General Program Description The PTA program is 2 years plus one semester in length. Program start date is annually in August with a May graduation. The summer courses are taken between the first and second year. Clinical Experiences Students participate a part-time clinical experience consisting of 3 days per week for 6 weeks occur at the end of the third semester. Two full-time experiences take place during the fourth semester. The first experience is 5 1/2 weeks in length, the second experience is 7 weeks in length. Faculty There are 2.5 full-time and four part-time faculty members. Of the full-time faculty 50% hold post-professional masters degrees. The instructor to student ratio is no greater than 1:9. Enrollment The College serves approximately 41,500 student annually. The physical therapist assistant program accepts a maximum of 36 students for admission yearly. Thirty-two full-time students and four part-time students are admitted annually. Admission Applications are accepted beginning on the Monday after Labor Day in September for the following year. Notification is made by Student Services, Admissions. NWTC requires an entrance skill inventory for all program students. Requirements for program entry include a high school diploma or the equivalency, a minimum composite score of 20 Read more [...]
General Program Description The PTA program is 4 semesters with no summer sessions. Clinical Experiences Clinical experience is provided in the third and fourth semesters. All clinics are within a 50-mile driving radius. Each student is assigned to three varied clinical sites of 8 weeks each. The third semester clinical experiences are considered part-time. The fourth semester clinical is one full-time, 8-week session. Faculty There are two full time faculty members. The faculty to student ratio is 1:9 in laboratory sessions, and 1:18 in classroom settings. Enrollment Milwaukee Area Technical College total student enrollment is approximately 40,000 located on four campuses. The physical therapist assistant program, located on the Milwaukee downtown campus, has a total enrollment of 18 students in each of the two concurrent semester classes. Transfer students are not accepted, and preference is given to in-district residents. Admission Classes begin in January of each year. Applications are accepted in a 2-3 week petition window that occurs in September each year. Applications are reviewed within one month of the petition window. Outcomes 80.5% of admitted students graduate (3 year average) 97% of graduates are employed (3 year average 2010–2012) 97.3% of graduates successfully passed the licensure exam (3 year Read more [...]
General Program Description The program is a 2-year, full-time course with 70 credits required for graduation. There are two part-time tracks available to students which allow the program to be completed in three or four years. Most classes are taught during daytime hours, with several evening lab sections offered. The program follows a curriculum shared by the other PTA programs in the Wisconsin Technical College System. There are 35 credits of required PTA academic courses and 10 credits of clinical experience. Anatomy & physiology and six other general education courses are required for graduation. Most PTA courses include a combination of lecture and lab. Courses are taught in a combination laboratory-classroom dedicated to the PTA program. The lab is amply equipped to allow students to practice and develop competency with all skills prior to applying them in clinical courses. Upon graduation, students receive their AAS degree and are eligible to take the national PTA licensing examination. The program offers elective courses to program students and to physical therapy practitioners in the community. It also offers a bridge program allowing active duty PT technicians from Great Lakes Naval Station to complete a PTA degree while stationed there. Clinical Experiences There are Read more [...]
General Program Description The 2-year integrated program consists of 45 physical therapist assistant and 25 general education course credits, totaling 70 program credits. The program consists of 5 terms. The PTA courses begin in August. Degrees are conferred in May. The Blackhawk Technical College Physical Therapist Assistant Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Physical Therapy Education. Clinical Experiences There are three clinical courses required in the Physical Therapist Assistant program. The first course is in the spring, or second semester of the first year, and is 1 day per week. The second is in the fall, or first semester of the second year, and is 2 days per week. The final experience is in the second semester of the second year and is a full-time experience for 8 weeks. Clinical education sites are located within a 90-mile radius of the school. These clinical sites provide a variety of experiences, including hospital acute, rehab, outpatient, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, and community based specialty clinics such as school systems, 0-3 programs, home health, developmentally disabled, sports medicine, and work hardening. The program aims to expose each student to as many types of physical therapy services as possible to Read more [...]
General Program Description Whatcom Community College offers a two-year Associate in Science Degree Program to prepare PTA’s for immediate employment. The mission of the program is to graduate entry-level physical therapist assistants who possess the knowledge and skill necessary to work under the supervision of the physical therapist while providing safe and competent patient services for the prevention or alleviation of physical impairment. Curriculum design is oriented to develop skills as well as comprehension of underlying theory, both of which are essential to competent practice. There are two program formats available to students; the full-time on campus program and the part-time online/hybrid (expansion) program. The full-time, on campus program begins each fall quarter and is offered in a 1+1 design format: the first year to complete program prerequisites and general education requirements and the second year to complete PTA core classes spanning five consecutive quarters (15 months). The online/hybrid program begins each spring quarter and is a part-time design format: prerequisites and general education requirements typically take one year to complete and then two years to complete the PTA core courses over 9 consecutive quarters. This program is described as a hybrid program because only the lecture portion of it Read more [...]
General Program Description The Spokane Falls Community College PTA program is committed to providing excellence in educational and clinical experiences to enable students to develop skills necessary for successful employment within the spectrum of care and varied scope of physical therapy practice. The program strives to graduate caring and compassionate individuals who will provide physical therapy services ethically within the standards of practice under the guidance and supervision of physical therapists, and who will be able to respond appropriately within the ever-changing environment of health care. The program is designed to be completed in seven full-time academic quarters. PTA technical courses must be taken in sequence and are only offered to students accepted into the PTA program. Students are encouraged to complete general education requirements and related course work prior to entering the PTA program. The PTA program combines didactic course work (lecture format) with extensive laboratory course work in the PTA laboratory facility, and approximately 570 hours of clinical education in various physical therapy clinics affiliated with the program located throughout eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Students can expect to attend nearly full days in the laboratory courses and the clinic courses during most quarters of the program. While Read more [...]
General Program Description Olympic College offers a two-year curriculum designed to prepare graduates to be employed as Physical Therapist Assistants. The program offers a balance of general education courses, physical therapy theory and physical therapy assistant practice. Following acceptance, the professional phase of the program can be completed in five consecutive quarters. PTA program courses require a minimum 2.7 grade point or above to progress in the program. Clinical education courses are pass/fail. Graduates are prepared for immediate employment as physical therapist assistants (PTA) in various health care settings including hospitals, long-term care and skilled nursing facilities, private out-patient practice, school settings and home health. Clinical Experiences Olympic College incorporates clinical education as an integral aspect of the Physical Therapist Assistant Program. Students accepted into the program will complete 640 hours of clinical education as part of the professional curriculum. There is one 10 week, part-time clinical experience in Quarter 3 and one 3 week full-time clinical experience in Quarter 5. There are two 5 week, full-time clinical experiences during Quarter 6. Clinical education sites provide a representation of the community’s diverse rehabilitation opportunities. Education sites selected will include acute inpatient hospital care, outpatient sports and orthopedics, pediatrics, skilled physical Read more [...]