Guest goredmen Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Anyone else thinking about this route? Please tell me some pros and cons of pursuing physical therapy as an undergrad, if you have done it, some experiences would be nice! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TyShams Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hey Gord, I just completed my degree in Physical Therapy. Most universities have shifted towards a Master's in Physical Therapy, except for a handful of universities (such as mcgill, which will be making the change soon). There are some definite pro's and con's to studying physical therapy before med school. The major Pro's are you get clinical experience in the form of clinical stages/rotations during your undergrad degree and you have a guaranteed job waiting for you if you don't get into medicine (so you can work and reapply next year). However, the con's are that since you are in a professional program, you'll likely be in class 40 or 50 hours per week (more than med students). You have clinical courses (which may be seen as a pro or a con). These courses are completely different in terms of format and testing, that's why, in my experience, many students don't do as well as in other courses. This brings me to my next point; it's not as easy to get a stellar GPA in a professional program such as PT because of the above demands. However, if you can overcome the con's (which were relatively minor for me) then you will be in a very good position when it comes time to apply for med school. Cheers, TyShams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest goredmen Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 I'm actually at McGill. Where did you do your PT? I'm really interested to find out what you thought of the clinical experiences, if you ended up going to med, and if you felt a bit stronger than others in your med class (or not!) ... I really want to do PT but it'll cost me a year of undergrad and like you said, my GPA will probably go down. But the clinical experience sounds fantastic! Let me know your experience with the program... and if you DID do it at mcgill, I'd love some school-specific details! Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cutieyellow Posted May 2, 2005 Report Share Posted May 2, 2005 My little brother is doing his PT at McGill right now and he loves it ! CY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TyShams Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Hey gord, I did my PT at McGill. I am unsure if McGill's PT program will remain a B.Sc or if they will shift to a M.Sc (PT) graduate degree (as most other Canadian schools have done). To answer your question. I will be starting McGill med in the fall. In retrospect, many of my extra-currics, research, etc was a direct result of the opportunities that were offered to my in PT. With respect to the clinical stages, we had 5 of them. I believe that those clinicals really helped me mature into a responsible professional/adult (which I sincerely believe will go a long way towards my performance during my clinical rotations in medicine). However, PT is not the only program with clinicals, there is also OT, Speech Language, Nursing etc etc. I did PT because it offered professional independence (I can work private and public) and the courses really catered to my interests (neuro, ortho, cardioresp). If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Cheers, TyShams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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