what is physical therapy essay

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How Do I Write My PTCAS Essay (Personal Statement)?

The PT School application process is challenging, to say the least. But, it’s incredibly rewarding, because at the end of this process you’ll be on your way to starting your career and getting your dream job as a physical therapist.

One of the most important parts of the PT School application process is the personal statement , or the essay . Each year, the Physical Therapy Centralized Application Service ( PTCAS ) sets a specific prompt for the personal statement. This personal statement is submitted to every school to which you apply. In short, it’s a chance for you to set yourself apart from the other applicants. So, how do you write your PTCAS essay ? Let’s dive in to learn more about this part of the application process, and learn more about our services to help you with your personal statement here !

What is a Personal Statement?

A Personal Statement is an essay that explains your background and allows you to describe yourself. It’s a common requirement for graduate schools and jobs, so it’s especially important for you to use the personal statement to explain why you want to pursue this opportunity.

A Personal Statement can be a general description of yourself or it can answer a specific prompt . It’s common for graduate schools to ask specific questions for the Personal Statement.¹ In this case, the Personal Statement is a chance for you to show the admissions committee who you are beyond the data in your application . In an essay format, you can expand upon your character, goals, and background, allowing the admissions committee to get to know you.

What Should I Know About a Physical Therapy Personal Statement?

PTCAS Personal Statement prompts can vary in topics, but ultimately they touch on the physical therapy profession. It’s important that you answer the PTCAS question in your essay. But you should also view this as an opportunity to describe yourself to the admissions committees. Keep in mind that these committees are reviewing hundreds, or even thousands, of applications each year. Use this opportunity to set yourself apart .

In your essay, you should explain why you want to become a physical therapist, but try to avoid using a common reason such as “I want to help people.” Show the admissions committee your passion for physical therapy and prove to them why you belong in physical therapy school and why you’re going to become a great physical therapist.

Above all, remember that through the 4,500 characters in your essay, you’re not just telling the admissions committees who you are… you’re showing them.

Contact us today with any questions or for help with your PT school personal statement!

Lab P. The Personal Statement // Purdue Writing Lab. Purdue Writing Lab. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/job_search_writing/preparing_an_application/writing_the_personal_statement/index.html. Published 2020. Accessed July 26, 2020.

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The Ultimate Guide to Writing PT School Application Essays

Here are some pointers for writing essays when you apply to physical therapy school. Please know that there isn’t a single best way to write your essays and everyone will answer each prompt differently, so do what works for you!

Essays are challenging to write, especially without any guidance. I had about 10 revisions of each of the 7 essays I wrote, had several people read them each time, and still had trouble writing some of them.

How to Start Writing Your Essay

1. Organize Your Thoughts

Write down the essay prompt, either on a computer or by hand. Read it a couple times, even out loud, until you have a good idea of what it is asking.

Then write down any thoughts that came to mind. They can be related to the prompt, or you can just write down what you like about the physical therapy profession or any specific experiences that stand out to you.

It doesn’t matter if you’ll actually end up writing about them. Don’t worry about your grammar or if it is written well. Just write down all of your thoughts into bullet points, or just a few words or a sentence for each idea.

If you are having trouble coming up with ideas, there is a section at the end of this post just for you. There are a lot of questions that may help you come up with ideas for your essay, so go check them out!

2. Turn your ideas into paragraphs

Write more about each point that you wrote down. Try to form a paragraph and relate it back to the prompt. If you’re struggling on writing more than a sentence or two about the bullet point, then maybe one of your other ideas will be better to include in your essay.

3. Choose 2-3 things to talk about

Now that you’ve written as much as you can about each bullet point, you should start to see a general direction to keep writing your essay. What are your favorite topics? What ideas can relate to each other to make a cohesive essay? What ideas answer the prompt the best?

4. Form a Complete Essay

Now that you’ve chosen your favorite paragraphs, format them into one essay. Now you can add an introduction paragraph that briefly mentions these paragraphs and your overall topic. Then you can add a conclusion.

5. Edit Your Essay

Now that you have a complete essay, you can read it from beginning to end. If it doesn’t flow well between each paragraph, add some transition sentences. If you don’t answer the prompt very well, rewrite some sentences. Keep editing and rewording until the essay is finished.

How Do You Format Your Essay?

You can format your essay however you like! I recommend that you have an introduction, some body paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, you don’t need your typical “5 paragraph” essay. Some supplemental essays may also have a shorter length, so you might only write two paragraphs.

You can indent each new paragraph, or just put a space between paragraphs instead of indenting, unless the school states that there is a specific way they want you to format your essay.

General Tips for PT School Essays

I know that writing your essays is not as simple as those 5 steps. It can take weeks and be mentally exhausting. However, I’ve included a bunch of tips to help guide you to writing a great essay.

