physical therapist assisting patient

Physical Therapist Assistant

PROGRAM

Become a guide on the road to recovery.

What you’ll earn

Physical Therapist Assistants are a valued component of physical therapy practice. You'll work with your supervising physical therapist to help patients meet their functional goals. Through exercises, symptom management, functional movement training, and self-care techniques, you'll help patients gain the skills and confidence to move confidently and comfortably and prevent injury. Through Lane’s Physical Therapist Assistant program, you’ll develop the skills you need to be an asset in any setting where people come for physical therapy.

Associate Degree

Do you find the human body fascinating? Do you like helping people live full, active lives? Do you enjoy working in a team that helps others improve their health and recover from injury or surgery? Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs) are licensed healthcare providers that help prevent, restore, and optimize movement. Whether you’re interested in working with athletes, amputees, injured workers, the elderly, or in general practice, Lane’s PTA program can help you achieve your dreams.

Through online lectures, lab practice, and realistic simulations with faculty and peers, you’ll learn the skills you need to thrive as a PTA. During the first year of the program, you’ll need to be on campus at least one full day per week. In the second year, you’ll continue with online lecture and in-person lab classes and complete three, full-time six-week supervised internships in an assigned physical therapy setting.

2 years Full-time
$22,324 Full program

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

  • Teaching appropriate exercises for improving strength, flexibility, coordination, agility, and performance
  • Instructing and progressing mobility skills, such as bed mobility, sitting, standing, walking, and higher level mobility skills depending on the condition and plan
  • Using ultrasound, electrical stimulation, heat, and other tools to help reduce pain, improve strength, and assist tissue healing
  • Using rehabilitation equipment and aids to optimize patient safety and function
  • Performing selected tests and measures that inform clinical decision making when implementing the physical therapy plan of care
  • Collecting and reporting relevant data, such as aerobic capacity, pain, cognition, joint motion, muscle performance, neuromuscular development and performance, posture, self-care, circulation, respiration, ventilation, and home/community management
  • Communicating effectively with a variety of healthcare providers, such as nurses, doctors, and other rehabilitation professionals
  • Advocating for patients, the public, and health care through engagement with the American Physical Therapy Association, Oregon Physical Therapy Association, and providing at least 10 hours of community service for a non-profit organization.
  • Practicing responsibly in accordance with the American Physical Therapy Association Standards of Ethical Practice for the Physical Therapist Assistant

AFTER LANE

You can work in a wide variety of settings such as outpatient physical therapy clinics, schools, public health clinics, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and in-home care! Do you like exploring new places and meeting new people? You can work as a traveling PTA and go wherever you’re needed! Lane PTA graduates are successful in finding employment both in Oregon and beyond.
Some Physical Therapist Assistant courses transfer to Pacific University and Oregon Institute of Technology. PTA’s that earn four-year or advanced degrees may choose to become educators, researchers, and administrators.

PTA Program Mission

We provide comprehensive, accessible, quality, learning-centered and patient-centered education that promotes student and graduate success in working effectively under the direction and supervision of physical therapists.

State of the Art Facilities

Whether you’re completing your degree at Lane’s main campus in Eugene or at our partner campus at Rogue Community College in White City, you’ll have access to well equipped, state of the art classrooms. Equipment and materials including a Shuttle Balance, standing frames, biophysical agents, and more allow for authentic practice and skill building that meets the needs of today’s physical therapy provider.

Physical Therapy Assistant video

Physical Therapist Assistant youtube cover image

Program Accreditation and Disclosures

The Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Lane Community College is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), 3030 Potomac Ave., Suite 100, Alexandria, Virginia, 22305-3085; telephone 703-706-3245; email acccreditation@apta.org; website: capteonline.org. If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please call (541) 463-5617 or email healthprofessionsoffice@lanecc.edu.

Financial Aid Consumer Information

Three-Year Acceptance and Matriculation Rates

Admission Year Applications Students Admitted
2021 69 20 Eugene, 8 So. OR
2022 44 22 Eugene, 4 So. OR
2023 42 20 Eugene, 7 So. OR

Average Program Outcomes (2022, 2023)

Location Graduation Rate NPTE Pass Rate Employment Rate
Eugene Campus 77.1% 96.3% 100%
Southern Oregon Campus 100% 93.8% 100%

PTA Financial Fact Sheet

View the PTA Student Financial Fact Sheet

Faculty Spotlights

Christina Howard

Christina Howard

Program Coordinator

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Admissions staff - Susie, Nikki, and Rosa Maria

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Building 1, Room 102
Lane Community College
4000 E. 30th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97405
M-W, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Th, 10:00 a.m. - 5 p.m.
F, 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.