Physical Therapist Schools | Get Your Physical Therapy Degree - Los Alamitos CA

How to Pick a Physical Therapist Degree Program near Los Alamitos 90720

Los Alamitos CA physical therapy school student with volunteer Receiving a physical therapist degree near Los Alamitos CA is an essential first step to beginning a fulfilling career in the healthcare field. Physical therapists (PT) help individuals who have been disabled due to injury or illness gain back mobility and function. But before they can practice and work with the rehabilitation of patients, they must receive the proper training and education. A PT must also become licensed in all states, a large number mandating that the licensee earn a physical therapy degree from an accredited school. So before enrolling in a physical therapy school, it’s essential to evaluate the ones you are considering to ensure they will deliver a quality education and satisfy your state’s licensing requirements. What you should not do is choose a school just because it happens to be the closest to your home or it has the most affordable tuition. There are other significant qualifications that must be evaluated in addition to location and cost. But before we discuss what those qualifications are and the questions you should be asking, we’ll cover what a physical therapist does and what the educational options are.

What is a Physical Therapist’s Job Description?

Los Alamitos CA physical therapist helping patient walk Physical therapists work in diverse locations, such as Los Alamitos CA hospitals, health clinics, assisted living facilities, rehab centers and health clubs. What the facilities all share in common is that they have the equipment for diagnosing and rehabilitating patients. As earlier touched on, physical therapists help people that are experiencing a lack of mobility and frequently pain caused by injury or illness. After patient diagnosis, they develop a program of treatment to deal with the mobility issues and reduce or eliminate any pain. They also strive to stop any progression of the disability. Though the causes of disability requiring physical therapy are abundant, they include:

Osteoporosis and Arthritis
Car or motor cycle accidents
Strokes.
Heart attacks.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Fire injuries.
Hip Replacement.
Sciatica.
Cerebral Palsy.

Licensed physical therapists practice in close association with other Los Alamitos CA health specialists, including doctors, chiropractors, registered nurses and dentists. They may also oversee several physical therapy assistants who work for them in the diagnosis and treatment of their patients. Something to take note of for anyone thinking about going into the physical therapy profession, it is quite physically demanding. Physical therapists often lift patients and heavy equipment, and kneel, crouch and stand for long periods of time on a daily basis.

Physical Therapist Degrees

Los Alamitos CA physical therapist applying acupuncture to patient There are 3 physical therapy degree options available for students to enroll in at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Of these options, the one degree that is available to become a physical therapist is the doctorate. Undergraduate degrees emphasize either preparing students to become a physical therapy assistant (PTA) or readying them to advance to the doctoral level. Following are short explanations of degrees that are available in the Los Alamitos CA area:

Associate Degrees train students to be physical therapy assistants, or can be the first step toward earning a more advanced degree. Candidates must have a high school diploma or GED to qualify for enrollment. The degrees are typically provided by junior or community colleges, and take about two years for completion. An internship or other form of clinical training is typically a component of the program.
Bachelor’s Degrees are designed as pre-physical therapist training to prep candidates to move up to the doctoral level. Although they are not a requirement to be a candidate for the doctoral program, they are an important initial step to becoming a PT. As with the majority of bachelor’s degrees, they generally take 4 years to complete and commonly include an internship program of at least 500 hours.
Doctorate Degrees are a requirement if you want to become a licensed practicing physical therapist. The degree program also must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). After earning the bachelor’s degree, the doctoral takes three years to complete, making the overall commitment 7 years in most cases. Clinical training is an essential component along with the considerable classroom and lab instruction. Consequently the completion of an internship is required, not solely for graduation but in several states for licensing as well.

The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) has taken the place of the Master’s of Physical Therapy (MPT), which has been phased out and is no longer offered in the United States. A number of licensed physical therapists having a master’s or in some cases a bachelor’s degree were “grandfathered” in prior to the present licensing requirement for a doctorate was instituted.

Physical Therapist Online Degrees

woman attending physical therapy school online in Los Alamitos CA Although not as common as the more traditional alternatives, there are many accredited online physical therapy degrees offered, more so at the graduate level. Due to the hands-on structure of the training, internships and clinical lab work are integrated with the online classes. This necessitates that the student live close to the college campus or nearby a sponsored internship. However, the online portion of the curriculum may be accessed within the comfort and convenience of the student’s Los Alamitos CA home. Online schools are not only partially more accessible, but in a number of cases more affordable. Tuition may be somewhat lower than similar on campus alternatives, and expenses for commuting are minimized. And a number of the online programs are accredited by the CAPTE, ensuring a quality education. These benefits can make the online alternative the ideal choice for those students that are motivated enough to attend classes at home.

