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Whyyyy... I understand you want to graduate early but to a for-profit school of all places? They don't even disclose their total cost...
Yeah but isn't the University of St. Augustine For-Profit as well? It is a great school. I think the word "For Profit" is often times over rated and depends on the specific school. South College also has an accredited PA and Pharmacy program too. Doesn't sound much of a scam to me.
No, they are not...USA is a private not-for-profit.
There are only two for-profits that I know of. South College and West Coast University. When I see "for-profit" I think of ITT Tech and University of Phoenix.
And I'll have to disagree with your assessment that its a "great school", considering that they have yet to start their first class and just got candidacy for accreditation. To my knowledge, you will be taking out private loans. Something of a strange move coming from someone concerned with loan payback. Ouch.
I was hoping people weren't going to support online DPT schools, but I guess I was proved wrong. Why go from a solid, proven school to a sketchy online program that most likely is going to accept anyone with a heartbeat? You will "save so much money", but at what professional cost? I'm sorry, but I wouldn't trust a health professional student from an online program, especially one as hands on as PT. Here begins the over-saturation of the profession...glad I graduate next year.
I guess I should edit why I called it sketch: I read a Facebook conversation where someone in admissions at the college was talking to other people and answering questions. He sounded like a used car salesman that had no knowledge of the profession itself, but just basically was trying to sell everyone on the program. It just didn't seem right to me. But, it's a free country, good luck
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I can't counter that argument because I have not even started the program so me or you can't assume it is bad because the didactic work is online. You have to go there for 84 days within 2 years for lab intensives. I mean you get better with the job experience more than you do in school. I have heard that from medical school students, PT students, nurses, ect. However, I respect everyone's opinion.
CAPTE provides provisional accreditation.
Hmm... sorry, but I have to agree with the rest of the group about your decision of learning PT online. I have my reservations on it but doing PT online is highly skeptical to me. As someone previously mentioned on this thread, if I was a patient I wouldn't fully trust someone that received their license online. Would you trust your doctor if you found out he/she received their medical degree online? I would highly think not... what makes physical therapy any different? Your patients are putting their trust and lives in your hands for their well-being and recovery. I'm not saying that you're going to be a bad PT or anything of that nature, but online degrees currently have a bad stigma behind it. And honestly, I would not trust a healthcare professional that received their degree online.. that's just me. I feel there is so much more to learn and question in a classroom setting. However after all things said and done, this is solely your decision and I respect your aspirations to becoming a great PT. I wish you well in your endeavors and good luck with the program.
I'm sad you felt the need to delete all your posts. I'm very intrigued by this conversation. I know I'm a wild card minority over here but I wish almost every day that I was able to go to a distance physical therapy program (currently finishing my 1st year at a traditional program). I considered distance pharmacy and distance nursing before settling on the PT path...and I am continually frustrated by the lack of flexible options, especially with the rising tuition costs in PT. I personally am a huge advocate for various learning styles that don't necessarily include sitting for tedious hours in a lecture hall. It's a waste of my time and waste of the teachers' time when I generally surf the internet or research other things in class. (Not saying this works for everyone, but if I can cover the material more efficiently in a different way, is that wrong? I also notice that our med school does not require lecture attendance but PT school does....but I digress). I, personally, retained so much more in my previous graduate distance education classes vs randomly cramming the night before for a test that comes straight off the lecture notes. I've managed work, family and living in a rural location while going to school online. I've also attended many in person universities so I think I have a good base of comparison. I can't say enough about being able to immerse in a topic at the level you want to go. I love being able to time a course to a pace that works for you. If I'm really into something and want to go further, I go there. If I have family in town for a week, I can ease up for a bit. Generally, I felt much more engaged in my distance courses because I was doing it for myself (i.e. not the threat of some random assignment I had to turn in the next week. *most of my graduate courses gave us a semester timeframe to complete all of the work in the course with a few checkpoints mixed in). There's no peer grade comparison online (yes, you do A LOT of work with classmates, but generally you don't sit around and share grades and gripe about tests like in traditional programs) I don't know anything specific about the current distance PT programs, but feel open minded about how they might change the field for the better. Also, having done an intense, in-person lab for a distance course before, I argue you learn the material just as well if not better in the full day, immersion style labs. This style isn't too different from additional certs some of us might pursue after graduation. (Attend a weekend course for dry needling or what not).
Consider too that students who choose a non traditional education format are often non-traditional students. I think distance education works rather nicely for students coming in with a strong background or skill set that has a lot of carryover to PT. You don't need a lot of in-person hand holding to make your way in a professional field (I've certainly felt some of that in my first year.) You really have to be of a certain type of motivation and personality to make this style work. It's not for everyone, but I argue you cannot be a lazy bum and get through a distance style degree. In the end, the important piece is that lab courses must be in person and clinicals should be adequate length (again, don't know how good these schools are, but those pieces seem to be in place. Obviously there is no information on board pass rate yet. The for profit piece does concern me, but other schools have already gone there). I'm not sure exactly why it matters whether I learned my basic science courses in a lecture hall or in my home office. Cadaver lab was very valuable to me, but there are already traditional programs without cadaver labs out there so seems as though we've already crossed that bridge.
P.S. - I wish we could shorten down the PT programs too. It would be beneficial for all programs to evaluate their efficiency. I'm in a 3 year program and we have a heck of a lot of breaks. Most of the summers off, long holiday breaks, fall break, spring break....if we condensed, we would be done faster too (again, non traditional over here....I just want to be working again. Breaks are just expensive).
