Becoming a Sports Physical Therapist

<p>Hey everybody,</p>

<p>I am looking to become a Sports Physical Therapist one day to treat patients who have become injured due to sports related problems and need help to recover.</p>

<p>Currently I am in my senior year of high school and have 15 college credits completed. Most of these classes are on the IGETC list, which means they transfer to UC/CSU colleges. I will have 21 credits completed by the end of this semester (if I pass the classes I am currently taking) and will have around 24-27 credits completed by the end of my senior year in high school. I am going to transfer to Santa Monica College after I graduate high school, but right now I am stuck. I do not know what to major in. I am thinking either history, (because it is one of the easiest majors in SMC) kinesiology (because I will need it for physical therapy), or sociology (because for both i know people who majored in this and could help me with it). </p>

<p>I am looking also to transfer to a UC college, preferably UCLA. </p>

<p>Does anybody know any path I can take to transfer easier to UCLA?
Is UCLA even a good option if I want to become a sports physical therapist?
Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks in advanced!!</p>

<p>Your major at community college doesn’t matter. If you want to become a sports therapist, you should probably have a general understanding of bio and chem, so definitely take the introductory courses at smc. I think that once you transfer, kinesthesiology is the best route to take, but my understanding is that it’s not necessary to major in that to become a physical therapist.</p>

<p>so lets say i major in history, take all the introductory bio and chem classes to get an understanding of it, and get all good grades in community college and then transfer to UCLA</p>

<p>then what do i do when i want to become a physical therapist?
i am just confused on what happens after i get to UCLA.
please explain a little. thank you!!</p>

<p>here is the link to physical therapy at UCLA</p>

<p>[UCLA</a> Career Center](<a href=“http://career.ucla.edu/students/gradprofschcounseling/PreHealthCareerServices/PhysicalTherapy.aspx]UCLA”>http://career.ucla.edu/students/gradprofschcounseling/PreHealthCareerServices/PhysicalTherapy.aspx)</p>

<p>You’re asking about grad school, which doesn’t require a certain BA to be admitted. While it might help to have a major that’s related to the field you want to go into it’s not required. You would go to UCLA and compete your BA in History and then apply to grad school for physical therapy. You should probably make sure that you complete the prereqs for the physical therapy program that you want to get into, and try and get some internship/volunteer experience in some kind of thing related to physical therapy. Depending on the school you’re trying to go to grad school for, you’ll probably need to take the GRE. Hopefully this answers your questions.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

<p>I thought it was just UCLA and then im done.
life is so complicated!!</p>

<p>how many years of school is that total?</p>

<p>can you write me a map of what i have to complete in SMC and UCLA and then a list of graduate schools i could go to?</p>

<p>i just don’t get this anymore! -____-</p>

<p>…I’m not going to research graduate schools for you…</p>

<p>What makes you think that you can be a licensed physical therapist with just a BA in history? I’m all for offering help and assistance but I’m not going to do all the work for you. I told you what you’ll have to do, sorry if this comes off mean but you should be old enough to research schools by yourself. Go to the carrer center at the CC you go to, they should be able to help you.</p>

<p>ok i will…
im still in high school by the way. im a senior. just trying to figure out my life before it is too late.
any information you can tell me to help me in my path?
i am just confused on what to do.</p>

<p>Go to the American Physical therapy association (APTA) website. You can discover all of the accredited programs for a DPT (yes you need a doctoral degree) & figure out which ones appeal to you. You need a good advisor. Maybe someone at SMC?</p>

<p>Why dont you look at the grad school or career section of this website?</p>