• Be careful what you write about patients. If you choose to write about a patient, don’t include any specific personal information like their name, ethnicity, or occupation, or you will be violating HIPAA. Describing their general age, condition, gender, what setting you observed in, general occupation if it relates to your story, and what interventions were used is perfectly fine.
• Don’t use contractions.  I just did, but that’s besides the point! Contractions are too casual, so avoid them if possible.
• First-person speech.  It’s ok to say “I” and talk in first person. You’re writing about yourself, after all! Just make sure that you vary your sentence structure so that you don’t begin every sentence with “I”. There is never any reason to say “I think” in any sentence. It sounds unprofessional, so just delete it.
• Focus on the positives.  If you had any negative experiences, setbacks, or mistakes, don’t spend too much time writing about them. Explain yourself in a couple sentences, but focus on what you learned and how you’ve bettered yourself. Don’t dwell on the past, but try to focus on the positive results.
• Try to avoid clichés.  Almost everyone can write about how they want to be a physical therapist because they love to help people, or because they got injured and need physical therapy. You can briefly write these things, but you need to have other, more personal experiences that you can write about. Be sure to set yourself apart from others.
• Why have you chosen each school?  For supplemental essays for a specific school, make sure to mention why you want to go to their school, if it fits into the prompt. It’s good to show that you’ve done your research and are excited to attend their program for specific reasons.
• Answer the question.  It’s self-explanatory, but it’s so easy to get caught up in what you’re writing and go in a direction that doesn’t answer the original prompt. Make sure everything that appears in the essay helps to answer the prompt in some way.
• Have others read and edit your essay. Family members, friends, classmates, college writing center, or people on the Student Doctor Network Forums can all help your essay. It’s so beneficial to have an outside perspective on essays, especially because the admissions committee reading your essay won’t read it in the same way that you do. Try to have as many people critique your essay as possible.
• If you ask for help online, don’t post your entire essay for everyone on the internet to read. Make a new thread or comment on a current essay thread, and send an email directly to the person willing to read your essay. There are people that might steal your essay and use it as their own, so be careful who you send it to.
• Take a break from writing. Constantly thinking about your essay, rewriting, and editing is exhausting. It’s helpful to take a few days from working on your essay, and then come back to it with a fresh start.
• Try writing in different environments. I wrote mostly at home, but found that I got stuck with my writing. I started to write at coffee shops, which helped me be more productive. Try working at a library, outside, at a friend’s house, or in a different room in your own house.
• Essays can take weeks to write.  Make sure you start early enough so you aren’t stressed out from trying to meet an upcoming deadline. Start working on your essays as soon as possible.
• Be careful when writing multiple essays.  The PTCAS essay is sent to every school, so don’t copy and paste the same paragraphs into any supplemental essays. However, if two different schools have an essay prompt that is similar, then feel free to similar paragraphs.
• Essays are weighed differently by each school.  Some might not even read the PTCAS essay, others care more about their supplemental essays, or some schools do not care much about a well-written essay.
• Maximum character length.  You don’t have to write 4498 out of 4450 characters for your essay to be great.  Shorter is fine if you can get your point across. Aim for the character maximum, but it’s fine to have several hundred less than that.
• What if you wrote too much?  Worry about the essay length after you have written your thoughts down. When you are finalizing your essay, remove the repetitive information and anything that does not support the prompt, for starters. Then you can try rewording your sentences so they get straight to your point.

Tips for Specific Essays

If you’re stuck with writing your essays, see if you can answer these questions. You don’t need to answer all of them or any of them to write a great essay. A lot of these questions will overlap and be useful on other prompts, so make sure to read through everything if you need help.

Hopefully these questions will get you out of any writers block you may have.

PTCAS Essay

You can find the essay prompt on the PTCAS Essay page , or on their Facebook page once it is released. When I applied in 2014, the essay prompt was released in early June, and the PTCAS application opened in early July. This gave me an entire month to write my essay before I could even start my PTCAS application.

The essay prompt changes every year or every several years, so I can’t give great advice for this. These are some tips from past essays, so hopefully they help.

• How have your life experiences shaped who you are?
• What observation experiences can you talk about?
• Are there any patients that have influenced you?
• How has an experience impacted how you want to want to practice physical therapy?
• Who are the most influential people in your life?
• When did you know that you wanted to be a physical therapist?
• When have you been on a team or worked in a group? How was the team approach better than working by yourself?
• Where do you see the field of physical therapy going, and how do you fit into that picture?
• What sort of physical therapist to you see yourself being?
• How would you treat your future patients?
• What dream goals do you have?
• What character traits are important to have as a physical therapist
• What experiences have strengthened those traits for you, or what traits are you currently working on?
• How has your time spent as a patient affected how you will be a physical therapist?
• Are there any specific therapists that you wish to be like, or any therapists that you don’t want to become?
• Why will you be valuable to this profession?
• Are you interested in teaching, research, owning your own business, traveling, working for a nonprofit, or volunteering in another country?

Autobiography Essay

• What challenges have you overcome in your life?
• What are some of your major accomplishments?
• Why do you want to be a physical therapist?
• What things have you done that helped you grow as an individual
• What activities have you participated in?
• Who are some influential people on your life?
• How have your family, friends, or peers shaped who you are today?
• How would other people describe you?
• What 5 words describe you the best?
• What character traits are important for a physical therapist to have? Do you have these traits, or how are you improving them?
• What is important to you?
• How will your experiences make you a successful physical therapy student/physical therapist?
• How did your upbringing shape your personality, and how will that make you a better physical therapist?
• How have your experiences led you to the physical therapy career instead of other health care careers?
• Is there a central theme about your life experiences?
• How can you contribute to the field of physical therapy and your future patients?

Diversity Essay

• Describe your life experience as it is related to your culture.
• Is it hard to understand others who are from a different culture?
• Do you have a culturally different perspective than your peers?
• Does your culture have a different set of health care beliefs, or have you encountered another culture with different beliefs?
• Have you had an experience in life where you felt like your culture created a barrier for you?
• Have you volunteered for an economically disadvantaged population?
• Do you have trouble relating to higher socioeconomic classes?
• Have your experiences helped you relate better to certain people?
• Have you witnessed any social, cultural, or economic barriers when observing in a health care setting?
• How have you learned from any of these experiences?
• How does recognizing, understanding, or appreciating diversity make you a better physical therapist?
• Have you worked with individuals with disabilities?
• How do these experiences support that you will be able to work with diverse patients when you are a physical therapist?

Reapplicant Essay

• Have you retaken any classes?
• Did you retake the GRE?
• Do you have additional observation experiences?
• Did you observe in any new settings or see a different patient population?
• Did you have any additional work experience?
• Where you involved in any groups or team sports?
• Did you volunteer?
• How are you more prepared to be a successful student?
• Have you improved any personal skills?
• Have you worked with individuals that are different or gave you a unique perspective?
• What have you learned and how have you improved?
• How did these new experiences change your perspective, improve your application, change your personality, taught you something new, made you grow, or support your desire to become a physical therapist?

Does Your Academic Record Accurately Reflect Your Capabilities?

Most people say that you should only answer this section if something major happened in your life that was out of your control, like an illness, personal injury, family emergency, death of a loved one, etc.

Don’t use this area to write a list of excuses for why your grades weren’t as good as you wished. Examples of excuses: Explaining that you weren’t mature enough, didn’t study hard enough, partied too much, took too many difficult classes, or went to a challenging university. Those are excuses because you were responsible and they could have been avoided or handled better. If you are eager to explain yourself, you can try to add a sentence or two into your PTCAS essay.

