Expert: Jenny - 5/17/2001

Question
Hi, my name is asma biradar.  I'm an high school student and in the future I plan on becoming an physical therapists.  I want to know what are some of the classes you have to take in college for the first sememster.I heard about some  of the classes such as physiology, kenisciology, and anatomy. i want to know some more.  Can you briefly tell me  more classes and describe what each class is about.  Please e-mail me  as soon as possible. Looking forward for your mail.  Thank you very much for your coopersation.

Answer
H Asma,

In the first year of therapy school, you do indeed take anatomy and kinesiology, and there you learn about the names and functions of the muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and nerves.  You learn to analyze the movements of the body and determine what structures are doing what.

You also take classes in assessment tools, like manual muscle testing and goniometry (measuring flexibility), as well as palpation (feeling with your hands) and observation.  The names of that class vary from school to school:  in mine it was called "basic skills"

You also take medical terminology where you become more familiar with the words commonly used in the field.

You take a class on documentation, and learn how to write down what happened during a treatment session.  

Depending on the school, you would then take a class called "Modalities" where you will learn how to use ultrasound, electrical stimulation, diathermy and thermal agents to treat patients.

I hope this has helped!  You may also want to go to the website www.apta.org where the American Physical Therapy Association has information on physical therapy schools and cirriculum.

Take care!

Jenny