Any Career Changers out there?

[DPTWannabe]

This is my first post on the DPT forum. I am a middle aged guy who has been very financially sucessful as a CPA/CFO type for a number of years. I have had a few good years of real job satisfaction and I've also had quite a few years of stress and unhappiness. The truth is I have been burnt out on accounting and finance for some time and now I find myself laid off as well. I am ready for a re-invention! After spending much time contemplating this I have zeroed in on the Physical Therapy profession. I have given months of thought and research into other options but I just keep coming back to the PT field. I am thinking hard now about making the plunge in the next year or so and proceeding with preparing myself for a DPT program. I have a masters degree in accounting so I would have to start with the undergrad pre-req's and then go from there. So I'm wondering who out there has had a similiar experience with making a major change in careers?! Any advice out there? I am 48 years old with a working wife and a daughter in her third year of college. This is a big decision for me and at my age I'm about out of do-overs. I know all about the costs and the salary issues that are a hot topic with students. For me those are not major hurdles. Its not about the money for me, its about finding a career that I can be passionate about and can be happy in for a few more decades of work. I'm really hoping PT may just be it!

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[PTtoBe]

I'm 33, and about 2 years ago decided to change careers after 8 years of web design. Partly I wanted to get away from the roller coaster up-and-downs of freelancing and get something more long-term stable, but I really wanted to serve people in a more immediate fashion than how I had been. I'm naturally active and wanted to do something more on my feet, not behind a keyboard forever.

I've completed my prerequisites since my B.A. and was accepted to both schools I applied to. I know what you mean about "no do-overs", because that's been my mantra all through the science/math prerequisites. I aced pretty much everything that crossed my path, prepared for the GRE, secured observation time and employment across a variety of rehab settings, and got solid letters of reference. In short, I did everything I needed to do to be among the top 10% to make it through a competitive admissions process. It was just barely enough.

Along the way I passed many students with similar goals who came up a bit short and needed to prolong their plans or reconsider their options. It genuinely surprised me how many seemed really set on being a PT but didn't seem to put in the necessary time studying to do well on their exams. For me, life's too short to dump money and time into classes that I'd need to retake just because I didn't commit enough time preparing. In every single class there were at least a couple students older than me, some definitely in their late 40s or 50s (although the vast majority were in the 18-28 range I'd say).

My wife works, and things will be tight through grad school, but at the end of the day I'll have less debt coming out the other side (previous loans paid off) than the majority who went into grad school right out of undergrad (although, of course, they'll be younger than me, so it's 6-of-one-half-dozen-of-another you could say). And my wife can, if she wants, take a break. We both understand the time commitment that will keep me less available for the next 3 years, and we're both committed to getting from here to there. It'll be a truly joyful time when I graduate, for both of us.

Keep researching the field, make sure you're comfortable with the outlook/salary/type of work (really spend time shadowing PTs in acute care, geriatric, and outpatient settings to get a feel for it), and that it's worth the time and money investment to get from where you are now to there.

 

[debimags]

i too am a career changer. like pttobe, i come from many years as a graphic designer and got sick of the lifestyle. making the decision to return to school to pursue PT was one of the hardest decisions i had to make. i was quite nervous about the pre-reqs, jeez it had been almost 15 years since i took anything related to math or science. and of course there is the time commitment, the fact that starting over takes a while, and my lifestyle would have to shift significantly to be able to do this. whew, it was a daunting decision. but the best one i ever made!

i am in my early 30's and am currently taking my pre-reqs and will continue to do so for another two. i work so cant take many at a time. which is working out ok, its a nice gradual ease into the more difficult pre-reqs, which, i might add, are alot more fun than i imagined. the difference with going back to school later in life after some experience is that you really want to do well, have no time to muck around, and you just do what you have to do and not complain about it. ive been getting straight A's since i started and have suprised myself with my ability to 'get' this stuff. i will admit, being in classes with some obnoxious teenagers can be annoying at times, and i am reminded that there are teachers that should not be teaching, but all in all, the school experience has been a blast. i think the hardest part was just taking the leap.

i would recommend shadowing before you do though. i did and it was very eye opening. i knew once i did that pursuing PT was the right choice and so the work you have to put into getting this degree didnt seem so daunting. just take it one step/class/test at a time, checking off each part of the process you tackle! good luck to you, keep us posted

 

[Yohan]

Well, I too am a career changer. I'm 30 years old and I'm currently working on the application process (pre-req and observation hours) for DPT school. I got my bs in zoology in 2001 with plans to go to grad school, but I was burned out and didn't have ideal grades either. So I got a job working construction which I enjoyed (and still do) because I can work with my hand and it payed really well. A few years ago I tore my ACL and meniscus at work and when I was rehabbing my knee I started to talk to my PT about how I always wanted to become a PT, but it didn't work out. He gave me a funny look and said he too was in my shoes at my age and that it was never too late to go back to school. So I started taking classes and volunteering while working, which wasn't easy or fun. I'm hoping to make the deadlines at the end of the year for fall of 2010, but have ran into a few problems. I have been laid off and I'm trying to sell my house (bad timing) so that I can have more flexibility to find another job and do what I need to do to make the application deadlines. I also recently found out that I need to retake the physics series because it has been over 7 years. If I can sell it by the end of summer I should be fine. All I can do now is hurry up and wait. I'll be really disappointed if I miss the deadlines, but I won't let it discourage me because it is never too late to live a dream. A wise man once told me that if I can find a job that I love, I'll never have to work ever again.