A lot of people had lower grades at the beginning of their college career, so if your grades improved over time and your transcript shows that, you don’t need to write an essay to explain yourself.  It takes a while to learn how to succeed in college, and admissions committees understand that.

Additional Resources

Unfortunately there isn’t much information about physical therapy school essays. I found these resources for general essay writing, grad school essays, and med school essays, but they’re mostly applicable to physical therapy school too!

PTCAS Essay Prompt Essay Workshop 101 Writing the Personal Statement Personal Statement Before You Write Your Personal Statement, Read This Writing Your Medical School Personal Statement: Tips and Myths Writing the Personal Statement for Medical School

Student Doctor Network Forums:

Supplemental Essays character limit   PTCAS Essay question for 2015-2016 application cycle! Essay   This year’s personal statement prompt? Should I or should I not write about this in my essay? Re-applicant essay Does your personal statement have to be 4500 characters? 

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Pingback: PTCAS: Personal Statement/Essays

The link you set for the reapplicant essay doesn’t lead to that blog post. I wanted to ask if you know if reapplicants should submit the same essays if the essay question is the same this year?

Sorry for taking so long to reply! I just saw your comment this morning.

Thank you for letting me know about the link. Occasionally blogs are taken down, so I’ll have to go through and make sure to remove all the links to that site.

That’s a tough question, and I don’t think there is really a correct answer. If you read the Student Doctor Network forums , you can find others who have run into the same situation. Do you know why you were not accepted the first time around? If you didn’t meet the GPA or GRE requirements, your application may have been automatically disqualified and your essays might have never been read. You can choose to use the same exact essay, but hopefully they haven’t been read by the same program already. You can also choose to edit your essays a little bit, and maybe add any new experiences that you’ve had since you last applied.

Best of luck this application cycle! 🙂

Hi Katie! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and I really appreciate it!!! I’m just wandering if you know any PT personal essay editing service?

Hey Lauren! Sorry for the delay in my response, and I hope it isn’t too late.

When I was applying to schools, I sent my essays to 3-4 of my friends (including an English major), so I got tons of feedback from them. There’s also the Student Doctor Network forums, and there are DPT students and PTs that offer up their spare time to edit essays! Just be cautious when sending your essay to strangers on the forum – make sure that they have a decent number of posts on that site.

I’m not sure if there is an essay editing service online, specific towards PT admissions essays.

If you need any last minute help, feel free to email me your essay and I can give some comments! Best of luck with getting into schools! 🙂

I’m almost finished with my PTCAS application process and I found this. Super helpful, I’m making some edits to my essay now. Thank you!

You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help! Good luck with applying and everything.

Thank you, that was so helpful!

You’re welcome! Thanks for the nice comment 🙂 glad I was able to help!

How to write your physical therapy personal essay

by tkaprowy | Mar 22, 2021 | Uncategorized

I’m a little bit in love with this year’s physical therapy personal essay prompt. I’ll admit it’s a strange thing to be in love with and, thinking on it, maybe I’m really just in love with the person who composed it. Either way, there is serious sass living between the lines of this thing.

If you haven’t already seen it, the prompt for the PTCAS 2020-21 cycle reads as follows:

“ Every person has a story that has led them to a career. Since there are a variety of health professions that “help” others, please go beyond your initial interaction or experience with physical therapy, and share the deeper story that has confirmed your decision to specifically pursue physical therapy as your career .”

What I love about this is someone has clearly gotten fed up. It’s likely physical therapy schools were receiving versions of the same personal statements again and again and … again. Ones in which applicants wrote about how they knew they wanted to be a physical therapist:

• because they want to help people.
• after they received physical therapy themselves.

And this person? The one who wrote this prompt? Was tired. Was unimpressed. And that’s understandable.

DON’T BE GENERIC

Why so? Well, first, saying you want to help people doesn’t really answer why you want to be a physical therapist . Physical therapists, after all, are not the only people who help. Everyone does in healthcare, a). And, b), helping isn’t unique to the healthcare field. Teachers help. Police officers and flight attendants do, too. So using that as the basis of your answer for why you want to be a physical therapist is like building the foundation of your house on publicly-owned land; it’s not yours to claim.

Second, you have to wonder how many times poor admissions officers have read about people discovering they want to be a physical therapist after they received P.T. for the first time and were wowed by their own progress. I think it’s safe to assume it’s as common as answering the question, “Why do you want to be a doctor?” by describing how you liked to “heal” your stuffed animals when you were a kid. Or saying you knew you wanted to be an engineer because you’ve always had an affinity for Legos.

Those stories have been so over-told that they have become cliché . It does not matter how well you write these stories, you will not make inroads with your reader because your reader will be asleep.

So. What does this physical therapy prompt want out of you? Happily, it’s very clear: you should be writing about a moment of confirmation.

WHAT IS A MOMENT OF CONFIRMATION?

These are moments where everything, in a flash, comes together. Something happens, something changes, something begins. And you realize something important.

Maybe it’s the moment you realize that you want to be a physical therapist. Maybe it’s the moment you realize you have what it takes to be a physical therapist. Or, perhaps it’s the moment where you realize, holy crap, I don’t want to be a rodeo clown at all, I want to be a physical therapist instead.

The great thing about these moments — and the reason why the writers of this prompt are probably asking to read about them — i s they may or may not have to do with P.T. It could be the moment when someone is panicking in the library before an exam and you suddenly know exactly what to say to help them. It could be the moment when you park on the side of the road so you can help a turtle get across it so it doesn’t get splooshed. It could be the moment when someone plays their turn at Scrabble after a 16,000-hour mull and you realize you’ve been silently rooting for them (and actually interested in what they’ll spell).

All you need to do is outline the moment when you realized, wow, this is it. This is where it’s been heading all along. I know this for the first time right now .

DO STORY TELL, DON’T ESSAY WRITE

Whatever moment you choose, the prompt is asking you to get specific and dig deep by telling a story. This is actually great news for you. Telling a story is far, far more interesting than writing an essay. We’re also, in general, far, far more skilled at telling stories than we are at churning out boring essays.

That the word “specifically” is also in your prompt is also great news. Asking you to be specific is just another way of asking you to be detailed. And details are the funnest part about personal statements.

