CVA/Human Physiology VS. A&P I/II

[Mitochondriac1]

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well.

I am undecided between pre-med and pre-pt, but am leaning more towards pre-pt every day.

My current problem is that I have recently graduated (June 2017) with a bachelor's of science in biomathematics (made my own major), having taken comparative vertebrate anatomy followed by human physiology. These were originally going to be additional electives taken to supplement my GPA/application to medical school. Scored an A in both courses.

As I am now leaning more towards obtaining my DPT, I have noticed most schools seem to require anatomy and physiology I & II as opposed to the CVA/human physiology pairing I took. The head of the natural sciences department at my school typically writes letters defending the equivalence of the CVA/physiology track to the A&P I/II track, but I am still uneasy about how it may effect my application.

Also—as a side note—I have not yet taken statistics but plan to enroll in a biostatistics course next fall to complete the requirement as a post-bacc.

Any experiences/thoughts/comments/concerns/opinions are very much appreciated and welcomed!

Thank you all ahead of time!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Abudara]

I would personally try to email each PT program you're interested in, stating your case and weather those classes can count as the human anatomy and physiology prereqs needed. Just to be safe.

Also make sure all the schools you're applying to allow biostatistics to fulfill their stats requirement. I was surprised to find that one of the schools I am applying to did not allow that. You can check on the ptcas page on each school, they should be listed. Most schools will be fine with it

 

[Mitochondriac1]

I would personally try to email each PT program you're interested in, stating your case and weather those classes can count as the human anatomy and physiology prereqs needed. Just to be safe.

Also make sure all the schools you're applying to allow biostatistics to fulfill their stats requirement. I was surprised to find that one of the schools I am applying to did not allow that. You can check on the ptcas page on each school, they should be listed. Most schools will be fine with it

Thanks! I will definitely reach out to the schools I am interested in, better safe than sorry I guess.

I have heard that some schools are picky in regard to statistics, however my school only offers 3 statistics courses to begin with. Two are in the statistics department, those being Business Statistics and Social Statistics for Social Sciences. The third is offered through the natural sciences department, being Biostatistics.

In your opinion, which of the three do you think would be most accepted by PT schools in general?

 

[Abudara]

Probably business statistics and biostatistics

Most schools accept any form of business statistics, biostatistics, psychology statistics, and the general elementary statistics. Some might not even require stats.

You can go to a school's ptcas page to check. Just scroll down to their prerequisites.

PTCAS - Directory

If they don't participate in PTCAS, just google "(school name) dpt prerequisites" and they should pop up

Always better to be safe

 

[Mitochondriac1]

Probably business statistics and biostatistics

Most schools accept any form of business statistics, biostatistics, psychology statistics, and the general elementary statistics. Some might not even require stats.

You can go to a school's ptcas page to check. Just scroll down to their prerequisites.

PTCAS - Directory

If they don't participate in PTCAS, just google "(school name) dpt prerequisites" and they should pop up

Always better to be safe

Thank you so much for all of the information!

If you don't mind me asking, would you be comfortable sharing your story with me? As in what stage of applying are you/how you did numbers-wise/volunteer experience and the like?

I'm a bit new to the whole pre-PT scene as my focus through most of undergrad was on medical school admissions and such.

Thanks again!

 

[Mitochondriac1]

Probably business statistics and biostatistics

Most schools accept any form of business statistics, biostatistics, psychology statistics, and the general elementary statistics. Some might not even require stats.

You can go to a school's ptcas page to check. Just scroll down to their prerequisites.

PTCAS - Directory

If they don't participate in PTCAS, just google "(school name) dpt prerequisites" and they should pop up

Always better to be safe

Also, this is what the PTCAS directory shows for the anatomy requirement at one of my top schools. Looks like Comparative Vertebrate is accepted!

 

[Abudara]

Thank you so much for all of the information!

If you don't mind me asking, would you be comfortable sharing your story with me? As in what stage of applying are you/how you did numbers-wise/volunteer experience and the like?

I'm a bit new to the whole pre-PT scene as my focus through most of undergrad was on medical school admissions and such.

Thanks again!

Sure
I'm going to apply for the first time this fall. My numbers aren't that great, but I've picked out about a dozen schools that seem to realistically fit my GPAs. You can look at programs on the ptcas directory list I gave you and do the same.

My cumulative GPA is around 3.44, my prereq GPA ranges from 3.2 to 3.5 between different schools. The gpa of my last 60 units is 3.6. I have lots of hours in an outpatient setting because I've been working at a clinic since April of 2016. I also have 20 hours of inpatient from a SNF I observed. But I'm trying to gain more hours in one or two other settings before I start to apply. If I were you, I would try gain a variety of hours with 3+ different settings

The reason I've stayed working at the outpatient clinic, although I already have a ton of hours there, is because I think it'll lead to better letter of recommendations working with therapists for over a year. It's also a great place to meet and connect with people in the same field that you wish to pursue. Having colleagues that are applying to PT school, have applied, or just got out of PT school is really helpful.

I'm going to take the GRE for the first time in about 3 weeks. If I were you, i would try to take it asap. I would also try to study for 2-3 months before taking it. I think I'll get a score that's "good enough" based on the practice tests I've been taking. But I wish I put aside more time and took it earlier, as I think I'd excel even more.

I have been planning on pursuing a DPT for a couple of years now so I'm familiar with a lot. If you have questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to help you out. Hope my post was helpful

 

[Mitochondriac1]

Sure
I'm going to apply for the first time this fall. My numbers aren't that great, but I've picked out about a dozen schools that seem to realistically fit my GPAs. You can look at programs on the ptcas directory list I gave you and do the same.

My cumulative GPA is around 3.44, my prereq GPA ranges from 3.2 to 3.5 between different schools. The gpa of my last 60 units is 3.6. I have lots of hours in an outpatient setting because I've been working at a clinic since April of 2016. I also have 20 hours of inpatient from a SNF I observed. But I'm trying to gain more hours in one or two other settings before I start to apply. If I were you, I would try gain a variety of hours with 3+ different settings

The reason I've stayed working at the outpatient clinic, although I already have a ton of hours there, is because I think it'll lead to better letter of recommendations working with therapists for over a year. It's also a great place to meet and connect with people in the same field that you wish to pursue. Having colleagues that are applying to PT school, have applied, or just got out of PT school is really helpful.

I'm going to take the GRE for the first time in about 3 weeks. If I were you, i would try to take it asap. I would also try to study for 2-3 months before taking it. I think I'll get a score that's "good enough" based on the practice tests I've been taking. But I wish I put aside more time and took it earlier, as I think I'd excel even more.

I have been planning on pursuing a DPT for a couple of years now so I'm familiar with a lot. If you have questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to help you out. Hope my post was helpful

Thank you again a thousand times over for such a detailed response. Your post was beyond helpful!

In case you're interested...
1. My cumulative GPA is between a 3.6-3.7, with a prereq GPA at the moment of 3.67 (not counting statistics).
2. I have a lot of pre-med relevant volunteer experience, but need to accumulate a whole lot more pre-PT hours.
3. Currently planning to begin prepping for the GRE within the next few weeks, so I can get that burden over with.
4. Overall, I have become increasingly interested in research, and am hoping to ultimately walk away with a dual DPT/PhD from whichever school I matriculate to.

I don't know if I'll be of any use in answering questions you have, but if any come to mind please don't hesitate to ask!