Premedical Studies > Physical Therapy

QUICK FACTS: PHYSICAL THERAPY

Description of the profession: Physical therapists diagnose and treat individuals who have medical problems or other health-related conditions which limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities. They may work in hospitals, clinics, schools, sports and fitness facilities, nursing homes and other settings.
Physical therapists develop individualized plans for each of their patients to promote the ability to move, reduce pain, restore function, and prevent disability (American Physical Therapy Association, APTA).

Salary and employment opportunities: The median salary for a physical therapist is about $68,000. UT-Memphis reports on their web page that salary for a recent graduate of the school is $45,000-50,000 (2003). Unemployment rate for physical therapists is low (0.2%) according to APTA.

Education required:

Most professional programs are now doctoral programs and award the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT ) degree. To enter the program, a student must hold a baccalaureate degree. The undergraduate major may be in any area as long as the pre-requisite courses are taken.

Undergraduate: 4 years
Professional: 3 years

Admission requirements:

Required science courses:	8 hours of Biology General Chemistry I & II
	Human Anatomy & Physiology I & II Elementary Statistics
	Elementary College Physics I & II Medical Terminology for ETSU
Required psychology courses:	Introduction to Psychology Life-Span Development
Other requirements:
Graduate Record Exam (GRE):	Minimum scores not reported by UT-M, Belmont, or ETSU; Belmont reported that for the 2007 entering class had an average GRE of 1080
Experience in the area of physical therapy:	Belmont: minimum of 50 hours; UT-M reports no minimum but says the average for admitted students was 200 hours; ETSU has no minimum number of hours
Grade Point Average:	Belmont: 3.63 ave. for the 2007 entering class. (Min. 3.0)
	UT-Memphis: minimum 2.0 but says must be at least 3.0 to be competitive.
	ETSU: minimum of 2.7 with a 3.0 in required courses.