First, details help your moment/story come alive for your reader . To do so, you should address what was happening to every one of your senses at that time. So if you were on the side of the road with the turtle, what did you feel? See? Hear? Smell? Taste? Did you notice a cinnamon Trident gum pack in the ditch? Were you headed to karate practice? Did you consider not stopping for a second? Did you turn back? Was it spring? Were birds chirping? Were you afraid the turtle was going to bite you? Were you afraid it was going to be slimy? Or stinky?

Second, details show your reader how open and honest you’re being because you just can’t make them up . They help prove your story is true. That’s important for your reader to know in order to become invested.

FOLLOW IT UP

After you’ve described your life-changing moment, you then get to explain specifically why this steered you toward physical therapy. Which means you get to explain what was going on in your head at that time. This generally invites paragraphs that start with, “This is the moment I realized …” And then you explain what you realized.

So, again with the turtle, what did you realize? That you feel compelled in every fiber of your being to assist reptiles (and people) make safe progress?

If you’re describing the kid freaking out in the library, did you realize you have the ability to break down tough things for people so they’re digestible?

If you’re describing the Scrabble game, did you realize you have an inordinate amount of patience?

All of these qualities are both yours and belong to the best physical therapists. So this is a big part of your answer. After all, you can convincingly answer why you want a specific career if you can prove to your reader that your personality is actually built for it .

DON’T STOP WITH THE TURTLE

Because a moment of confirmation is when several pieces come together and click, you should feel free to weave in other parts of your life story in your essay after you’ve established your opening moment. So you should feel comfortable saying, “Standing beside this poor turtle, I realized I had felt this way when I …” Then you can fill in the blank. Was it when you shadowed a physical therapist? Or when coaching color guard? Or when you’ve been with your grandmother?

These examples shore up your answer and, although they might be more standard, together they all demonstrate (prove!) that you’re on the right career path. They also help you demonstrate other parts of your personality, background, education and/or goals.

I look forward to working with students to help answer this interesting prompt. If you’re looking for another example of how you can answer why you want a career in healthcare (without actually writing about healthcare), click here and skip down to the python runs into a poodle section. If you need any more guidance, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected]

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What Is The 2024-2025 PTCAS Application Essay Prompt?

The next PTCAS application cycle officially opened on June 17, 2024 . During an APTA virtual fair in 2024, they stated that the essay prompts stay the same for 2-3 years. For 2024-25, the spirit of the prompt will stay the same as last year, although the wording is changing slightly.

For 2024-25, the PTCAS personal statement prompt is: “ Every applicant is unique in their own way, possessing individual qualities, abilities, and backgrounds. What unique traits will you bring to the physical therapy profession that will help you to be successful?”

The prompt for the PTCAS essay prompt for 2023 cycle was: “Every person has a background, an identity, interests, or talents which they feel their application would be incomplete without having mentioned. Describe the traits or experiences that make you unique and explain how they will help you be a successful physical therapist.”

PTCAS noted that the wording was changed to make the prompt “more concise” and “less prescriptive.” They indicate that they consider the prompt to be the same as last year’s.

“Identity” was probably taken out because it is similar to “background,” and “interests” and “talents” seem to have been changed into “qualities” and “abilities.” The emphasis on the new version seems to be on “ traits .” The biggest difference I see between the two prompts is that the most recent version excludes asking about experiences. If I had to guess, they don’t want applicants talking about experiences because that usually turns into talking about PT experiences, and these tend to be similar for most applicants. Restating this in your essay is redundant with the rest of your PTCAS application, and doesn’t typically lead to teaching the reader additional information about yourself. I think there is still room to talk about truly unique experiences as long as you tie it into your traits. They also don’t have a replacement for “interests” in the new prompt, possibly because too many pre-PTs were reporting the same interests in exercising.

If you’d like to work with me to brainstorm or  edit your essay  once it’s written, reach out, and if you need extra preparation, take a look at my  PT school essay course !

The cycle will remain open until June 2025 with deadlines for PT programs starting as early as August 2024 and going until June 2025.

If you’re reapplying, or started your application early, your biographic information,  coursework, schools attended, official test scores, attached transcripts, observation hours, experiences, achievements, licenses and certifications will carry over between cycles. The coursework section in particular is very time consuming since you must enter every single college course and grade you’ve ever taken, in addition to having your transcripts sent over.

The following part of the application won’t transfer over from one cycle to the next:  letters of reference ,  essays , payments, and program-specific information .

There are also certain things that cannot be changed after you’ve submitted PTCAS, while others can be changed or added .

If you’d like to work with me to  edit your essay  once it’s written, reach out, and if you need extra preparation, take a look at my  PT school essay course ! Good luck!

1 thought on “What Is The 2024-2025 PTCAS Application Essay Prompt?”

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Why I Want to Be a Physical Therapist, Essay Sample

Essay about why i want to become a physical therapist.

When I think of what a physical therapist does, the first thing that comes to mind is helping people get back on their feet after an injury or an illness. While that is true, there is much more to it than that. A physical therapist has many responsibilities and duties they must abide by in order to keep the public safe. The four main things they must be able to do are: diagnose and treat injuries, teach how to prevent those injuries from happening again, treat diseases related to movement, and serve as expert witnesses for injured workers.

In this essay, which I write with the help of a custom paper writing service , I will share my reasons for pursuing a career in physical therapy, highlighting the key factors that motivate me to take this path. 

Reasons Why I Want to be a Physical Therapist

Physical therapy is an absolutely enormous field – one of the largest in the healthcare industry. But, when I think about what I love most about being a physical therapist, it’s that it’s so versatile. The type of work you do can be tailored to fit whatever you enjoy doing most. Some people really enjoy working with athletes; others like making older adults feel as comfortable and mobile as possible. You can choose to focus your efforts on one age group or another, find a great mentor in someone who works with your preferred area of focus, or even become a specialist in a specific sport.

Inspiration from My Therapist

From early childhood, I enjoyed playing sports and working out. But all of that changed when I suffered a serious knee injury during my senior year of high school. After the initial shock and pain, I was faced with a difficult decision — either let it heal on its own or face months of physical therapy and rehabilitation. 

