Day in the Life
90% of students in this program are older (the average age is 36), so most of them work, have families and go to school. Some of them work as athletic trainers, and others have various part-time jobs in the evenings.
It’s a good idea to focus on getting your General Education courses out of the way in the first year, before diving into the core program, because it gets really busy during the clinical practicums. The clinicals are 40-hours a week.
In the first semester, we learn how people normally move, how a healthy musculoskeletal system works, and basic physical therapy skills. In the second semester, we work on pathologies and diseases, learn more in-depth exercises and treatment techniques. Then at the end of the first year, we spend the 5 weeks in clinical practice (full time, five days a week).
In the second year, students study neurology, pediatrics, geriatrics, psycho-social issues, and mental illness. Then students have full-time clinical practice for 12 weeks.