Physical Therapy (Pre-Physical Therapy)

Allied Health Advising Team
Wissink Hall 360
507-389-6315
ahnadvising@mnsu.edu

Physical Therapy is a pre-professional program. The purpose of pre-professional programs is to provide students with the intellectual and academic backgrounds they will need before continuing their education in degrees not offered at Minnesota State Mankato. Acceptance to professional educational institutions is contingent upon academic performance, so students enrolling in pre-professional programs should be highly motivated and realize they are expected to maintain standards of excellence.

Graduate programs generally do not specify what undergraduate major must be completed. They are concerned about your performance within the major (including GPA) and that you have successfully completed all prerequisite coursework.

Majors to Consider with Pre-Physical Therapy:

• Exercise Science-Practitioner
• Biology-Biomedical Sciences
• Applied Health Science

The Pre–Physical Therapy curriculum is primarily a science–based curriculum which meets the standard requirements for admission to most physical therapy programs. The majority of schools require a Bachelor's degree prior to application for admission, although some still accept students following two or three years of college preparation. It is important that students check requirements for their professional school of choice as some require classes in addition to those contained in this concentration. Most programs also require that the student take the Graduate Record Examination and score at a certain level.

Pre-Physical Therapy Concentration Courses

• BIOL 105 General Biology I (4 credits)
• BIOL 106 General Biology II (4 credits)
• BIOL 201 Anatomy and Physiology 1 (4 credits) and BIOL 202 Anatomy and Physiology 2 (4 credits) or BIOL 325 Principles of Human Anatomy (4 credits) and BIOL 330 Principles of Human Physiology (4 credits)
• PHYS 211 Principles of Physics I (4 credits)
• PHYS 212 Principles of Physics II (4 credits)
• MATH 112 College Algebra (4 credits) and MATH 113 Trigonometry (3 credits) or MATH 115 Precalculus (4 credits)
• STAT 154 Elementary Statistics (4 credits)
• CHEM 201 General Chemistry I (5 credits)
• CHEM 202 General Chemistry II (5 credits)
• PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychological Science (4 credits)
• KSP 235 Human Development (3 credits)-Recommendation only; see graduate program requirements
• PSYC 455 Abnormal Psychology (4 credits)
• SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology (4 credits)-Recommendation only; see graduate program requirements
• HLTH 321 Medical Terminology (3 credits)
• HP 260 Introduction to Exercise Science and Practitioner-Based Professions (3 credits)-Recommendation only; see graduate program requirements

Total: 53-66 credits

Check the specific prerequisite courses of programs you plan to apply to and tailor the above list to meet those requirements. Also note observation hour requirements in a clinical physical therapy setting (work, volunteer, or shadow) for each program of interest. Exposure to multiple and varied areas of PT practice is highly recommended.

American Physical Therapy Association: www.apta.org/ProspectiveStudents/

PTCAS (PT Centralized Application Service): http://www.ptcas.org/directoryprogramslist/