101 semester hours of full-time coursework distributed over nine consecutive semesters, including didactic study and 18 full-time weeks of clinical experience.

Prospective DPT students incorporate a list of prerequisite courses and other skills into an undergraduate major of their choosing (see Further Information below for a PDF link to a handout that complete list using IU Bloomington course names and numbers as well as a FAQ section).

Other Accredited Programs

For a list of accredited physical therapy programs, visit the American Physical Therapy Association site. Also refer to the information in the "Student Resources" section of the same site. You should feel free to contact program representatives directly. It is wise to begin establishing a relationship with program representatives of PT programs you're interested in as early as possible.

Physical Therapy Assistant, or PTA, is an alternative sometimes considered by pre-PT students. Click here for a list of accredited PTA programs, available from the American Physical Therapy Association site.

And don't forget to attend the spring Health Programs Fair and speak with the representatives who make the effort to come to IU to speak with potential application!

Additional Notes and Recommendations

Pre-PT students should research undergraduate majors and eventually choose one that they are interested in and/or enthusiastic about. Many undergraduate majors on the IU Bloomington campus include the required prerequisite coursework as part of their degree requirements. Others include enough elective hours that PT program admission prerequisites may be added to major requirements and will count towards degree completion hours. Freshmen often choose "Exploratory" as their major and use various resources available on campus to decide which major to pursue, including their University Division (UD) advisors. UD offers individual appointments and workshops throughout the year to assist students with choosing their major. Prospective and current IU students should visit UD's award-winning Exploratory Student Resources Explore Majors at IU website when they begin their decision-making journey. Once admitted to IU, we encourage you to attend the "Choosing Your Major" and Explore Your Options workshops offered in residence halls throughout the year.

We strongly encourage prospective PT students to research the admission requirements of various programs because requirements vary greatly and students should be prepared to apply to approximately 5-6 programs. For example, IU's DPT program does not require any biology coursework for admission purposes. Many other programs do, and some specify the courses one or two major level courses. Some specify one lecture and lab, or two lectures only.

Job Shadowing / Observation

Prospective IU DPT students must complete a minimum of 16 hours total of observation and obtain volunteer or other work experiences in at least two distinctly different patient care settings (inpatient and acute care settings are especially helpful). Each experience must be at least 8 hours long and be of sufficient time to enable the supervising physical therapist to adequately complete the Generic Abilities Assessment form required (submitted with application materials).

Other programs may require anywhere from 0-100 hours of observation (or sometimes specifically volunteer) hours in one or more settings. At least one other recommends (rather than requires) as as many as 300+ hours. Besides being a requirement for admission to most programs, job shadowing and observation can help you decide for certain whether a career in physical therapy is the best choice for you or whether you need to continue exploring different areas. HPPLC advisors strongly encourage you to take advantage of any such opportunities that arise during high school. If you are already in college, arrange shadowing / observation experiences as soon as possible.

Further Information

Refer to the HPPLC Physical Therapy handout for more detailed information about prerequisite courses and application and admission information for IU's DPT program. It also includes a general FAQ and references to additional resources.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook contains a wealth of information about the profession. Use the alphabetical links at the bottom of the page to look up Physical Therapy (or Physical Therapy Assistant, if PTA interests you.)

If you are interested in the other professions that are listed on this Web site, we encourage you to sign up for the HPPLC email list associated with your program(s) of interest. Feel free to sign up for more than one list. Also refer to the following HPPLC handout for other health-related programs available on the IU campus and elsewhere, Health Professions Descriptions.