Pre-Physical Therapy

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Do you know what a physical therapist does? They work with patients of all ages who have medical issues or other conditions that hinder their ability to move effectively or carry out daily activities.

Admission requirements for graduate programs leading to a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree can vary between professional schools. If you're considering a career as a physical therapist, please reach out to the Pre-Health Professions Advisor at UNA and review the catalog of the graduate school that offers the physical therapy program.

No specific major is required, although the most common majors nationwide include movement sciences, such as exercise science and biology. Students applying to graduate programs must hold a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university. The following courses are typically required for admission to a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program. These courses can be completed as part of your undergraduate degree or in addition to it. Click here for a list of PT schools, their prerequisites, and PT observation requirements.

PT Observation/Shadowing

Most physical therapy programs require you to have considerable shadowing experience with licensed physical therapists in various settings (e.g., pediatric, geriatric, inpatient, and outpatient). Typically, you will be responsible for keeping your own record of shadowing hours to include in your application. However, some schools may require documented shadowing hours using specific forms available on their websites. Be sure to check the requirements of your target schools before starting your shadowing experience.

Course Requirements vary among schools, however the following are the most common required pre-requisites:

  • Biology (8 semester hours)
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology (8 semester hours)
  • General Chemistry (8 semester hours)
  • General Physics (8 semester hours)
  • Pre-calculus Trigonometry or Pre-calculus Algebra and Trigonometry
  • Statistics
  • General Psychology AND  1 or 2 other psychology courses (i.e. Psychology of Adjustment, Abnormal Psychology, Physiological Psychology)

All of these courses are part of the curriculum for a major in biology, pre-health biology option, but if you wish to major in exercise science rather than biology, click here. Just remember many of these classes will have to be taken in addition to those required for the exercise science major. The choice of major is completely up to you!

If you are looking to stay in Alabama for PT school, you have five options:

Where you go is up to you and how you fit best with each program, but you need to apply to more than one program.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

The GRE is the test taken for admission to most schools of physical therapy.  The GRE has three sections:  Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Analytical Writing. The content closely mimics the types of thinking required of graduate programs.  For more information on the GRE, including test dates at UNA, click here.

Useful Websites

Steps To Starting Your Career as a PT American Physical Therapy Association PT Program Admissions Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service (PTCAS) Summary of PT Observation Hours