Physical Therapist Assistant
Physical Therapist Assistant I plan to be a Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) when I finish college. The Physical Therapist Assistant program is a two year program. I am positive that this is what I want to be. I can finish school at any time after I become a Physical Therapist Assistant, and become a full on Physical Therapist, if I would ever want to. I will be transferring to Wytheville Community College next year, because Bluefield College doesn’t have the Physical Therapist Assistant program. I am going to Bluefield College my first year to get my general classes done, because my mom works as a secretary there and I get free tuition. My church youth pastor, Quentin Dunford, is a Physical Therapist Assistant. I interviewed him about his job and about the college courses you have to go through to be a PTA. I even went to his workplace for about half a work day (four hours) to do some job shadowing. He taught me a lot about being a PTA, and what you have to do to become one. I asked him a lot of questions, such as what classes do I have to take to become a PTA? Are the classes hard? Is the job hard? What do you do on a daily basis? How long are the work days? Is there a lot of job availability for PTAs? About how much does a PTA make? How much does a Physical Therapist make? And how much longer would I have to go to college to be a Physical Therapist? He answered all of the questions I had for him. He told me the only class he knows you are required to take is Chemistry. He said that the classes aren’t too hard if you study a lot and do your best at them. The job isn’t that hard at all. On a daily basis you work with people who have injuries, such as a broken knee, or a sprained ankle. You even work with old or obese people who can’t walk well or move around much. Your goal is to work with people and heal whatever injuries or conditions they have. For example, if someone has a sprained ankle, you must first look at the plans set out by the Physical