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Doctor of Physical Therapy Degree-is this needed in addition to a Master's?


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Dd is thinking of physical therapy as a possible career choice, so I was looking into it and I see that as of 2017 everyone will need the DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy degree).

 

Does that mean you have to get a Master's first (which I saw was 2 1/2 yrs) and THEN the DPT, which is three yrs? Or does the DPT supercede the Master's-in other words, you finish your bachelor's and go straight into the DPT?

 

Because if it is 5 1/2 yrs after the bachelor's, that is just way too much schooling (almost as much as a doctor!) for that type of career and she would prbly not want to do that.

 

Thanks!

 

ETA: from my lame googling, it looks like you just need the bachelor's and then the DPT?

Edited by HappyGrace
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Just a Bachelor's and then an entry level DPT. No MSPT needed in this case.

 

I have been a therapist for so long that I practice with my Bachelor's and a second Bachelor's in PT. One of my dear friends who is older than me *gasp* has his BS and then just a Certificate of PT education.

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Is landing a spot in a physical therapy programs still so difficult? I was a science major at a university with a nationally recognized PT program, so the students trying to get a coveted spot were in all my classes. Talk about competitive!

 

 

My daughter applied to a physical therapy assistant program and that was very competitive! From conversations with our PT, the PT programs are as well and becoming a PTA first is helpful.

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Yes, I was reading how you didn't need all this certification before!!! Looking at these programs, it sounds like a job I would have loved to do; I wish I would have known about it to pursue it back then.

 

So when/how would you pursue a PTA, if that is helpful to get into the DPT programs? Is that something you can do during your bachelor's work? (She wouldn't want to take a lot of time out to separately pursue the PTA.)

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