In the spring I will be going back to college to pursue my BA. My ultimate goal is to get accepted (and of course complete) an Army physical therapy program. (Search army baylor physical therapy, it is a great program for those interested.) Basically, to get accepted I need a BA, no specific major needed as long as I meet the prerequisites.
I will be attending New Mexico State.
I am currently an Army Medic. Although I have very little PT experience, I do firstline treatment for sports injuries on a regular basis. My treatment in the area is good, but my specific eduacation is limited.
I have a few thoughts of what I would want to do, I would just like to get some input from those who have gone down or are going down that road.
The school I will be attending offers majors in Atheletic Training, Pre-Health Services (pre med), and Kinesiology with a excercise science or business emphasis. Also offered is a minor in Exercise Science.
My thoughts are to pursue the exercise science minor with a major on an unrelated subject (possibly philosophy). I figure that since I don’t need a specific major, I might as well take advantage of the oppurtunity for personal enrichment. The Army will teach me everything I need to know about PT, and once I graduate with a BA and get accepted, I will be force fed PT for the next 27 months. Why not enjoy the classroom experience while I can? I am near 30 years old an have always wished to go to college.
On the other side, a major with a sports medicine or pre-med emphasis might better prepare me for my post graduate eduacation. It is a very accelerated program, so the more I know going into it, the easier it will be and the more I will retain.
If you have any experience with this, or any thoughts, please let me know. If there is anybody who is doing Army PT or works as a N9, let me know, I’d like to pick your brain. Thank you
I’m currently going through a 6 year Physical Therapy program, ending with a B.A. in Exercise Science and a Doctor in Physical Therapy. I would have to say that not declaring a specific major while getting a Physical Therapy degree is unheard of to me.
Are you getting a Doctor? If not, I would definatly get one, as by 2020 if you don’t have one, you go back to school. Check out the American Physical Therapy Association website about that one.
Philosophy is one of my considerations for a minor, right now it’s communications…we’ll see how that ends :-).
Dreads989,
It is a doctorate program. Basically, once you have a BA with the prerequisite courses, you can apply and the Army will pick you up. They put you through a concentrated program (27 months, Mon-Fri, 5-9), you graduate a doctor and a captain. I don’t recall if internship is included in that time or not. The downside is that once you start treating patients, likely you will be treating them in some shithole overseas. Ah, so is life.
Were there any classes you have taken in undergrad that you felt essential later on? Any classes that were useless?
Contrl,
Officialy it is now 68w, although with all things Army updates take so long. 91w is still commonly used.
Have you thought about the Physical Therapy Technician school that the army has as an ASI? It is an excellant course and it will definately help with your specific knowledge.
combat medic
I have to take two philosophy courses as part of my university’s core curriculum, and I have to reccomend them. They have helped me analyze many things, and next semester, I imagine my ethics class will do even more for me. Theology, while semi-interesting, to me is useless…as is math…
I would recommend anything relating to Philosophy or the way the body works. Or, even entrepeneurship classes and business classes would be great to take as well. Communication ones are great if you are not a people person.
I’ll check out your program shortly. Have fun with organic chemistry, it’s a real bitch.
I went to college for two years before joining the Army with the intention of becoming a physical therapist.
I enlisted in the Army after 9/11 and have been in the Signal Corps for six years, but I’m not too particularly fond of working commo. I plan on leaving the Army next year to go back to school to finish my undergraduate coursework and then apply for a dPT program.
Thanks to the threadstarter combatmedic for bringing this option to my attention. I’m going to have to check into this.
Medic33,
I looked into the N9 program, and it is a plan B. (For the sake of other readers) It is an army enlisted program. Once you already are trained as an army medic, you can go to an additional school- 16 weeks in class plus an additional 16 week internship. You become the military equivalent of a Physical Therapy Assistant.
Not a bad deal, but in the long run, that is 32 or more weeks that I won’t be able to go to college. My next duty station (I’ll PCS in Feb) is a MEDCOMM position. I will work in a clinic, set hours, no feild. Perfect oppurtunity for college in my free time.
Are you N9 now?
Dread- no organic chem required, just 8 hours of chem. I can’t complain about that.