This week’s blog post is brought to you by my sidekick for the last 8 weeks, Bryson Jarman. Bryson is a Doctor of Physical Therapy student on his third of four clinical rotations before graduating from physical therapy school. He has been a joy to have in my clinic and to treat alongside for the last two months. He will be greatly missed. If you or someone you know is considering PT school, he has some great information and insight to share. Enjoy! — Kelly
Throughout my time in physical therapy school and especially now that I am finishing up my clinical rotations there have been only a few constants in my life. My friends, family and the inevitable question that all patients ask when they find out I am a student: “How long do you have to go to school to become a physical therapist?” Too which I normally reply, “Well if takes 4-5 years of undergraduate studies and then 3 years of non-stop physical therapy school.” I have found most patients are really surprised by my response, most having no idea it takes such a long time to become a physical therapist. With that being said the following is a very small sample of what physical therapy school is really like.
The first year of physical therapy school at my university consists of 20 credit hours in the fall, 4 in the winter, 20 credit hours in the spring and 10 in the summer. Some of the first year classes are gross anatomy, kinesiology, wound care, therapeutic exercise, and PT science just to name a few.
The second year is a lot like the first as far as credit hours goes. Some of the second year classes are Neurology, Musculoskeletal, prosthetics/orthotics, pathology, and pharmacology just to name a few.
The third year of physical therapy school is all clinical rotations. This consists of working in several different settings under the supervision and guidance of a clinical instructor.
Scaling it down even more, below is an actual day I experienced in my second year of studies and is a pretty average day in the life of a physical therapy student.
6:00 am: The alarm goes off and I get out of bed and get ready for the day.
6:17 am: I sit at my kitchen table chugging coffee and stressing about the test I have later in the afternoon. I wonder if the 20+ hours of studying would be enough, knowing that I would only get my answer when I hit the “submit” button on the test.
7:45 am: Students nervously asking each other if they are “ready for the test today” can be heard throughout the room.
8:00 am: Pathology: The first class of the day. It consists of various diseases that plague the body. Even though we do not treat the diseases themselves, it is not uncommon for physical therapists to treat the effects of the disease, such as deconditioning or fatigue.
9:30 am: Neurology: the second class of the day. It consists of learning how to treat, properly handle and give appropriate bedside manner too patients with neurological disorders like a CVA (stroke), traumatic brain injury or a spinal cord injury.
11:00 am: Neurology ends and the lunch hour begins. Most students stay in the lecture hall and study for the test later in the day.
Noon: Musculoskeletal lab begins and consists of learning exercise and hands on physical therapy techniques.
1:30 pm: The moment everyone’s day has been building towards. It is time for the Neurology test to begin. For a slow and steady test taker like me it could take up to 2 hours to finish.
3:35 pm: I walk out of the lecture hall mentally exhausted knowing my day is nowhere near finished.
3:40 pm: I find my musculoskeletal group and we work on what is known as a “case study” which is basically a patient scenario that we may encounter as physical therapists and how we would evaluate and treat that fictional patient.
5:12 pm: I leave the school and head for my car.
6:30 pm: I eat dinner and mentally prepare for a long night of studying for the pathology test in the morning.
7:02 pm: I make my second pot of coffee for the day.
7:15 pm: The next several hours are spent studying and preparing for the following day.
10:52 pm: Back in bed where I began the day almost 17 hours earlier.
11:00 pm: Asleep (hopefully) and NOT dreaming about the day to come.
An amazing transformation takes place when this is what your life consists of over a 3 year period. I have learned so many things about myself. I realized compassion that I never knew I had. I made lifelong friendships with my classmates. I was pushed to my breaking point almost every day. Looking back on my last 3 years I can honestly say it was by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do and I can’t imagine ever doing anything else with my life.