Topics to Ask Physical Therapy Colleges

By now you probably have come to decision concerning a few of your preliminary queries, including the kind of physical therapist degree you would like to earn, where you want to attend classes, and how much money you can afford to spend for your education. But considering there are so many PT colleges within the Los Alamitos CA area and across California, you’ll have to explore additional qualifications also so as to further reduce your list of school choices. Also, you want to be sure that you enroll in the school that is right for you. That’s why we have collected a list of critical questions that you must ask the physical therapy programs you are reviewing. Ask each of the competing colleges these questions prior to making a final selection.

Is the Physical Therapy School Accredited? Find out if the colleges you are reviewing have received accreditation from a national or a regional agency. As earlier stated, if you are pursuing a doctorate the program must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). If you choose an online school, it may also earn accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council. It’s essential that both the physical therapist school and program you select are accredited, not simply the school. Also, check that the accreditation is through a U.S. Department of Education recognized accrediting agency. Along with guaranteeing that you receive a quality education, accreditation may be required for state licensing and even for securing student loans or financial assistance.

What is the College’s Reputation? Along with accreditation, it’s essential that the college and program you choose have outstanding reputations within the physical therapy profession. There are a number of ways you can research a PT college’s reputation, starting with asking for references from employers that they place their graduates with. You may also search for online rating services and reviews and ask the accrediting organizations for their reviews also. Contact a few Los Alamitos CA physical therapy centers or other medical care facilities that you may be interested in working for and ask if they can give you any advice about your school selections. It may also be a good idea to contact the California Attorney General and school licensing authority to find out if any complaints have been submitted against the colleges.

What is the School’s Job Placement Rate? There are a two relevant statistics that you should know about each of the physical therapy programs you are looking at. First is their graduation rate. A low rate might mean that students left due to displeasure with the program, the instructors, or both. After the students have graduated, what percentage of them are being placed in jobs with the help of the college’s job placement program, particularly in the Los Alamitos CA area? If a college has a high job placement rate, it suggests that its reputation within the medical care community is good or perhaps excellent. It also verifies that the school has a broad network of contacts to assist students obtain internships or jobs after graduation.

Does the Program Prepare You For Licensing Requirements? It’s essential that the program you enroll in provides both exceptional training and a course of study that satisfies the licensing criteria for California or the state where you will be working. In every state a passing score is needed on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) as well as a degree from an accredited physical therapist college. While licensing requirements fluctuate state by state for PTA and PT graduates, some states require a minimum number of clinical hours be performed and passing scores on supplemental exams.

Are Internship Programs Provided? Inquire if the physical therapy programs you are reviewing have relationships with Los Alamitos CA clinics or hospitals for internship programs. Internships are not only a terrific manner to obtain hands on experience in a clinical setting, they are also a requirement for the majority of PT programs and state licensing. As an ancillary benefit, they can assist students and graduates develop professional connections in the Los Alamitos health care community and assist with job placement after licensing.

How Large are the Classes ? Unless you are the kind of person that likes to sit far in the back of class or get lost in the crowd, you will probably want a small class size. Smaller classes permit more individual participation and personalized instruction. Ask the physical therapy schools you are reviewing what the typical teacher to student ratio is for their classes. If practical you may want to sit in on one or more classes before making your final determination. This will also give you a chance to speak with some of the students and instructors to get their perspectives regarding the pharmacist technician program also.

Where is the College Located? For a number of students, the physical therapy college they choose will have to be within driving distance of their Los Alamitos CA residence. Individuals who have chosen to attend classes online obviously will not have to worry themselves with the location of the campus. However, the availability of local internships will be of importance. One thing to keep in mind is that if you decide to enroll in a school that is out of state or even out of your local area, you may be required to pay a higher tuition. State colleges commonly charge higher tuitions for out of state residents. And community colleges usually charge a higher tuition to those students that don’t reside within their districts.

Is Financial Assistance Provided? Most DPT schools provide some type of financial aid to their prospective students. Inquire if the schools you are considering have a financial assistance department and see what kind of aid is obtainable. At a minimum they should help in getting a student loan or any scholarships you may qualify for. A number of physical therapist colleges provide scholarships, while others offer work programs. So before you eliminate a program because the tuition is too expensive, find out what financial assistance might be available.

Can the Program Accommodate your Schedule? And last you must verify that the physical therapist school you finally choose can offer the class schedule you need. This is especially essential if you choose to continue working while you attend classes. If you must schedule night or weekend classes in the Los Alamitos CA area, confirm that they are offered. If you can only attend part-time, find out if that is an alternative and how many credit hours or courses you would have to enroll in. Also, ask what the procedure is for making up any classes that you might miss as a result of illness, work or family obligations.

