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Angel
Student
Laurinburg, North Carolina
4
Questions
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Do you have to take science classes to became an physical therapist ?
My name is Angel, I am in the 11th grade. I want to go to college. I want to plan my classes now. #physical-therapist #physical #science #higher-education #career #career-counseling
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2 answers
Rachel Weinheimer
Surgeon
1121
Answers
Amarillo, Texas
Updated
Rachel’s Answer
Yes you will need to take science classes in college prior to pursuing a degree in physical therapy. However, you don't have to wait until then. AP calculus, bio, chem, and physics are all excellent preparation for the college pre-requisite classes. If you have seen this information before, you will have a better chance of getting an A in the class in college.
Christine Pollock
Higher Education Professional
31
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Christine’s Answer
Hi Angel,
You are very smart to start thinking about what your major is going to be in college and what you can do now to prepare ahead of time. Now, to answer your question, oh yes, you will need to take a number of Science classes, Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Kinesiology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry, probably Physics, and maybe Zoology. The reason you will need to study all these areas in Science is because a Physical Therapist needs to know all the workings and movement of the muscles, bones, how the nerves work, tendons and other areas of the body. The Physical Therapist is helping injured individuals learn how to work that injury and area of injury back to where they were before they were hurt.
Again, Angel great idea to check into this early, it will help you so much when you get into college. Check into AP classes at your school, sometimes they transfer to colleges. You could also ask about if you could take college classes along with your high school classes.
Remember, Physical Therapy (PT) is an extremely difficult field to get into. Once you have graduated, you then have to go through 2-3 more years of training at either a specialized school, medical school or at a hospital. They take very few people and have hundreds of applicants. I'm not trying to discourage you Angel, just let you know you will want to work very hard and maintain a high GPA. Checking into interning at a nursing home, or volunteering somewhere there is PT will look great on your resume. If you know someone who is a Physical Therapist, ask if you can shadow them, volunteer with them and when the time comes intern with them. The more you get into the field prior to PT school the better it looks on your application.
You are very smart to start thinking about what your major is going to be in college and what you can do now to prepare ahead of time. Now, to answer your question, oh yes, you will need to take a number of Science classes, Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Kinesiology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Inorganic Chemistry, probably Physics, and maybe Zoology. The reason you will need to study all these areas in Science is because a Physical Therapist needs to know all the workings and movement of the muscles, bones, how the nerves work, tendons and other areas of the body. The Physical Therapist is helping injured individuals learn how to work that injury and area of injury back to where they were before they were hurt.
Again, Angel great idea to check into this early, it will help you so much when you get into college. Check into AP classes at your school, sometimes they transfer to colleges. You could also ask about if you could take college classes along with your high school classes.
Remember, Physical Therapy (PT) is an extremely difficult field to get into. Once you have graduated, you then have to go through 2-3 more years of training at either a specialized school, medical school or at a hospital. They take very few people and have hundreds of applicants. I'm not trying to discourage you Angel, just let you know you will want to work very hard and maintain a high GPA. Checking into interning at a nursing home, or volunteering somewhere there is PT will look great on your resume. If you know someone who is a Physical Therapist, ask if you can shadow them, volunteer with them and when the time comes intern with them. The more you get into the field prior to PT school the better it looks on your application.