How To Get A Doctor Of Physical Therapy Degree

Physical Therapists are health care professionals who treat patients of all ages. They are called upon when a patient has a hard time to move around because of illnesses or injuries. These injuries may include sprains, strains, neck injuries, arthritis in older patients, certain strokes and conditions like Spina and Bifida. The therapist examines each case and provides lifestyle changes, diet changes and drugs that would help the person regain their ability to move around and go back to the normal way of life. Through therapy the patient will be able to keep mobility and motor skills. The Therapy also reduces pain and helps the patient gain a healthier and an active lifestyle, the therapist synergies with other physicians to provide a comprehensive recovery process.

The Doctor of Physical Therapy is a three to four year long doctorate program usually taken after a four year long bachelor's degree and requires a good high standard internship. Vision 2020, a vision of the American Physical Therapy Association, that states: "By 2020, physical therapy will be provided by physical therapists who are doctors of physical therapy, recognized by consumers and other health care professionals as the practitioners of choice to whom consumers have direct access for the diagnosis of, interventions for, and prevention of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities related to movement, function, and health."

The entry level doctorate degree is the degree that most of the Physical Therapist has. Getting into a good school would require you to have to complete a set of required coursework, a good level of extracurricular activities and social services, a good score on a standardized graduate examination such as the GRE, a set of well written recommendation letters and a sound academic background in science. You will most probably be asked to have at least 12 credits of Chemistry, a semester of Physics with lab work, two courses on Psychology and lastly a good semester on Biology. Course pre-requisite may defer from school to school.

To get a doctorate you will have to complete a basic curriculum which consists of pathology, pharmacology, radiology, anatomy, biology and such as a part of the foundational science courses, you will also have to take multiple courses on behavioral science and courses which include law and ethics, clinical reasoning, business and management sciences. The students will also go in depth into the clinical sciences with courses on neuromuscular, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and integumentory biology. The last part of the course deals with the actual physical therapy courses. Every school has a set of actual physical therapists who guide the students as they look at case studies and also treat patients at the school.

The seven year path to becoming a Physical Therapist is not for the faint hearted, but there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow because Physical Therapists are one of the best paid professions with many variations to the degree allowing you to branch out to types of therapist such as sports physical therapy.