Physical Therapist Schools | Get Your Physical Therapy Degree - Story City IA

How to Enroll In a Physical Therapy Degree Program near Story City 50248

Story City IA physical therapy school student with volunteer Obtaining a physical therapist degree near Story City IA is an important first step to launching a rewarding career in the medical care industry. Physical therapists (PT) help individuals who have been debilitated due to illness or injury regain mobility and function. But before they may legally practice and provide treatment for the rehabilitation of patients, they must get the necessary training and education. A PT must additionally become licensed in every state, many requiring that the licensee earn a physical therapy degree from an accredited school. So prior to choosing a physical therapy school, it’s necessary to investigate the ones you are considering to make sure they will deliver a quality education and comply with your state’s licensing criteria. What you should not do is choose a school just because it happens to be the closest to your home or it has cheapest tuition. There are other significant qualifications that need to be considered in addition to location and cost. But before we cover what those qualifications are and the questions you should be asking, we’ll address what a physical therapist does and the options for education.

What Do Physical Therapists Do?

Story City IA physical therapist helping patient walk Physical therapists practice in varying locations, such as Story City IA hospitals, health clinics, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and sports facilities. What the facilities all share in common is that they have the equipment for diagnosing and rehabilitating patients. As earlier stated, physical therapists help individuals that are struggling with a lack of mobility and in many cases pain due to injury or illness. After diagnosing a patient, they design a program of treatment to resolve the mobility issues and lessen or eliminate any pain. They also try to stop any advancement of the disability. Although the causes of disability requiring physical therapy are numerous, they include:

Arthritis or Osteoporosis
Car or motor cycle accidents
Strokes.
Heart attacks.
Sports injuries.
Fire injuries.
Knee Replacement.
Fibromyalgia.
Cerebral Palsy.

Licensed physical therapists practice in close partnerships with other Story City IA medical professionals, including chiropractors, physicians, dentists and nurses. They may also manage several physical therapy assistants who work under them in diagnosing and treating their patients. Something to bear in mind for anyone considering entering the physical therapy field, it is quite physically demanding. Physical therapists routinely lift heavy equipment as well as patients, and kneel, crouch and stand for extended periods of time on a daily basis.

Physical Therapy Degrees Offered

Story City IA physical therapist applying acupuncture to patient There are three physical therapist degree options available for students to enroll in at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Of these choices, the single degree that is offered to practice as a physical therapist is the doctorate. Undergraduate degrees target either training students to become a physical therapy assistant (PTA) or prepping them to advance to the doctoral level. Following are brief summaries of degree levels that are offered in the Story City IA area:

Associate Degrees educate students to be physical therapy assistants, or may be used as a stepping stone to a more advanced degree. Applicants must have obtained a high school diploma or GED to qualify for enrollment. The programs are most often provided by community or junior colleges, and take about two years to complete. Clinical training, which may be in the form of an internship is typically part of the curriculum.
Bachelor’s Degrees are created as pre-physical therapy training to ready students to move up to the doctoral level. Although they are not a requirement to be qualified for the doctoral program, they are an essential first step to practicing as a PT. As with most bachelor’s degrees, they normally require 4 years to finish and commonly incorporate an internship program of a minimum of 500 hours.
Doctorate Degrees are a requirement if you want to become a licensed practicing physical therapist. The degree program must also be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). After earning the bachelor’s degree, the doctoral takes three years to finish, making the total commitment 7 years in most cases. Practical or clinical training is an essential component along with the considerable lab and classroom instruction. Consequently the fulfillment of an internship is required, not just for graduation but in a number of states for licensing also.

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 available in the United States. Some licensed physical therapists having a master’s or in some cases a bachelor’s degree were “grandfathered” in prior to the present licensing mandate for a doctorate was instituted.

Physical Therapy Online Colleges

woman attending physical therapy school online in Story City IA Although not as prevalent as the on campus options, there are a number of accredited online physical therapy degrees available, even more 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 in proximity of an available internship. However, the online segment of the course of study can be accessed within the convenience and comfort of the student’s Story City IA residence. Online programs are not only partially more accessible, but in many cases more affordable. Tuition may be somewhat less than comparable on campus options, and expenses for commuting are reduced. And many of the online programs are accredited by the CAPTE, assuring a quality education. These advantages may make the online alternative the right choice for those students that are disciplined enough to attend classes at home.

What to Ask Physical Therapy Programs

At this point you most likely have come to decision concerning a few of your preliminary questions, including the type of physical therapist degree you intend to attain, where you prefer to attend classes, and how much you can afford to invest in your education. But because there are so many PT schools within the Story City IA area and throughout Iowa, you’ll need to explore additional qualifications as well in order to further narrow your list of college choices. Moreover, you need to make certain that you pick the program that is best for you. That’s why we have collected a list of essential questions that you need to ask the physical therapy colleges you are thinking about. Ask each of the potential colleges these questions before making an ultimate selection.

Is the Physical Therapy School Accredited? Find out if the colleges you are looking at have earned accreditation from a national or a regional organization. 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 can also earn accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council. It’s important that both the physical therapy school and program you enroll in are accredited, not simply the school. Also, check that the accreditation is from a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting organization. Besides ensuring that you obtain a quality education, accreditation might be required for state licensing and even for securing student loans or financial aid.

