28yo, deaf, and need serious advice and perspective from you

[BeastOfBurden]

Hey everyone how are you? Thank you for taking a look at my post and I seriously appreciate from the bottom of my heart any advice and input you can offer.

I am asking for some serious advice here and would love your perspective. Im 28 years old and was born deaf always had hearing aids and did ok in school albeit significant difficulty. I graduated with a bachelor of science in business (probably the worst mistake of my life). Worked for a bit in NYC and hated it, it was also difficult to get ahead due to no opportunities and the insane competition and my disability. I also went through medical problems such as Meniere’s Disease and chronic fatigue because of the medication for the treatment. In short – life was completely derailed. I went back home to deal with the medical issues and because I had nowhere to turn to. This all happened over the last 5 years after finishing college.

I recently got a cochlear implant, which was a huge blessing. It is a million times better than hearing aids. I wish I had gotten one before college.

While going to training on how to use the implant, which was done out of a university health school, I met several PT students and started hanging around the PT program and asking questions. I really think that this might be for me. I did a lot of reading up on what is needed and I am not sure if I will be making a SMART decision or not. I am 28 years old, I have a undergrad GPA of 2.4 and require taking nearly all pre reqs and the GPA. I am not even sure how long that will take.

I begin observation hours tomorrow. I am also preparing for the GRE (gonna try and take it before fall semester) and going to go see academic advisors about pre req classes. However I need perspective from you, the people who have gone through all of this. I don’t want to make a huge novel of a post, so I’ll bluntly post questions I have.

Questions on my mind:

• Due to my age and not having the opportunity and foresight to get a STEM degree in my youth, is going down this path a bad idea? I’ll probably be in my mid 30s when graduating (IF I am able to succeed in the first place). How will the job market even look like at that point? How disadvantaged will I be? I mean there are already DPTs at my current age and they are starting their careers and lives!

• The competition looks to be insane to get into PT programs right? I was pretty taken aback at the acceptance rates and such. If I cannot get into a school, what the heck will I do? I wont be young enough to pivot into something else. One thing I haven’t seen on here – are there people who never got into PT programs? Or everyone eventually gets in somewhere?

• Even if I make it happen and get into a PT school, how do grad students even make money and pay for rent, food, etc? The rigors of PT school is almost like medical school. I mean we are talking anatomy classes and such that is like medical school. That requires a lot of studying. If I go downt the path of going back to school for pre reqs, I don’t think I can be able to work and go to school. The GPA requirements will probably force me to study all day every day. No time for jobs etc. That means probably no savings etc.

So I am asking… at my age and life circumstances, am I making a good decision despite my desire and passion to become a DPT? From your perspective, what would you recommend? Is the journey and yes, financial consequences/benefits worth it?

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[NJ DPT HOPEFUL]

Yes PT school is hard to get into and you have a lot of work to do with the GPA/pre reqs. If you can pull it off that would be great, but it won't be easy.

To answer your question, not everyone gets in, I have a few friends who have been trying for a few years, I know one just recently gave up and he works as a personal trainer, and another who is now going for his PTA. I'd recommend looking into the PTA option as well.

 

[BeastOfBurden]

Yes PT school is hard to get into and you have a lot of work to do with the GPA/pre reqs. If you can pull it off that would be great, but it won't be easy.

To answer your question, not everyone gets in, I have a few friends who have been trying for a few years, I know one just recently gave up and he works as a personal trainer, and another who is now going for his PTA. I'd recommend looking into the PTA option as well.

Thank you so much for replying. I was looking into PTA as well. I am just not sure. My dream is to own my own private practice in physical therapy. Can a PTA even do that? Also, I am confused about something. Is there a difference between a LPT (licensed PT) and a DPT? Ive come across that several times in researching jobs.

 

[Grizzlyman]

Thank you so much for replying. I was looking into PTA as well. I am just not sure. My dream is to own my own private practice in physical therapy. Can a PTA even do that? Also, I am confused about something. Is there a difference between a LPT (licensed PT) and a DPT? Ive come across that several times in researching jobs.

Yes a PTA can own a PT clinic. However the problem with clinic ownership is the extremely tight profit margins. You would need a big staff and possibly multiple sights before there is any true ownership value. You'd be much better off developing commercial property for a PT clinic and collecting rent. There are many ownership opportunities that are much more valuable than owning a PT clinic. It's a ton of work to essentially just own a job.

Good luck on your decision. I know the school process is much more challenging for you, but if you were able to qualify I am sure would get into a school. PTA is a really good option especially for the cost. The salary between a PTA and PT with a bunch of debt is about equal for the first 10 - 15 years anyways.

 

[astarblaze]

Due to my age and not having the opportunity and foresight to get a STEM degree in my youth, is going down this path a bad idea? I’ll probably be in my mid 30s when graduating (IF I am able to succeed in the first place). How will the job market even look like at that point? How disadvantaged will I be? I mean there are already DPTs at my current age and they are starting their careers and lives!

Older students do become PTs. I'm 29 and will be starting school next fall. There are many examples of people who have been older when they went through the process. For me, it is what I really want to do, so it's worth the sacrifice of five years (of prereqs and applying and going through a DPT program). I won't be buying a house anytime soon, but I'm okay with that.

The current job market is fantastic, in my opinion, but who knows what it will look like in 3, 5, or 10 years? My ex-pharma consultant friend tells me we won't see healthcare gutted in the next few years, and I'm hopeful that PTs will be increasingly needed with our aging population, but honestly so many other variables affect out job market (like the proliferation of new DPT programs) that anyone who gives you a job market forecast is likely just spewing hot air. But that's true of any job market.

