5 Facts You'll Learn in PT School

You’ve made one of the most important decisions of your life: you’re going to PT school. If you’re like me, you just walked across the stage to grab your diploma (classic right hand shake, left hand snag) and are well on you way to a highly anticipated summer break prior to starting your program.

To get to this point, you’ve likely meticulously researched schools and have read countless blogs (like this one! Hey, everyone.) to best prepare for the impending transition. Let me iterate that nothing can really prepare you for the big upheaval that is a doctorate level physical therapy program. That being said, here are a few facts and tips that I wish I had known before starting PT school. 

1. You’re not alone…ever

Reassuring? Maybe. Creepy? Slightly. Baseline message: you will likely be spending a LOT of time with your cohort members. I know that, when it came down to choosing PT schools, I ended up going with my gut as to which program gave me the best feeling...and quite often, schools self-select likeminded individuals to go through their program. My recommendation is to absolutely invest the time early on to get to know your classmates; it is a huge help to have the study partners and emotional support in the coming ups and downs of PT school. 

What I also recommend, though, is to specifically carve out time to be alone. Whatever your responsibilities are outside of PT school, remember that you are in a professional degree program to make you the best Doctor of Physical Therapy possible. The cohort mentality sometimes deterred my interest in certain courses and made me more stressed for some exams than I needed to be. You can start as early as first semester in determining what your passions are, how you want to relate to people, and what you want to prioritize. Stay focused and stay independent!

2. Budget for mistakes

 This advice is for both your finances and academics. A hell of a lot of life will happen in the 3 years you’re pursuing your degree—keep that in mind! In regards to classwork, make sure you have an hour (or maybe a whole day) labeled “Oops!” for when you fall behind on what work you hoped you would get done. I, very literally, put “oops” hours in at least every other day to play catch up to my consistently unrealistic study goals. 

If you had to take out some student loans for PT school, this recommendation is also for you: live one step above frugality. We find ourselves in the uncomfortable limbo of having adult lives and responsibilities without the paycheck—this was difficult for me to wrap my head around. When the holiday season comes up, what can I afford to give as a present? How much do I have to pay to fix my car? Can I pay for a date night? Yikes! Any number of costs can come up, and if you haven’t budgeted for it, it will be stressful every time you have to make a decision. I highly recommend budgeting an amount for emergencies AND an amount for fun. Giving myself the money to go to the occasional concert or a weekend away improved my work-life balance and overall happiness throughout PT school. In other words, budget carefully but allow yourself to live like an adult. 

3. Be a teacher

Particularly in the first couple didactic semesters, it can feel easier to let your classmates take the initiative in lab to teach concepts or lead that group project. Whether or not it feels natural, challenge yourself to try to teach your peers. It can be awkward and somewhat embarrassing, but ensuring that you know the concept well enough to teach is not only going to help you ace anatomy: it sets you up to be a teacher in the clinic. Physical therapists have to be educators—to their patients and to the community—to instill lasting change. Embrace the challenge and gain confidence in teaching to best prepare for the clinical setting. 

4. Sometimes, settling is okay 

I know, I know. This is terrible advice. Here’s the caveat: you will guaranteed have the moment where you feel massively overwhelmed by coursework. Some of you might feel like that all semester. Just remember that the feeling is normal and, ultimately, a fleeting one. You will master this material, and this is NOT your only pass at the material. So, when you feel overwhelmed, set your goal at learning just one new piece of information. Allow yourself to gain only the basic concept that will answer you a test question. You will not be the perfect clinician at the end of semester 1, and unless you have perfect memory, you’ll need to refresh for the NPTE and as a practitioner, anyways! Cut yourself some slack and allow yourself to have a couple unresolved questions at the end of your study session. 

5. Find shadowing opportunities 

You thought those days were behind you, right? This advice isn’t for everyone, but speaking as a converted English major, I still didn’t understand the scope of physical therapy at the start of PT school. Even if you think you know exactly what you want to do, I recommend asking your professors if you can shadow them during clinic hours. For me, this was a way to explore inpatient and neurological rehab for the first time. More so, when you’re in the thick of learning the brachial plexus, statistical methodology, and slowly making a custom mold of your body in your study chair, shadowing will remind you why you’re doing what you’re doing. Zoom out a little, get out of the intricacies, and breathe in the awesome realization that you are getting closer to being in the coolest profession out there.

For those of you heading into a program soon, congratulations. Remind yourself of everything you’ve done to get to PT school and that, soon enough, being a graduate student will feel natural. You’re about to meet lifelong friends, mentors, and future colleagues. Last piece of advice: soak up some rays this summer, and enjoy the PT school ride!

-Carol Passarelli

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