I've made the decision to go from IT to physical therapy assistant, it's been a choice I sat on for a year, but I know this is the right decision for my career. I simply could not advance in IT, due in part to working for terrible employers and not given fair chance to get out into the field, I was stuck in desk jobs for several years and paid for classes that at the end of the day meant nothing to my employers, essentially wasted time and money. I thought I would like IT, since I personally like fixing my own problems, that didn't translate into helping other people. I'd rather setup my own network storage and private streaming server, than fix someone's router countless times a year.
If people are interested, they can DM me for more information on my healthcare background, but to abridge my post, I've been a part of home nursing agencies since 2009; granted it was through office work, but I'm familiar with nursing and physical therapy work cultures just from long term exposure. My parents own a visiting nursing agency, thankfully I'm able to manage the company network here and make a living, but it isn't enough. I had to really meditate on what I want for meaningful work, I knew it would end up being a community based job, but it wasn't until I started observing PTs on their visits that I opened by mind to the job.
I'm 28 years old, I'm not a young man anymore, but I'm not too old. I end up getting frustrated from my past decisions. I do not regret my networking education, I can still apply it to my personal life; however art college straight out of high school for 1 year is a decision I regret to this very day.
I know that a PTA program is my best opportunity, problem is there's only three accredited programs in all of New England, I was surprised such as large portion of the country doesn't accommodate an associate's degree for PTAs, you pretty much need to be in school for seven years and get your masters. At my job, we have 20 PTs employed, they're a minority compared to the LPNs and RNs, I hardly see them. The Rehab director is an MSPT, we have a good relationship and she believes it is a career that suits me.
The community college I'm applying for now, I will likely not get admitted, because I didn't do well on my TEAS exam, I qualified for a valid application, but for some reason I need to take a separate placement exam for math and English, because they deemed my high school transcripts too old (my Network+ was difficult, but I earned it, guess I'm not high school literate according to them?) I will end up taking Anatomy and Physiology classes from another college, just so I'm not wasting a whole year, that way I can use those credits if I ever get accepted in Fall 2023.
If I graduate, I will be a 32 year old PTA, but right now I feel old. I don't want to get too personal, but I feel like I ruined my life by not making this career decision while I was in high school, now I'm paying the consequences for it.
If people are interested, they can DM me for more information on my healthcare background, but to abridge my post, I've been a part of home nursing agencies since 2009; granted it was through office work, but I'm familiar with nursing and physical therapy work cultures just from long term exposure. My parents own a visiting nursing agency, thankfully I'm able to manage the company network here and make a living, but it isn't enough. I had to really meditate on what I want for meaningful work, I knew it would end up being a community based job, but it wasn't until I started observing PTs on their visits that I opened by mind to the job.
I'm 28 years old, I'm not a young man anymore, but I'm not too old. I end up getting frustrated from my past decisions. I do not regret my networking education, I can still apply it to my personal life; however art college straight out of high school for 1 year is a decision I regret to this very day.
I know that a PTA program is my best opportunity, problem is there's only three accredited programs in all of New England, I was surprised such as large portion of the country doesn't accommodate an associate's degree for PTAs, you pretty much need to be in school for seven years and get your masters. At my job, we have 20 PTs employed, they're a minority compared to the LPNs and RNs, I hardly see them. The Rehab director is an MSPT, we have a good relationship and she believes it is a career that suits me.
The community college I'm applying for now, I will likely not get admitted, because I didn't do well on my TEAS exam, I qualified for a valid application, but for some reason I need to take a separate placement exam for math and English, because they deemed my high school transcripts too old (my Network+ was difficult, but I earned it, guess I'm not high school literate according to them?) I will end up taking Anatomy and Physiology classes from another college, just so I'm not wasting a whole year, that way I can use those credits if I ever get accepted in Fall 2023.
If I graduate, I will be a 32 year old PTA, but right now I feel old. I don't want to get too personal, but I feel like I ruined my life by not making this career decision while I was in high school, now I'm paying the consequences for it.