My physical therapist worked diligently to get me back on my feet, helping me understand how important it is to move our bodies for healing purposes. She showed me exercises designed to strengthen my muscles around the knee joint and increase my range of motion. With each activity, she carefully monitored my progress and pushed me to do more than what was comfortable to help my body heal faster. Her guidance helped me regain strength and mobility in my knee much quicker than if I had just left it alone to heal on its own. 

The experience of going through physical therapy inspired me to pursue a career as a physical therapist myself so that I can help others who are struggling with injuries or chronic pain find relief through movement, as I did. 

Positive Impact of Physical Therapy on Patients

The positive impact that physical therapy can have on patients is one of the most compelling reasons why I want to become a physical therapist. Physical therapy can help alleviate pain, improve range of motion, increase strength and flexibility, and prevent future injuries. It can also enhance the overall quality of life by promoting independence, confidence, and self-esteem.

For example, physical therapy can prove invaluable for those recuperating from surgery, such as a knee replacement. It assists in restoring patients’ strength and mobility and reduces the risk of complications like blood clots and infections. Additionally, physical therapy can be a game-changer for those with persistent conditions, like arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson’s disease. Physical therapists collaborate with their patients to create tailored treatment plans that manage symptoms and enhance their overall quality of life.

Variety of Specialties

One of the reasons I am drawn to physical therapy is the wide range of specialties within the field that allow PTs to continually broaden their knowledge and expertise. For example, PTs can specialize in areas such as neurorehabilitation, aquatic therapy, and pediatrics.

Pediatric physical therapy, in particular, appeals to me as someone interested in working with children while also gaining a deeper understanding of how adults function. Working with children requires a unique skill set and approach that can be both challenging and rewarding.

Alternatively, geriatric physical therapy may be a good fit for those seeking a more relaxed environment. This area of specialization involves working with older adults to improve their physical function, mobility, and overall quality of life. Regardless of the specialty, the opportunity to continually learn and grow as a physical therapist is an aspect of the profession that excites me.

Building Relationships with Patients

Another aspect of physical therapy that I find rewarding is the opportunity to build relationships with patients. Unlike other medical professions that may only see patients briefly, physical therapists often work with patients over an extended period of time. This allows for a deeper understanding of their needs, concerns, and goals, and the chance to establish a bond built on trust and mutual respect.

Through my experiences as a volunteer in physical therapy clinics, I have seen firsthand the difference that a physical therapist can make in someone’s life. For example, I worked with a patient who had suffered a severe stroke and was unable to walk or talk. Through months of physical therapy, she regained her ability to walk and communicate, and her quality of life improved dramatically. Seeing her progress and the positive impact on her life was incredibly rewarding, and it strengthened my desire to pursue a career in physical therapy.

As a physical therapist, you’ll be able to continue helping people in need of your expertise. You will be able to specialize in areas such as orthopedics and sports medicine or work with elderly patients who have arthritis or balance problems. In addition to working with patients in hospitals and clinics, physical therapists may also work in schools where children learn about fitness and nutrition.

Physical therapy is more than just working out and rehabbing injuries. It can involve helping with various issues, including managing pain, improving movement and range of motion, increasing strength, alimentation, and even preventing injury. I believe that physical therapy is a field that will allow me to continue helping others who are in need and make a difference in their lives.

Tips On Writing an Essay About the Reasons Why I Want to Be a Physical Therapist 

Writing a personal statement essay about why you want to become a physical therapist can be challenging, but it’s also an excellent opportunity to showcase your passion and dedication to this field. Here are some tips to help you write an effective essay:

When writing an essay on why you want to become a physical therapist, use clear and simple language so that the reader can understand what you’re saying. Don’t use long sentences or complex words.

Highlight your skills

Physical therapy requires a unique set of skills, including strong communication, empathy, and problem-solving abilities. Highlight how your own skills and experiences have prepared you for this profession.

Show, don’t tell

Don’t just tell the reader that you’re passionate about physical therapy; show them. Use vivid language and specific examples to demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment to this field.

Connect your personal story to your career goals

In your personal statement essay, it’s important to illustrate how your life experiences and professional aspirations align with your passion for becoming a physical therapist. Use your essay as a platform to articulate how you envision making a positive impact in this field.

Why Someone Might Want to Become a Physical Therapist

Physical therapy is a rewarding career that involves helping patients recover from injuries and illnesses. Physical therapists work closely with patients to develop personalized treatment plans and help them achieve their goals. In this table, we will list the reasons why someone might want to become a physical therapist, along with a description of those reasons.

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The Curly Clinician - Physical Therapy + Lifestyle

PTCAS: Personal Statement/Essays

December 23, 2017 Physical Therapy , Pre-PT , PTCAS & Planning

Welcome to the last #dptwiththecc post (*cue sad music*)

Today I will discuss PERSONAL STATEMENTS & SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS!

What is a personal statement.

Every year, PTCAS has an “essay” section. This is essentially your personal statement, even though it is not stated outright. The personal statement is your chance to really show your personality, so you want to make it count! If your grades or GRE scores aren’t the best, your essays could really set you apart, + take your application to the next level.

The question/prompt will be the same for everyone, and this is updated every few application cycles. Because the PTCAS application opens at the end of June/early July, PTCAS usually releases the prompt for the upcoming cycle on their Twitter and Facebook pages in the spring. This will give you time to start brainstorming and drafting your essay before the application even opens!

Past PTCAS Prompts :

• 2016-2017, 2017-2018 : “What is professionalism in the context of being a student in a doctor of physical therapy program?”
• 2018-2019, 2019-2020 : “Describe a meaningful experience in your life. Reflect on how that experience influenced your personal growth, such as your attitudes or perceptions.”
• 2020-2021 : “Every person has a story that has led them to a career. Since there are a variety of health professions that “help” others, please go beyond your initial interaction or experiences with physical therapy, and share the deeper story that has confirmed your decision to specifically pursue physical therapy as your career.”

In addition to the PTCAS essay, most programs require you to write supplemental essays . These are additional essays that will let the program know a little bit more about you. These essays could be long or short, depending on the program. When I applied, my program had 2 supplemental essays (1150 characters each). One essay asked about a life failure and how I overcame it, and another asked about my experience with diversity.

What should I write about?