Don't go into massive debt to get a DPT degree. If you can minimize your debt, and are okay living simply for some years after graduating to pay back loans, and PT is what you really want to do, then go for it. But definitely do your research and know what you're getting into (career-wise, financially and with prereqs/preparing to apply).

The competition looks to be insane to get into PT programs right? I was pretty taken aback at the acceptance rates and such. If I cannot get into a school, what the heck will I do? I wont be young enough to pivot into something else. One thing I haven’t seen on here – are there people who never got into PT programs? Or everyone eventually gets in somewhere?

No, not everyone gets in.

I know folks who have also switched to nursing- which may be something to consider in addition to PTA as mentioned by others. Requires less schooling/time to get into the profession, costs less, can pay pretty well, tons of different job options/leadership opportunities, etc.

Do the math and figure out how many credit hours (of all A's) you'd need to get you cum GPA up to 3.0. You'll need at least a 3.0 cum to be considered at most places. Also look into programs that use last 60 credit hours GPA instead of cum GPA. Research programs and figure out what it would take for you to be competitive. This forum, the PTCAS website, and individual program websites are your best sources of info for all of this.

Even if I make it happen and get into a PT school, how do grad students even make money and pay for rent, food, etc? The rigors of PT school is almost like medical school. I mean we are talking anatomy classes and such that is like medical school. That requires a lot of studying. If I go downt the path of going back to school for pre reqs, I don’t think I can be able to work and go to school. The GPA requirements will probably force me to study all day every day. No time for jobs etc. That means probably no savings etc.

Students mainly pay through loans. Depending on the program, you may be able to hold down a very flexible part time job (a la work study), but don't expect to be working a lot, or paying for much more than the interest on your loans this way. Some non-traditional students get help from a spouse who is working.

So I am asking… at my age and life circumstances, am I making a good decision despite my desire and passion to become a DPT? From your perspective, what would you recommend? Is the journey and yes, financial consequences/benefits worth it?

Maybe yes, maybe no. Depends on your situation, what you want, and the other options you're considering.

To make an informed decsision, I think you need to: 1. Figure out what it would take for you to become a competitive applicant. Map out a potential gameplan and figure out if it is realistic for you. 2. Observe and talk to PTs about the profession, and make sure you REALLY want to do this. 3. Know what the financial (and general life) ramifications are for you personally.

 

[jodom55]

To answer your question about being a PTA and owning your own clinic you can do that, but you would also have to have a PT on staff to sign off on all of your patient notes. Therefore you would never be able to run the business by yourself and you would technically still be under a PT even if you owned the clinic.

 

[ohlyyss]

A couple of thoughts. As everyone said it is hard to get in but not impossible. I wouldn't be concerned about your age, a lot of people mid to late 20s go for medical grad programs. I think getting in and finance will be your biggest components. You can look at different schools and target where would be easiest to get in based on your strengths. A few areas I would consider:

To get in:
1. GPA: yes most places you need at least a 3.0 as someone said, you will have to take a good amount of base science classes as well so if you can get mostly A's and B's in those that will bring that GPA up and you will have a decent science GPA which will be even more important in my opinion.

2. Test scores: doing well on the GREs will be a good way to stand out without too much strain. The material isn't horrible on these tests so I'd say do some practice tests and look at the averages of the scores accepted in your top school choices and aim a few points above those numbers.

3. Shadowing and recommendations: you will need letters of rec and different shadowing experiences. Make friends with your teachers and PTs in clinics, get as many hours in different types of PT as you can. It's leg work that will stand out.

4. If you get an interview: focus on how you stand out. You overcame getting through a bachelors being deaf, and that gives you a unique background. They want to know you can push through when things are difficult because PT school will be hard. Do you sign? That's another language which will stand out. Use your strengths. I recently got into my top choice, I'm learning to sign and talked in my interview about how I wanted to be available to the deaf populations. They care about things like that.

5. Perseverance: if you don't get in right away have a plan, they might even ask this. They want someone who won't give up.

6. Financial/ PTA: someone said with student loans the income would be similar, I'm not sure I agree. Some schools are less expensive than others. My school is closer to $55,000 while some are over $100,000. Keep an eye on that and how sure you are before committing to either track. PTA is a separate program so it'll be harder to switch later. I'd suggest take some base anatomy and bio classes and see how you do. If it goes well or you have trouble that might give you some insight. As far as paying for school. We're all basically going to say loans because you won't be able to work enough. I think PTA is a great career option too if that job feels right for you. I've seen students come through the clinic I work at who love it. I don't know much about them owning clinics but as someone said you would still be partially dependent on a PT. Plus I've heard recommendations not to own your own clinic till you're a more experiences PT if you are one so I assume it would be similar. PT is a good market for job availability but I think clinics are harder. You need to develop enough patients to support the clinic and with a dependency on a PT that's two schedules you need to fill right off the bat. The clinic I'm at is part of a big company with many clinics and it's taken us about a year to mostly fill 2 peoples schedules (both PTs)

Sorry for the super long rant, I hope some of that helps. Feel free to send me any other questions and I'm happy to share my experience with applications.

 

[wdpt98123]

Yes PT school is hard to get into and you have a lot of work to do with the GPA/pre reqs. If you can pull it off that would be great, but it won't be easy.

To answer your question, not everyone gets in, I have a few friends who have been trying for a few years, I know one just recently gave up and he works as a personal trainer, and another who is now going for his PTA. I'd recommend looking into the PTA option as well.

Hey, just out of curiosity. How are you doing with your current situation now? Did you apply? Are you still taking pre reqs? How are things???

 

[NJ DPT HOPEFUL]

Hey, just out of curiosity. How are you doing with your current situation now? Did you apply? Are you still taking pre reqs? How are things???

I'm not the one who originally posted, I'm finishing up my second year though.