Western Pt Second Year Here To Answer Any Questions!

[UWOPT17]

I'm about 4 months away from graduating PT here at Western, figure something like this might help those of you stuck on the fence between schools. If you've got any questions about the program, living in London, PT in general, or anything else feel free to post them here or PM me!

[kin12345]

Hi! why did you choose western to study PT? What stands out in this program compared to other schools?

 

Thanks!

[srotondo19]

Hey, is there a Western PT Facebook group or a good place to inquire about housing arrangements with students?

[Conham]

Hey, is there a Western PT Facebook group or a good place to inquire about housing arrangements with students?

One will be made once the class list is finalised. 

[PTerodactyl]

I'm about 4 months away from graduating PT here at Western, figure something like this might help those of you stuck on the fence between schools. If you've got any questions about the program, living in London, PT in general, or anything else feel free to post them here or PM me!

Are the majority of the placements transit-friendly? I'm concerned because I'm out-of-province and won't have access to a car. If a placement is too difficult to get to, will the program accommodate and arrange for an alternate?

[PT1010]

Are the majority of the placements transit-friendly? I'm concerned because I'm out-of-province and won't have access to a car. If a placement is too difficult to get to, will the program accommodate and arrange for an alternate?

 

This is one major con about the Western program. The catchment area is huge (from Windsor to Owen Sound to Kitchener, basically all of SW Ontario). There's a map on their website. So we got to select our top 10 from a list and the school would select one of the choices for us. The ones in London, and especially near campus (like Fowler-Kennedy + University Hospital) are super competitive, and you should definitely have a plan for having a placement outside the city. The school does what it can to accommodate for people's needs, but a lot of people want to stay in London for the sake of convenience (I mean even with a car, who wants to drive 2-3 hours a day) and they can't accommodate everyone. I know people that have moved to their city of placement. Western does offer some money in the form of bursaries to offset some of the cost of travel but it won't be fully covered. You are also required to get clinical experience in 3 areas of acute clinic, rehab and ambulatory care and sometimes you have to consider choices out of the city (and out of public transit range) to fit those in.  I know you are allowed to go out of catchment area for I think 2 of the 5 placements, so if you find a placement back home, they might be able to accommodate you there. Hope this helps.

[PTerodactyl]

This is one major con about the Western program. The catchment area is huge (from Windsor to Owen Sound to Kitchener, basically all of SW Ontario). There's a map on their website. So we got to select our top 10 from a list and the school would select one of the choices for us. The ones in London, and especially near campus (like Fowler-Kennedy + University Hospital) are super competitive, and you should definitely have a plan for having a placement outside the city. The school does what it can to accommodate for people's needs, but a lot of people want to stay in London for the sake of convenience (I mean even with a car, who wants to drive 2-3 hours a day) and they can't accommodate everyone. I know people that have moved to their city of placement. Western does offer some money in the form of bursaries to offset some of the cost of travel but it won't be fully covered. You are also required to get clinical experience in 3 areas of acute clinic, rehab and ambulatory care and sometimes you have to consider choices out of the city (and out of public transit range) to fit those in. I know you are allowed to go out of catchment area for I think 2 of the 5 placements, so if you find a placement back home, they might be able to accommodate you there. Hope this helps.

Thanks for being so detailed! This is super helpful. Do you know if placements are assigned on a lottery basis or determined by grades?

[PT1010]

Thanks for being so detailed! This is super helpful. Do you know if placements are assigned on a lottery basis or determined by grades?

 

Wasn't too sure about this but I did dig up the old clinical experience handbook and I can confirm that placements are randomly assigned by a computer.

[UWOPT17]

Hi! why did you choose western to study PT? What stands out in this program compared to other schools?

 

Thanks!

 

Can't speak of choosing Western, as it was the only choice I had but the other Western MPT students lurking around could maybe chime in if they picked. The main thing that stands out from other schools is definitely the strength of the Orthopedics/MSK part of the curriculum. Many of our profs/teaching assistants teach the Ortho Division level system courses, and if you take the Manual Therapy elective you can immediately challenge your ortho level 1 exam (which I believe is the same with Toronto).

 

Are the majority of the placements transit-friendly? I'm concerned because I'm out-of-province and won't have access to a car. If a placement is too difficult to get to, will the program accommodate and arrange for an alternate?

 

I agree with the above post, its difficult to get around without a car for some placements especially out of London, but within London most of the placements are usually not too bad to get to via bus. It helps that Parkwood and Victoria Hospital, which are in South London, usually have multiple students at a time and thus its easy to find someone to carpool with. Western does have a very generous travel and housing bursary (1200$ over the program) to help offset some of these costs that are required when moving out of London, especially as you are now required to do 2 placements out of London but within the catchment area.