Katie from My Road to PT has a GREAT blog, and in her post about essays, she comprised a list of some example topics + questions. They are listed below:

PTCAS Essay

• How have your life experiences shaped who you are?
• What observation experiences can you talk about?
• Are there any patients that have influenced you?
• How has an experience impacted how you want to want to practice physical therapy?
• Who are the most influential people in your life?
• When did you know that you wanted to be a physical therapist?
• When have you been on a team or worked in a group? How was the team approach better than working by yourself?
• Where do you see the field of physical therapy going, and how do you fit into that picture?
• What sort of physical therapist to you see yourself being?
• How would you treat your future patients?
• What dream goals do you have?
• What character traits are important to have as a physical therapist
• What experiences have strengthened those traits for you, or what traits are you currently working on?
• How has your time spent as a patient affected how you will be a physical therapist?
• Are there any specific therapists that you wish to be like, or any therapists that you don’t want to become?
• Why will you be valuable to this profession?
• Are you interested in teaching, research, owning your own business, traveling, working for a nonprofit, or volunteering in another country?

Autobiography Essay

• What challenges have you overcome in your life?
• What are some of your major accomplishments?
• Why do you want to be a physical therapist?
• What things have you done that helped you grow as an individual
• What activities have you participated in?
• Who are some influential people on your life?
• How have your family, friends, or peers shaped who you are today?
• How would other people describe you?
• What 5 words describe you the best?
• What character traits are important for a physical therapist to have? Do you have these traits, or how are you improving them?
• What is important to you?
• How will your experiences make you a successful physical therapy student/physical therapist?
• How did your upbringing shape your personality, and how will that make you a better physical therapist?
• How have your experiences led you to the physical therapy career instead of other health care careers?
• Is there a central theme about your life experiences?
• How can you contribute to the field of physical therapy and your future patients?

Diversity Essay

• Describe your life experience as it is related to your culture.
• Is it hard to understand others who are from a different culture?
• Do you have a culturally different perspective than your peers?
• Does your culture have a different set of health care beliefs, or have you encountered another culture with different beliefs?
• Have you had an experience in life where you felt like your culture created a barrier for you?
• Have you volunteered for an economically disadvantaged population?
• Do you have trouble relating to higher socioeconomic classes?
• Have your experiences helped you relate better to certain people?
• Have you witnessed any social, cultural, or economic barriers when observing in a health care setting?
• How have you learned from any of these experiences?
• How does recognizing, understanding, or appreciating diversity make you a better physical therapist?
• Have you worked with individuals with disabilities?
• How do these experiences support that you will be able to work with diverse patients when you are a physical therapist?

Re-applicant Essay

• Have you retaken any classes?
• Did you retake the GRE?
• Do you have additional observation experiences?
• Did you observe in any new settings or see a different patient population?
• Did you have any additional work experience?
• Where you involved in any groups or team sports?
• Did you volunteer?
• How are you more prepared to be a successful student?
• Have you improved any personal skills?
• Have you worked with individuals that are different or gave you a unique perspective?
• What have you learned and how have you improved?
• How did these new experiences change your perspective, improve your application, change your personality, teach you something new, help you grow, or support your desire to become a physical therapist?

While these specific questions may not be asked, they can be used to brainstorm possible responses/give you an idea of the types of questions to expect.

What should I put in my personal statement?

Why you actually want to become a physical therapist is the number one thing that should be in your essay (duh)! You should also try to have a “theme” (as long as you can somehow relate it to the prompt). This will make your essay cohesive, and interesting to read. Almost everyone wants to be a physical therapist because they want to help people, or because they had an awesome physical therapist when they were injured. While this is great, try to focus on another reason why you want to become a physical therapist. This is a personal statement, so make it personal! For my PTCAS essay, I wrote about the lack of representation in the field for black women, and how I want to help increase the presence of underrepresented populations + treat underserved communities! Really think about WHY you want to help people. What are your passions? Pull from your life experiences (healthcare + non-healthcare related) to make your theme come to life.

In addition, you should extensively research the programs you are applying to before you write your supplemental essays! Read their mission statement, and find out what they value. Are they a research program? Do they really value diversity and inclusion? Are they big on global health? Whatever the program’s values are, include how your personal values align. This will make you stand out, and show that you are a serious applicant. If it is applicable to the prompt, you could also discuss why you want to attend the program that you are applying to!

How long does the personal statement have to be?

PTCAS has a limit of 4500 characters (about 1 page) for your essay. I would recommend using most or all of this space (without adding in irrelevant information of course) if possible. If you can get your point across in fewer characters, then that’s fine too! I wouldn’t stress about the character limit until you feel like you’ve completed most of your essay, as it is easier to take things out at the end. I would recommend drafting your essay in a program like Microsoft Word (or a plain text editor like Notepad), so that you can always see how many characters you’re at. Then, you can just paste the essay into PTCAS later.

Does your academic record accurately reflect your capabilities?

This question will be asked in the PTCAS application, but I wouldn’t answer it unless there was an extenuating circumstance that affected your academics. Admissions committees don’t want to hear excuses for why your grades weren’t as good as you wanted your freshman year (it happens!), or how you spent too much time partying or distracted. As long as your grades improved over time (your transcript will reflect this), you are fine!