What is the Program’s Reputation? Along with accreditation, it’s important that the college and program you pick have outstanding reputations within the physical therapist profession. There are several ways you can research a PT college’s reputation, starting with requesting references from employers that they refer their students to. You can also search for online reviews and rating services and ask the accrediting organizations for their reviews as well. Call some Story City IA physical therapy clinics or other medical care facilities that you may be interested in working for and ask if they can offer any insight about your school selections. It may also be a good idea to contact the Iowa Attorney General and school licensing authority to find out if any complaints have been submitted against the schools.

What is the Program’s Job Placement Percentage? There are a couple of useful statistics that you need to find out about all of the physical therapist colleges you are reviewing. One is their graduation rate. A low rate might suggest that students dropped out due to displeasure with the program, the instructors, or both. Once the students have graduated, how many of them are being placed in jobs with the support of the college’s job placement program, particularly in the Story City IA area? If a program has a higher job placement rate, it’s an indication that its reputation within the healthcare field is good or perhaps excellent. It also affirms that the college has a broad network of contacts to assist students get internships or jobs after graduation.

Does the School Prepare You For Licensing Requirements? It’s important that the program you enroll in provides both excellent training and a course of study that supports the licensing criteria for Iowa or the state where you will be practicing. In each state a passing score is needed on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) along with a degree from an accredited physical therapist school. While licensing requirements fluctuate state by state for PTA and PT graduates, a number of states require a minimum amount of clinical hours be performed as well as passing scores on supplemental tests.

Are Internships Provided? Ask if the physical therapist colleges you are reviewing have relationships with Story City IA clinics or hospitals for internship programs. Internships are not only an excellent manner to get hands on experience in a clinical environment, they are also a requirement for the majority of PT programs and state licensing. As an ancillary benefit, they may help students and graduates establish professional connections in the Story City healthcare community and help with obtaining employment once licensed.

What Size are the Classes ? Unless you are the kind of person that prefers to sit far in the back of class or get lost in the crowd, you will likely prefer a small class size. Small classes allow for more individual participation and personalized instruction. Ask the physical therapist colleges you are researching what the typical teacher to student ratio is for their classes. If practical you may prefer to sit in on one or more classes before making your final determination. This will also give you an opportunity to speak with a few of the students and instructors to get their perspectives regarding the pharmacist tech program also.

Where is the Program Located? For a lot of students, the physical therapist college they pick will need to be within travelling distance of their Story City IA home. Those who have opted to attend online classes obviously will not have to concern themselves with the location of the campus. However, the availability of area internships will be of importance. Something to bear in mind is that if you choose to enroll in a program that is out of state or perhaps out of your local area, you might need to pay a higher tuition. State colleges usually charge higher tuitions for out of state residents. And community colleges normally charge a higher tuition for those students that don’t reside within their districts.

Is Financial Help Provided? The majority of DPT colleges offer some type of financial support to their prospective students. Ask if the colleges you are examining have a financial assistance department and find out what kind of help is available. At a minimum they should help in securing a student loan or any scholarships you may qualify for. A number of physical therapist colleges provide scholarships, while others provide work programs. So before you eliminate a program because the tuition is too expensive, ask what financial assistance may be available.

Can the School Accommodate your Schedule? And finally you need to confirm that the physical therapy school you ultimately choose can furnish the class schedule you need. This is particularly important if you opt to continue working while attending classes. If you must schedule night or weekend classes in the Story City IA area, verify that they are available. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, verify if that is an alternative and how many courses or credit hours you would have to enroll in. Also, learn what the procedure is for making up any classes that you may miss as a result of work, illness or family obligations.

Earning Your Physical Therapy Degree near Story City Iowa?

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

Story City, Iowa

Story City is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States. Story City is located within the Ames, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area which envelops all of Story County and which, when held in conjunction with the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, complements the larger Ames-Boone, Iowa Combined Statistical Area. The population was 3,431 in the 2010 census, a slight increase from 3,228 in the 2000 census.[4][5]

Story City was throughout much of its early history known as Fairview. The named changed in 1881 when the town established a post office and discovered that Fairview was taken else where. Story City was then renamed after Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story. The boundaries of "Old Fairview" are outlined by signs during Scandinavian Days, and is approximately in the northeast corner of current Story City with the southern boundary being Broad Street.

Story City was laid out to include Fairview in 1878, and officially incorporated in 1881. The railroad arrived in 1878 and connected the city to Ames by the narrow-gauge Des Moines & Minnesota and to Des Moines via the Chicago and North Western Railroad in Ames.

Select the Best Physical Therapist Training Program near Story City IA

Selecting the best physical therapist school is an important first decision you need to make to start a rewarding career in the medical profession. As we have discussed in this article, the DPT or PT degree program and college you pick should both have excellent reputations and accreditation. But there are other relevant questions that you should ask pertaining to your school of choice also. As you begin your search for a physical therapy school, keep in mind that a number of variables will lead you toward your ultimate decision. You may decide to visit each of the campuses to view their facilities and speak to current DPT students. While there, ask yourself this important question: will this program help me achieve my goal of becoming a licensed practicing physical therapist? By following our list of supplemental questions, you will have the ability to narrow down the options so you can make the ideal choice. And with the necessary education and training, you can fulfill your dream of becoming a licensed physical therapist in Story City IA.