Physical Therapist Schools | Get Your Physical Therapy Degree - Queens Village NY

How to Select a Physical Therapy School near Queens Village 11427

Queens Village NY physical therapy school student with volunteer Obtaining a physical therapy degree near Queens Village NY is an essential first step to beginning a rewarding career in the health care industry. Physical therapists (PT) help patients who have been disabled as a result of illness or injury regain function and mobility. But before they may legally practice and provide treatment for the rehabilitation of patients, they need to obtain the necessary education and training. A PT must also be licensed in all states, a large number requiring that the licensee receive a physical therapy degree from an accredited college. So prior to selecting a physical therapy school, it’s essential to investigate the ones you are considering to make certain they will deliver a quality education and satisfy your state’s licensing criteria. What you should not do is select a school just because it happens to be the closest to your residence or it has the most affordable tuition. There are other important qualifications that must be evaluated besides cost and location. But before we cover what those qualifications are and what questions you should ask, we’ll cover what a physical therapist does and the options for education.

What Does a Physical Therapist Do?

Queens Village NY physical therapist helping patient walk Physical therapists work in a variety of settings, including Queens Village NY private practices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and health clubs. What the facilities all have in common is that they are equipped for the diagnosis and rehabilitation treatment of patients. As previously mentioned, physical therapists help patients that are struggling with a lack of mobility and frequently pain due to illness or injury. After patient diagnosis, they design a program of treatment to deal with the mobility problems and lessen or eradicate any pain. They also endeavor to prevent any progression of the disability. Although the causes of disability necessitating physical therapy are numerous, they include:

Arthritis or Osteoporosis
Motor vehicle accidents
Strokes.
Heart attacks.
Sports injuries.
Fire injuries.
Knee Replacement.
Sciatica.
Cerebral Palsy.

Licensed physical therapists practice in close affiliation with other Queens Village NY medical specialists, including doctors, chiropractors, registered nurses and dentists. They can also oversee several physical therapy assistants who work under them in the diagnosis and treatment of their patients. One thing to take note of for anyone considering getting into the physical therapy field, it is rather physically demanding. Physical therapists often lift heavy equipment as well as patients, and stand, crouch and kneel for prolonged periods of time on a daily basis.

Physical Therapist Degree Options

Queens Village NY physical therapist applying acupuncture to patient There are 3 physical therapist degree options available for students to pursue at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Of these options, the one degree that is available to practice as a physical therapist is the doctorate. Undergraduate degrees focus on either training students to become a physical therapy assistant (PTA) or readying them to advance to the doctoral level. Below are brief explanations of degrees that are available in the Queens Village NY area:

Associate Degrees train students to become physical therapy assistants, or may be used as a stepping stone to a more advanced degree. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED to be accepted for enrollment. The programs are usually made available by community colleges, and require 2 years for completion. An internship or other form of clinical training is usually a component of the curriculum.
Bachelor’s Degrees are designed as pre-physical therapist training to prep students to advance to the doctoral level. Although they are not required to be qualified for the doctoral program, they are an integral first step to becoming a PT. As with most bachelor’s degrees, they normally take four years to complete and often incorporate an internship program of a minimum of 500 hours.
Doctorate Degrees are mandated in order to become a licensed practicing physical therapist. The degree program also must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). In addition to the bachelor’s degree, the doctoral takes three years to finish, making the total investment of time 7 years in the majority of cases. Clinical training is an important component in addition to the substantial lab and classroom instruction. Therefor the completion of an internship is required, not only for graduation but in several states for licensing as well.

The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) has taken the place of the Master’s of Physical Therapy (MPT), which has been phased out and is no longer attainable in the United States. Some licensed physical therapists holding a master’s or even a bachelor’s degree were “grandfathered” in before the present licensing mandate for a doctorate was instituted.

Physical Therapist Programs Online

woman attending physical therapy school online in Queens Village NY While not as prevalent as the more traditional options, there are many accredited online physical therapy programs offered, more so at the graduate level. Due to the hands-on structure of the training, internships and clinical lab work are integrated with the online classes. This necessitates that the student live near the school campus or in proximity of an available internship. Fortunately, the online segment of the program may be accessed within the comfort and convenience of the student’s Queens Village NY home. Online schools are not only to some extent more accessible, but in a number of cases more affordable. Tuition may be somewhat lower than comparable on campus options, and expenditures for commuting are minimized. And many of the online programs are accredited by the CAPTE, guaranteeing a quality education. These benefits can make the online option the ideal choice for those students that are disciplined enough to attend classes at home.

Subjects to Ask Physical Therapy Programs

By now you probably have made a decision regarding some of your preliminary questions, like the type of physical therapy degree you would like to earn, where you want to attend classes, and how much money you can afford to spend for your education. But considering there are so many PT schools within the Queens Village NY area and throughout New York, you’ll need to research other qualifications also so as to further reduce your list of school options. Moreover, you need to be sure that you select the program that is ideal for you. That’s the reason we have collected a list of critical questions that you must ask the physical therapist colleges you are considering. Ask each of the potential schools these questions prior to making an ultimate selection.

Is the Physical Therapy College Accredited? Find out if the programs you are looking at have earned accreditation from a regional or a national organization. As earlier mentioned, if you are pursuing a doctorate the program must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). If you select an online program, it can also earn accreditation from the Distance Education and Training Council. It’s essential that both the physical therapy program and school you choose are accredited, not simply the school. Additionally, make sure that the accreditation is from a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting organization. Along with guaranteeing that you receive an excellent education, accreditation might be required for state licensing and even for securing student loans or financial aid.