General Tips

• ACTUALLY ANSWER THE PROMPT! I know this may seem obvious, but I have edited many essays for pre-PT students, and come across essays that didn’t even answer the prompt. This is a sure-fire way to stop someone from reading your essay, so follow directions, and try not to deviate too far from the prompt.
• Avoid contractions (i.e. don’t, can’t, won’t, etc.). Your essay should be formal.
• Show don’t tell!
• Vary your sentence structure. You want your writing to have style, so don’t make every sentence sound the same.
• Make sure to have an introduction (with a captivating opener to engage the reader), and a conclusion to bring your essay full circle (remember your theme!). I began my essay with a childhood memory, but you could begin with a quote (kinda cliché, but you could make it work), a question, a general idea, or something else. You want to grab the reader’s attention immediately!
• Remember HIPAA! If you want to discuss a patient you observed, don’t include any of their personal information!
• Don’t plagiarize!
• Keep your audience in mind: you never know who the admissions committee is composed of, and everyone may not agree with your views.
• When brainstorming, start by making a list of your thoughts/ideas about the prompt. Later, you can turn these ideas into actual paragraphs.
• Make sure your theme is present in each paragraph.
• Have at least 3-4 people proofread/edit your essays (for content + grammar). Of course, you’re going to think your essay is good, but you need an outside source’s opinion. You may think you’ve conveyed your point, but you’ll never know for sure unless you have someone proofread it. This could be a family member, a friend, a current DPT student, a physical therapist, a professor, etc. The Student Doctor Network Pre-PT Forum has a thread you can visit if you’re looking for someone to edit your essay. I wouldn’t recommend having another pre-PT student edit your essay (unless you know them personally, or really trust them), as there are some not-so-nice people online that could potentially steal your essay. I had my mentor (who is also a physical therapist), a recent DPT grad, and an accepted pre-PT student edit my essays. Try to avoid having too many people edit your essays, as you may lose your “personal” touch.
• Provide lots of examples!
• Don’t rush the process! It takes a while to write a good essay, so allow yourself enough time to do so. You may even have to take a break and come back later with a fresh mind. Regardless, you’ll have that “aha” moment eventually! If you are really stuck, try writing in a different environment (i.e. the library, a coffee shop, or a bookstore). Sometimes a change of scenery is all you need!
• Try reading your essay out loud. It is much easier to catch mistakes this way, versus if you are only reading it in your head.

Thank you so much for tuning in to this series! If you missed any of the posts, be sure to check them out under the “ Pre-PT ” section of the blog! I covered getting organized, grades/study tips, extracurricular activities, observation hours, letters of recommendation, and the GRE! Once it gets closer to the new application cycle, I will definitely have more tips and advice for y’all!

Remember that I am available for editing (PTCAS essay, supplemental essays, and resumes), so click here if that is something you are interested in!

If you have any requests for posts you’d like to see in the future (or ever need anything), feel free to leave a comment, DM me on Instagram , or shoot me an email ( [email protected] )! Can’t wait to continue creating content for you guys!

Reader Interactions

February 24, 2020 at 3:59 am

loved this. Really informative and inspiring. Thank you.

March 3, 2020 at 3:24 pm

You’re so welcome!

July 9, 2020 at 8:21 am

This was very helpful. I felt like I was constructing my essay on a blank canvas, but this article gave me a structural foundation of where to start. Thank you!

July 9, 2020 at 10:24 pm

Ah yay this makes me so happy Brittany! Good luck with the rest of your application girl!

September 19, 2020 at 11:31 am

This blog has helped me through every single step of my PTCAS application process! You’re truly a lifesaver because you give answers to all the little things that everyone asks and but no one really addresses. If i get into PT school, it’ll all be thanks to you!

September 24, 2020 at 3:40 pm

Ahhhh Sara that makes me so happy I am so glad that my blog has been a good resource for you! Good luck with the rest of the application process 🙂

July 24, 2021 at 1:54 pm

Love this! Your blog has been very helpful in my process of submitting apps. I had a question; where did you submit/find any extra supplemental essays?

August 28, 2021 at 12:13 pm

Hi Ashley, I’m so happy to hear this! They would be within the PTCAS application!

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86 Physical Therapy Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best physical therapy topic ideas & essay examples, ⭐ simple & easy physical therapy essay titles, 👍 good essay topics on physical therapy, ❓ physical therapy research questions.

