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Physical or Occupational Therapy Major Print E-mail

Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy is a discipline which uses several types of procedures to train or rehabilitate persons with motor disabilities. The disabilities may result from developmental problems, poor health or an accident.

Physical therapists usually specialize in helping people develop skills of large muscle groups, such as walking, range of joint motion or muscle strengthening after surgery or an accident.

Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists plan and direct educational, vocational and recreational activities designed individuals with disabilities to become self-sufficient.

The OT helps patients develop activities such as eating, dressing, and writing as well as vocational skills such as typing and operating power tools. The patients' mobility coordination, self-sufficiency and confidence are all part of the therapy program. Design of special equipment or devices which will aid the patient in their daily endeavors are also part of the job.

Entrance Expectations in PT or OT
A student interested in a profession in physical therapy or occupational therapy must be prepared to accept the rigors of the educational process. Competition for entrance into most schools is very intense.

The student must have a very high GPA in their undergraduate program, an average or above average GRE test score, completed the courses required for entrance into the school to which they are applying, have good recommendations and show a strong desire to become part of the profession as shown through previous observational or volunteer activities in the field.

Greenville prepares a student well in the undergraduate science and psychology requirements. The general education requirements for graduation help prepare the student for the general section of the GRE. A few of the programs into which recent Greenville College graduates have been accepted in PT or OT are Washington University in St. Louis, University of Virginia, and Northwestern University in Illinois.

Educational Role of Greenville College
A student who wishes to pursue a career in physical therapy of occupational therapy can come to Greenville College to get a degree in biology or psychology and the necessary prerequisites for admission into a master's program in PT or OT. The student would take the GRE exam in the spring or summer of their junior year. The first semester of their senior year, the student would apply to graduate programs in which they are interested.

Required Courses for a Biology Major with a PT or OT Emphasis

  • General Biology - 8 credits
  • General Chemistry - 8 credits
  • General Botany - 4 credits
  • Cell Biology - 4 credits
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology - 4 credits
  • General Physiology - 4 credits
  • Vertebrate Morphogenesis - 4 credits
  • Senior Seminar - 2 credits
  • One biology department elective

Suggested Courses

  • Physics (with lab) - 4 or 8 credits
  • General Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and/or Psychopathology
  • Statistics and college math (calculus)
  • History or political science
  • A practicum course or verification of 100 hours of observation
  • Electives: Kinesiology, Exercise Physiology, Ethics

*Completion of all general education requirements for a BA degree are also required.

Greenville Advantages
The liberal arts education at Greenville College preceding the PT or OT training has the following advantages:

  • Greenville's goal is to educate the whole person which helps the student understand who they are and their role in the world.
  • A liberal arts education gives the PT or OT windows of opportunity for relating with patients in areas other than the patient's problem.
  • A liberal arts education teaches people from a broad base of perspective that also allows for better understanding of clients.
  • The classes from the Division of Mathematics, Natural and Computer Science are rigorous courses that place emphasis on fundamental concepts taught by specialists in each field. The courses are those designed for majors in each respective department.
  • Greenville's emphasis on building servant leaders provides an excellent model for the physical or occupational therapist's career.
  • Greenville College honors Christ, the best model of a servant healer that we have in history, in all of its programming.

Accreditation
Greenville College is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as several other academic affiliations.

 
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