This school will provide me with all my needs to be successful in PT school
Considering they only have provisional accreditation this is actually yet to be determined. Just my thoughts, personally I don't think our profession should be backpedaling and going back to a two year in an online program (kind of a slap in the face to those in 3 year programs) considering that we are a 100% HANDS ON profession, you can't learn those necessary communication skills from a computer. Yes I understand different learning styles but when it comes to treatment of patients you can't sit behind a computer screen in a PT session. From what I read above, you said there is only have 84 lab days and then one 2 month internship at the end...is that it?
Obviously do what is right for you, I will be watching out a few years from now and seeing how the first class does on the board exam and whatnot.
Ok, let's at least be fair in this debate. I have no connection to this school....I'm assuming we are talking about South College, although it's hard to tell with the deleted posts. From the school website, it appears this school has 31 weeks of clinical education. That is on par with many PT programs out there. And 84 lab days sounds right in the middle as well. I'm personally in lab *maybe* twice per week (many weeks none). I'm guessing that we maybe average 15- 25 lab days a semester give or take for our 2 academic years. That puts my school in the same ballpark at this one. This school also has MORE credit hours than mine even though we take 3 years to do it. I'm not sure how doing MORE credits is a slap in the face.
Perhaps this school does completely suck in their teaching methods....time will tell on that one with board pass rates and full accreditation. But I think it's unfair to say they have less hands on time or imply they do less work simply because the program is shorter.
Go to the facebook DPT students page and press control f and search for your college.
Read the comments section for the discussions. You can contact the PT in charge or the others that are in the conversation....both those for and against for more opinions directly. The pt in charge left his number on a post by the way. Comments said he had a reputation. I have no idea what that happens to be.
There is a discussion about 'for profit' being a misnomer and a rebuttal that a for profit has the shareholders interest in check rather than students. One person claims that he heard from faculty that the best way to make money was to teach when a profession was expanding. Directly contacting through anonymous fb profile may provide answers from all sides. Then do research on the admissions director in charge. I'm sure you will be able to chat with him directly. His profile pic is a large gorilla,yes, the animal, and he addresses everyone as Dr. in the discussions to a large degree. Fb said he started as director in 2014 last year. The profile is not hard to find. I do not believe the discussions have been deleted. If they have, then it's your decision whether you want to take this post's advice seriously.
Remove the "well I think it's alright with provisional accreditation" and do your own research for this big decision. As a consumer about to make such a large decision you deserve to be as informed as you possibly can be.
Make your opinions based off of that. If the person founding the program left his personal number then I would directly contact him as to the programs goals, cost transparency, and how the education will go in addition to what he believes the perception of employers would be for this program and how successful students will be tracked and looked out for in postgrad outcomes. If he is a well known pt then I would assume he has many contacts.
If it is a candidate for accreditation, is accredited (or has provisional accreditation....slightly unsure about the details of this and I believe azimuthal answered this question) and you can pass NPTE, then you can get licensed.
Contact employers from clinics you shadowed to see what their opinions would be on hiring and the perception of the college. I would ask as many as possible.
^making this post neutral and informative only for your sake as an applicant who deserves to know as much as he can about the institution he is about to attend. Looking out.
This is all long winded and this is ultimately your choice. I'm just providing how I would've gone about this.
Good luck.
Although South College has been provisionally accredited by CAPTE, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on it. I think the bar set by CAPTE and other accrediting agencies is rather low. FWIW, even the Univ of Phoenix's MBA program is accredited. But I doubt anyone would take such a degree seriously.
They have regional accreditation but they do not have the AACSB gold stand accreditation that legit MBA programs have. That's the difference and employers know about this standard. This is what separates the legit MBA from the sham and most students don't even realize it.
The bigger issue, for me at least, is that South University is a "for-profit" institution with a VERY STRONG influence AND association with EIM, another "for profit" organization. EIM has offered numerous post-graduate certifications, residencies, and fellowship. What both worries me and bothers me is that a post-graduate organization is heavily involved in an entry-level PT program; I simply think they ought to be separate and distinct. Personally, I think this tactic is predatory.
Additionally, and somewhat off the subject, people ought to read John Childs' blog on EIM about PTAs. I feel like EIM is trying to face-lift the profession to the chagrin of the majority within PT education and post-grad programs.
If one can successfully navigate the on-line portion and then carry that over into the clinic, good on them. Nothing against anyone who chooses that option and I wish all the best. I will, however, be closely watching the extent to which EIM has it's hand in the cookie jar...
I mean, I was just frustrated with people online belittling the college and using scenarios to back up their assertion. My learning style has been online learning since I started college and found that is the way I get motivated, retain much information, how to use my time management/organization skills,and enjoy that type of learning. I have learned way more online than I did on campus. This school will provide me with all my needs to be successful in PT school and I am so happy to be apart of this class!
It sounds to me like you are an introvert--nothing wrong with that, so am I. But it also sounds like you are switching schools to an online program because you are scared of human interaction. I learned a ton in PT school not just because of lectures but because I interacted with my classmates and bounced ideas off of them and talked through problems. And that is a VERY real world thing you have to do in the clinic and in your career. If you are afraid of being in a lab or classroom with people learning from each other, how will that translate to your PT career? Its not just about patient care either--you are in constant communication with other PTs, physicians, insurance companies, etc. all day long. And the first step to getting comfortable in doing that for the rest of your life, is to be in a cohort in school that you have to see and interact with every single day. It's exhausting for us introverts but you build endurance as you go. And it's criticial. You need to step outside your comfort zone if you want to be a good PT. PT is too interactive and physical to be taught online and I would venture to say that you're taking the easy way out by trying to do so. Its supposed to be hard and uncomfortable. That's what builds good clinicians.