PTA Program

Our user asked: "I’m hoping you can steer me in the right direction. I came across this site through google. My girlfriend is going to school to become a PTA. She is currently attending Ivy Tech in Northwest Indiana because there aren’t many schools around that will offer this program. She has been working in a nursing home in the PT department helping transfer patients to and from the PT room. After work on Tuesday’s she volunteers in the Hospital to get some additional experience. During the time she has been working in the hospital, she has had two separate Physical Therapists tell her that they think that PTA’s will eventually be fazed out of the occupation, thus rendering her degree useless. She has been a little stressed out over this, and I thought I would take the initiative to reach out and ask a few experts if they thought that was the case. Can you offer me any insight into what they are suggesting? She really doesn’t want to complete the entire PT program because she would rather assist than make actual diagnosis on patients etc… Any help would be appreciated. Kind regards"

Ask a PT Response: "Thank you for your inquiry. I have not heard of such a thing about "fazing out" PTA's. In fact, I was just at our PT state conference in WI a few weeks ago and talked to an individual who was helping to start up a new PTA program in WI. I called an accredited PTA program in WI as well and talked to the assistant director of the program and she told me that she was unaware of such action. I then proceeded to call our national organization, APTA, and they told me they are unaware of this as well. They suggest that your girlfriend talk to the two PT's to find out why they think PTA's will be phased out and from whom they are obtaining this information from. They also suggest that she contact them (APTA) if she has any additional questions: 800 999-2782.

As far as my personal feelings, I feel that given the shortage of physical therapists, PTA's are an intrical part of our occupational success not only with patient care but with the financial aspect as well. Thank you for using CyberPT."