Earning Your Physical Therapy Degree near Los Alamitos California?

If you are planning on attending a Physical Therapy School in the Los Alamitos CA area, the following information may prove to be both interesting and educational regarding the location of your future Alma Mater.

Los Alamitos, California

Los Alamitos ("The Little Cottonwoods" in Spanish) is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,449 at the 2010 census, down from 11,536 at the 2000 census. It is often[citation needed] mistakenly thought[who?] to include the adjacent but unincorporated community of Rossmoor (population just under 11,000), which uses Los Alamitos as its mailing address. Although bearing the city’s name, the Los Alamitos Race Course actually lies in the neighboring city of Cypress.

The history of the area during the Californio period and after U.S. annexation is detailed in the article on Rancho Los Alamitos. The town of Los Alamitos was established in 1896 by Lewellyn Bixby to support the new sugar beet factory in town built by the extremely wealthy Clark Brothers. William Andrews Clark, a future Senator from Montana, had built his fortune in mining, banking and logging in that state. His younger brother, J. Ross Clark, managed their operations in California after he moved to that state for health reasons. Lewellyn Bixby, whose family owned the surrounding land on the Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos, had been trying to build a sugar beet factory in that area for a few years but, due to financial losses in the 1880s, he no longer had the financial capital to undertake the sugar beet factory complex on his own. Bixby had made his fortune back in the 1850s when he and his cousins Benjamin and Thomas Flint, formed Flint, Bixby & Co. which became a thriving entity in mutton and wool, all originally housed on the Rancho San Justo, south of San Jose. After making an additional fortune from selling wool to the government during the Civil War, the Flints and Bixby bought up many properties in Southern California. One was the future Irvine Ranch and another was the Rancho Los Cerritos which makes up much of the western half of Long Beach. Flint, Bixby hired Lewellyn's younger brother Jotham to manage the Cerritos. When Flint, Bixby broke up Lewellyn assumed their Southern California properties and moved to Los Angeles and became the senior partner in his operations with his brother Jotham.

Around 1881, a cousin, John W. Bixby wanted to purchase the Rancho Los Alamitos. John W. put together a consortium of himself, his cousins Lewellyn and Jotham (owners of Rancho Los Cerritos) and banker I.W. Hellman to finance the purchase of the Alamitos land. Upon John's sudden death on 7 May 1887,[8] the ranch was divided between the three owning families. The northern third adjacent to the Rancho Los Cerritos — the land roughly north of present Orangewood Ave.—went to the Lewellyn-Jotham faction (which later became the Bixby Land Company). By the mid-1890s, after the crash following the land boom of the 1880s—this group was relatively cash-poor and land rich. Having experimented in Northern California with sugar beets, the Bixbys agreed to provide the land, and contracted with Montana copper baron William A. Clark to provide the capital, and got E.A. Dyer to provide the expertise to build a new sugar beet factory on the Bixby's land. The community that grew up around this new sugar beet factory complex—with its streets of company houses for workers and surrounding farms—came to be called Los Alamitos. (As part of his arrangement to build and operate the sugar beet factory, William Clark and his brother H. Ross, who actually ran the Los Alamitos operation, also received 1,000 acres east of the factory and a year later completed a purchase of 8,000 acres (32 km2) of land north of the sugar plant—most of the latter in the Rancho Los Cerritos boundaries—that would eventually become the Long Beach Airport, Long Beach City College, and the city of Lakewood. Also, Clark and Hellman were intricately involved with the machinations and corporate dealings of railroad tycoon E. H. Harriman and Henry Edwards Huntington and the destiny of the Southern Pacific in Southern California. In addition, some time after establishing Los Alamitos, the Clarks completed their railroad from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, establishing the desert stop of Las Vegas in the process.

Select the Best Physical Therapist College near Los Alamitos CA

Selecting the ideal physical therapy college is an important first decision you need to make to start a fulfilling career in the health care field. As we have covered in this article, the PT or DPT degree program and school you choose should both have excellent reputations and accreditation. But there are other critical questions that you should ask pertaining to your college of choice also. As you start your search for a physical therapy program, keep in mind that numerous variables will guide you to your final decision. You may want to go to each of the colleges to view their facilities and speak with active DPT students. While there, ask yourself this important question: will this school help me realize my goal of becoming a licensed practicing physical therapist? By adhering to our list of supplemental questions, you will be able to narrow down the options so you can make the right choice. And with the proper education and training, you can accomplish your dream of becoming a licensed physical therapist in Los Alamitos CA.