Gaining Pre-Physical Therapy Experience

A key component of your physical therapy school application is gaining a variety extracurricular experiences inside and outside of the field, as well as getting involved in your community. This experience is gained through shadowing, observations, health care volunteering and/or patient care experiences, and community engagement. Explore the ways to get experience in and out of the field before you attend physical therapy school on this page. 

• Shadowing, Volunteering and Patient Care Experiences
• Summer & Abroad Programs

Physical Therapy Observation Hours

A requirement of many physical therapy schools is the completion of observation hours under a specific type of provider. Those requirements are stated in the admission requirements of each individual PT program. Students are encouraged to carefully review their target school's information for the minimum number of hours required in this area. To do so, you may visit the list of PTCAS Participating Program and search their database. 

PTCAS will not confirm if you have completed the requisite number of hours for a particular program. It is the student's responsibility to confirm these hours appropriately. Make sure to read up on how to properly report your observation hours on PTCAS when you are applying. 

Volunteering

Competitive applicants will have both health care related volunteering and general community engagement volunteering in their application. They both serve different purposes. Health care volunteering allows you to learn about the health care system as a whole and what it means to be a part of that system. General volunteering shows your dedication and involvement in your community, as health care professionals ultimately serve the community they work in.

Check out some of the opportunities below for recommendations to get started. This isn't an exhaustive list, and we encourage you to do your own research in your local community.

Learn more on volunteering