Physical Therapist Assistant - Program of Study
Courses include human body systems, professionalism and ethics, contemporary practice issues, diversity in health care, communication, PT/PTA relationship and scope of practice, psychosocial impacts in physical therapy treatment, basic mathematics, applied kinesiology, physical therapy foundations and treatment interventions for simple and complex conditions (soft tissue injury, general medical, orthopedic, neurological, and complex medical dysfunction), and cooperative education.
The Physical Therapist Assistant program is a two-year concentrated program and will require good reading and study skills. PTA courses must be taken in sequence and will have established prerequisites. In addition to lecture credit course work, students can expect no less than 6 hours of on-campus laboratory instruction per week each term, as well as unscheduled laboratory practice. Students spend a minimum of 18 weeks in full-time cooperative education in community education sites. Students may have to travel to cooperative education sites more than 60 miles from the college campus in order to complete cooperative education requirements for graduation. Students are responsible for travel and lodging costs associated with required cooperative education course work.
Students should feel comfortable using computers and internet platforms for program success. Prerequisites for the program, required documentation and additional application requirements are included in the application information on the PTA program webpage. Upon acceptance into the PTA program, there is a mandatory orientation and documentation requirements prior to admission.
For a detailed look at the required curriculum, go to the online catalog. Physical Therapist Assistant. * (.pdf) * (Requires Adobe Reader)