 

[DPTWannabe]

Yohan, debimags, & PTtoBe

Thx for sounding off. I'm pretty new to using forums like this so I really appreciate the responses. Its interesting that 2 of you are Graphic / Web Designers. I will tell you I already relate to some of your comments about being back in school at 30. What I didn't say in my first post is I spent 7 years as a Fighter Pilot in the Marine Corps before going back to Grad School for accounting. The Jet Pilot thing was a childhood dream. Flying was a dream come true but I never wanted to have a military career. So after my long pilot committment in the Corps was done I bailed out. I had a wife and new baby so I decided to make the career move into accounting. I was turning 30 and was completely focused on making money, so I convinced myself that being a CPA was the way to go. I ended up spending 3 years as a full time student (I had to take all the undergrad accounting courses first before entering grad school) and was a stay at home Dad for our daughter while my wife worked to support us. I found taking classes to be so much easier as a 30 year old versus my early college years after high school. I wish you all well. It sounds as though you all have found your calling. I am early in this game & I do appreciate the advice about shadowing. Right now I have some experience being a PT patient, but that was some time ago. I really respect the attitude of PTtoBe about working hard to get into the top 10% to ensure you are competitive in your DPT applications. It is a bit scary thinking about how competitive these schools are! It would suck to spend all that effort with the pre-req's and then not get into a program. I feel somewhat fortunate in that I live in Central Fl and there are 4 DPT programs within commuting distance to me (albeit a few would be a hefty commute!): U. of Fl. / Univ. of St. Augustine / Univ. of Nth Fl. / Univ. of Central Fl. I don't suppose any of you know anything about these programs?

 

[PTtoBe]

Yohan, debimags, & PTtoBe
Its interesting that 2 of you are Graphic / Web Designers. I will tell you I already relate to some of your comments about being back in school at 30. What I didn't say in my first post is I spent 7 years as a Fighter Pilot in the Marine Corps before going back to Grad School for accounting. The Jet Pilot thing was a childhood dream. Flying was a dream come true but I never wanted to have a military career. So after my long pilot committment in the Corps was done I bailed out. I had a wife and new baby so I decided to make the career move into accounting. I was turning 30 and was completely focused on making money, so I convinced myself that being a CPA was the way to go. I ended up spending 3 years as a full time student (I had to take all the undergrad accounting courses first before entering grad school) and was a stay at home Dad for our daughter while my wife worked to support us. I found taking classes to be so much easier as a 30 year old versus my early college years after high school. I wish you all well. It sounds as though you all have found your calling. I am early in this game & I do appreciate the advice about shadowing. Right now I have some experience being a PT patient, but that was some time ago. I really respect the attitude of PTtoBe about working hard to get into the top 10% to ensure you are competitive in your DPT applications. It is a bit scary thinking about how competitive these schools are! It would suck to spend all that effort with the pre-req's and then not get into a program. I feel somewhat fortunate in that I live in Central Fl and there are 4 DPT programs within commuting distance to me (albeit a few would be a hefty commute!): U. of Fl. / Univ. of St. Augustine / Univ. of Nth Fl. / Univ. of Central Fl. I don't suppose any of you know anything about these programs?

Yes, I similarly noticed that a couple of us previously had graphic/web design careers. Graphic design was a really good profession in the mid to late 90s, but that landscape has changed substantially. The market has gotten saturated with mediocre web and graphic designers, and generally driven down the value of those services. That's the one thing I'm paranoid about w/PT, but the DPT program helps ensure that only relatively smart and driven people will become licensed therapists (although the growing availability of the DPT program at more and more schools is a possible cause for concern).

I similarly found classes much easier this time around than when I was an undergrad. It sure makes a difference when you know what you want and where you're going, and are more sensitive to the passage of time.

Can't say I know anything about the FL programs you mentioned. I'm in the furthest corner of the country away from you. Always wanted to visit Florida some day...

 

[xMerryx]

well, I know somethings. U of F I know you have to have observation horus in different settings. and from USA the program seems good and I don't think is really expensive considering is a private school. The campus is great (is just for PT and OT so labs are huge) but I bet is intense sonce is only 7 semesters (~20 credits per semester.)