<p>I plan on getting a bachelors in kinesiology. After that, i want to do extra years of schooling to become a physical therapist. But I'm not sure which is the better path: go to grad school to get a masters in physical therapy or go to med school?</p>
<p>Any Suggestions or opinions would be great. Thanks.</p>
<p>If you want to become a physical therapist, then you need to go to a grad program in physical therapy (usually for a doctorate in physical therapy), not to med school. If you want to go to med school, then you might want to consider a residency in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (physiatry) after you complete med school.</p>
<p>[Information</a> for Prospective Students](<a href=“http://www.apta.org/ProspectiveStudents/]Information”>Resources for PT and PTA Students | APTA)
[Directory</a> of Programs](<a href=“http://www.capteonline.org/Programs/]Directory”>Directory of Programs | Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education)</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.abpmr.org/index.html[/url]”>https://www.abpmr.org/index.html</a>
[AAPM&R</a> - American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation](<a href=“http://www.aapmr.org/Pages/default.aspx]AAPM&R”>AAPM&R - American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation)
[Welcome</a> to AOBPMR](<a href=“http://www.aobpmr.org/]Welcome”>http://www.aobpmr.org/)
[Physical</a> Medicine and Rehabilitation](<a href=“http://www.abms.org/Who_We_Help/Consumers/About_Physician_Specialties/physical.aspx]Physical”>http://www.abms.org/Who_We_Help/Consumers/About_Physician_Specialties/physical.aspx)
[Association</a> of Academic Physiatrists - Home Page](<a href=“http://www.physiatry.org/]Association”>http://www.physiatry.org/)</p>
<p>can i become a PT with a masters degree in physical therapy?</p>
<p>^ Absolutely. I believe the Cal States are the only programs that still offer the MPT (don’t quote me on this), and they are all good programs. But the obvious shift is that most PT’s have their DPT, so my opinion is that the extra year for a DPT is definitely worth it. But if cost is an issue and you want to be in school a year less, the demand for PT’s is high enough that it doesn’t matter if you have an MPT or DPT as long as you graduated from an accredited program and are licensed.</p>
<p>tahoe23 :</p>
<p>Going to Med School to become a physical therapist is like climbing Mt Everest to get some fresh air</p>
<p>'nuff said ??</p>
<p>Thanks mr burns! And Shannon, rephrase that in college terms for me lol</p>
<p>" And Shannon, rephrase that in college terms for me lol "</p>
<p>‘In college terms’ , huh ?? Okay , Try =</p>
<p>Going to Med School to become a physical therapist is like getting a degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT so you can change a light bulb</p>
<p>Better ??</p>
<p>They are phasing out the MPT the doctorate is now the standard similar to how the Master of pharmacy was replaced by the doctorate program 15 or so years ago. The MPT may be worthless in a few years and you will have trouble competing with those that have the DPT for a job.</p>
<p>Med School gives you the best salary and best options. If you are looking for a masters program that will get you good prospects consider the physicians assistant master’s. They fetch $70k+ and have good job prospects. Master of Science nursing is also good though I am not sure you could go straight to that from where you are.</p>
<p>Cal State Universities (CSUs) offer the Master’s degree because the California Master Plan for Higher Education mandates that campuses of the University of California (UC) are the only public universities in California that can offer Doctoral programs and the Masters degree is the highest degree that CSUs can offer. CSU has tried to get approval to offer Doctoral programs in some disciplines such as Physical Therapy but UC is opposed and has blocked it.</p>