What is the School’s Reputation? In addition to accreditation, it’s imperative that the college and program you select have outstanding reputations within the physical therapist community. There are multiple ways you can look into a PT program’s reputation, starting with asking for references from employers that they refer their students to. You can also check online rating services and reviews and ask the accrediting organizations for their reviews as well. Contact some Queens Village NY physical therapist clinics or other health care facilities that you may be interested in working for and ask if they can provide any insight about your program selections. It might also be a good idea to check with the New York Attorney General and school licensing authority to see if any complaints have been filed against the colleges.

What is the School’s Job Placement Rate? There are a two useful statistics that you need to find out about each of the physical therapy colleges you are looking at. First is their graduation rate. A lower rate might indicate that students dropped out because of dissatisfaction with the program, the instructors, or both. After the students have graduated, how many of them are being placed in jobs with the assistance of the college’s job placement program, particularly in the Queens Village NY area? If a college has a higher job placement rate, it’s an indication that its reputation within the healthcare field is good or even excellent. It also confirms that the college has a broad network of contacts to assist students gain internships or jobs upon graduation.

Does the School Support Licensing Requirements? It’s important that the school you choose provides both excellent training and a course of study that supports the licensing requirements for New York or the state where you will be working. In each state a passing score is needed on the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) along with a degree from an accredited physical therapist college. While licensing requirements differ state by state for PT and PTA graduates, some states require a minimum amount of clinical hours be completed and passing scores on supplemental tests.

Are Internships Sponsored? Ask if the physical therapist schools you are interested in have associations with Queens Village NY hospitals or clinics for internship programs. Internships are not only an excellent manner to receive practical training in a clinical environment, they are also a requirement for the majority of PT programs and state licensing. As a secondary benefit, they can help graduates and students form professional relationships in the Queens Village health care community and help with obtaining employment after licensing.

What are the Class Sizes ? Unless you are the type of student that likes to sit far in the rear of the classroom or hide in the crowd, you will likely prefer a small class size. Small classes permit more individual participation and personalized instruction. Ask the physical therapy colleges you are researching what the typical student to teacher ratio is for their classrooms. If practical you may want to monitor one or more classes before making your ultimate determination. This will also give you a chance to converse with some of the students and instructors to get their perspectives regarding the pharmacist tech program also.

Where is the School Located? For many students, the physical therapy college they choose will need to be within driving distance of their Queens Village NY home. Individuals who have chosen to attend classes online naturally will not have to concern themselves with the location of the campus. However, the availability of area internships will be of concern. Something to bear in mind is that if you decide to enroll in a college that is out of state or perhaps out of your local area, you may be required to pay a higher tuition. State colleges commonly charge higher tuitions for out of state residents. And community colleges typically charge a higher tuition for those students that live outside of their districts.

Is Financial Assistance Provided? The majority of DPT schools supply some form of financial support to their potential students. Ask if the schools you are considering have a financial assistance department and see what kind of aid is offered. They at least should help in obtaining a student loan or any grants you may be eligible for. Some physical therapy colleges offer scholarships, while others provide work programs. So before eliminating a school because the tuition is beyond your budget, find out what financial assistance might be available.

Can the College Accommodate your Schedule? And last you must confirm that the physical therapy program you ultimately pick can provide the class schedule you need. This is especially crucial if you decide to continue working while you attend school. If you need to schedule night or weekend classes in the Queens Village NY area, make sure that they are available. If you can only enroll on a part-time basis, check if that is an alternative and how many courses or credit hours you would have to enroll in. Also, ask what the procedure is for making up any classes that you might miss due to illness, work or family emergencies.

Earning Your Physical Therapy Degree near Queens Village New York?

If you are planning on attending a Physical Therapy School in the Queens Village NY area, the following information may prove to be both interesting and educational regarding the location of your future Alma Mater.

Queens Village, Queens

Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens.[4] The Queens Village Post Office serves the ZIP codes of 11427 (Hollis Hills and Bellaire), 11428 (central Queens Village), and 11429 (Southern Queens Village below the Long Island Railroad Tracks). The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 13.[5]

Shopping in the community is located along Braddock Avenue, Hillside Avenue, Hempstead Avenue, and Jamaica Avenue (NY 25), as well as on Springfield Boulevard. Located just east of Queens Village, in Nassau County, is the Belmont Park race track.

Close to the neighborhood are Cunningham Park and Alley Pond Park, as well as the historic Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP), home of the turn of the century racing competition, the Vanderbilt Cup. The LIMP was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt, a descendant of the family that presided over the New York Central Railroad and Western Union; it is now part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway used by bicyclists, joggers and nature trail lovers.

Choose the Best Physical Therapy School near Queens Village NY

Selecting the right physical therapist college is an important initial decision you have to make to start a rewarding career in the healthcare field. As we have addressed in this article, the PT or DPT degree program and college you enroll in should both have excellent reputations and be accredited. However there are other important questions that you should ask pertaining to your school of choice as well. As you start your search for a physical therapy school, keep in mind that a number of variables will guide you to your final decision. You may decide to visit different campuses to view their facilities and speak with current DPT students. While there, ask yourself this critical question: will this college help me accomplish my goal of becoming a practicing licensed physical therapist? By following our list of additional questions, you will be able to narrow down the options so you can make the best choice. And with the necessary education and training, you can achieve your dream to become a licensed physical therapist in Queens Village NY.