• Legal and Ethical Responsibilities of Physical Therapists In the recent past, as a result of the increased autonomy of physical therapists in executing their duties, there has been an increase in the number of ethical and legal responsibilities of individuals in this […]
• The Career of a Physical Therapist The cost of attaining a degree in Physical therapy at the University of Delaware is estimated to be about 9,486 dollars for the in-state tuition fee and 23,186 for the out-of-state.
• ACL Surgery Physical Therapy Plan Resistance training can be incorporated into the exercise program to help build strength and improve stability in the knee. Working with a physical therapist with knowledge of ACL rehabilitation is necessary to guarantee the program’s […]
• The Education of Physical Therapy Students In the era of COVID-19, many students were forced to study online, and this type of learner has become one of the most popular in the medical sphere.
• Aspects of Geriatric Physical Therapy The authors of the study evaluated secondary data and presented the interconnections of an essential chain of mechanisms reflection on training processes such as enzymes, neurotransmitters, and ion channels positively influencing the cardiovascular system, cardiorespiratory […]
• Job Opportunities for a Physical Therapist Assistant Since a range of health issues and disorders are addressed in the specified settings, the assistance of a qualified PTA is likely to be quite welcome in a rehabilitation center.
• Physical Therapy: Orthopedic Chairs Proposal Being aware of the fact that the received orthopedic chairs are out-of-date and out of service for necessary repair, I have to inform healthcare staff about the shortages of new products, and our administrator is […]
• Funds to Set Up Physical Therapy and Rehabilitative Medicine Department There is a current need to evaluate the provision of physical therapy in society today, taking into consideration the number of people who need therapy, and the people with actual access to the service.
• Arthritis: The Use of Physical and Occupational Therapy Incorporating credible evidence, the paper expounds on biological factors such as unusual bowel permeability, genetic and microorganism as the causes of arthritis The paper examines the use of physical and occupational therapy, as some of […]
• Paraplegia: Normative Model for Physical Therapy Education Adjustment to the way of life and the budget is likely to follow in order for the family to cope with the paraplegic condition.
• Analysis of the Physical Therapy Market For this reason, it is possible to admit the existence of a significant business potential related to the development of the MBE Ltd.
• Physical Education: Effect of Phototherapy Therefore, it is evident that the intensity of an exercise directly influences one’s heart rate, breathing rate, skin coloration, sweating, and recovery.
• Careers in the Health Professions: Physical Therapy The organization is the sole accreditation agency in the United States with regard to education in Physical Therapy. He is married with two children and is undergoing computer course in the hope of landing a […]
• Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease Hypotension is an “abnormal condition in which the blood pressure is not adequate for normal perfusion and oxygenation of the tissues”.
• Physical Therapy Activities The justification for conducting this particular research was premised on the fact that relatively few studies had attempted to evaluate and address the relationship between physical therapy treatments and outcomes by specifically investigating the individual […]
• Medicine Issues: Physical Therapy as a Profession The aim of this essay is to discuss the profession of physical therapist explaining the role of women in this field.”Physical therapy in the United States was originally an occupation composed almost entirely of women; […]
• Negligence in Physical Therapy Even if the therapist owed a duty to the patient and acted outside the standard of care, the plaintiff still has to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the action of the therapist caused an […]
• The Career of a Physical Therapist Assistant The career of a physical therapist assistant is exciting, flexible, and highly rewarding, but students require necessary qualifications to join the profession.
• Physical Therapy: Overweight or Obese People With Osteoarthritis The abstract is a comprehensive summary of all the components of an article. Analyzed results are found in the results section of the article.
• Physical Therapy in Canada and Thai Research indicates that the advancement of technology in medical field has also provided the need for physiotherapy in the field of health.
• Dealing With Patient Resistance in Physical Therapy
• Physical Therapy in Gynecological Practice
• Good Physical Therapy as an Alternative to Drugs in Pain Management
• Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation: Use in Physical Therapy
• Application of Physical Therapy in Urology
• Discrimination in the Private Physical Therapy Practices
• Exploring the Theory of Expert Practice in Physical Therapy
• Evidence-Informed Physical Therapy of the Musculoskeletal System
• Physical Therapy for Athletes
• Experimental Methods of Physical Therapy Effects on the Human Body
• Code of Ethics of the American Physical Therapy Association
• Treatment Methods Used in Physical Therapy
• Contraindications and Restrictions for Physical Therapy
• Robotic Rehabilitation for Physical Therapy
• The Possibility of Reducing the Dose of the Drug Through Physical Therapy
• Physical Therapy After Triangular Fibrocartilage Injuries and Ulnar Wrist Pain
• Pulsed Radio Frequency Energy as Physical Therapy
• The American Physical Therapy Association
• The Effectiveness of Physical Therapy
• Positive and Negative Side Effects of Physical Therapy
• Advantages of Modern Physical Therapy
• Physical Therapy and Acquired Brain Injury Patients
• Methods of Physical Therapy in the Treatment of Diseases of Various Systems and Organs
• Physical Therapy: The Pharmacological Aspect of Musculoskeletal Systems
• Physical Therapy in Gynecology for the Recovery and Treatment of the Body
• Physical Therapy for Pain Relief
• Contraindications to the Use of Physical Therapy Methods for Treatment
• Post-stroke Balance Rehabilitation of Multilevel Physical Therapy
• The Influence of Physical Therapy on the Human Body
• Viewing the Practice of Physical Therapy From a Professional’s Perspective
• Patient Satisfaction With Physical Therapy
• Accelerating the Achievement of Desired Treatment Results With Physical Therapy
• The Appointment of Physical Therapy for a Certain Range of Indications
• Physical Therapy for Neurological Conditions in Geriatric Populations
• Physical Therapy for Becoming a Licensed Physical Therapist
• Combination of Physical Therapy With Other Therapies
• Effective Methods of Treatment Using Technologies Close to Physical Therapy
• The Downsides and Benefits of an Effective Physical Therapy
• Physical Therapy for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
• What Does Physical Therapy Mean?
• What Is the Main Focus of Physical Therapy?
• What Are the Types of Physical Therapy?
• What Are Things Physical Therapist Do?
• What Usually Happens at Physical Therapy?
• Who Benefits From Physical Therapy?
• Why Do Patients Go to Physical Therapy?
• Why Do Doctors Recommend Physical Therapy?
• Does Physical Therapy Really Help?
• Can Physical Therapy Harm a Person’s Health?
• How Long Does Physical Therapy Last?
• Should a Person Immediately Go to Physical Therapy if There Is Pain?
• Is Physical Therapy Painful at First?
• Does a Person Need to Go to Physical Therapy Often?
• What Happens to a Person When They First Visit a Physiotherapist?
• How Does Medical Terminology Relate to Physical Therapy?
• How Physical Therapy Has a Positive Impact on Patient’s Disease, Deformity, or Injury?
• How Can Clinical Decision Making for a Physical Therapy Assistant Help?
• What Happens After Physical Therapy Is Done?
• What Clothing Should People Wear to Physical Therapy Appointments?
• What Can Not Be Done Before the Medical Examination?
• Should People Take Painkillers Before Physical Therapy?
• What Time of Day Is Best for Physical Therapy?
• Is a Physical Therapist Better Than a Chiropractor?
• How Does Physiotherapy Work?
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History of physical therapy

Patients of physical therapy, patient management, progress in physical therapy.

• Where was science invented?
• When did science begin?

physical therapy

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physical therapy , health profession that aims to improve movement and mobility in persons with compromised physical functioning. Professionals in the field are known as physical therapists.

Although the use of exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle is ancient in its origins, modern physical therapy appears to have originated in the 19th century with the promotion of massage and manual muscle therapy in Europe. In the early 20th century, approaches in physical therapy were used in the United States to evaluate muscle function in those affected by polio. Physical therapists developed programs to strengthen muscles when possible and helped polio patients learn how to use their remaining musculature to accomplish functional mobility activities. About the same time, physical therapists in the United States were also trained to work with soldiers returning from World War I; these therapists were known as “reconstruction aides.” Some worked in hospitals close to the battlefields in France to begin early rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. Typical patients were those with amputated limbs, head injuries, and spinal cord injuries. Physical therapists later practiced in a wide variety of settings, including private practices, hospitals, rehabilitation centres, nursing homes, public schools, and home health agencies. In each of those settings, therapists work with other members of the health care team toward common goals for the patient.

Often, persons who undergo physical therapy have experienced a decrease in quality of life as a result of physical impairments or functional limitations caused by disease or injury. Individuals who often are in need of physical therapy include those with back pain , elderly persons with arthritis or balance problems, injured athletes, infants with developmental disabilities, and persons who have had severe burns, strokes, or spinal cord injuries. Persons whose endurance for movement is affected by heart or lung problems or other illnesses are also helped by exercise and education to build activity tolerance and improve muscle strength and efficiency of movement during functional activities. Individuals with limb deficiencies are taught to use prosthetic replacement devices.

Physical therapists complete an examination of the individual and work with him or her to determine goals that can be achieved primarily through exercise prescription and functional training to improve movement. Education is a key component of patient management. Adults with impairments and functional limitations can be taught to recover or improve movements impaired by disease and injury and to prevent injury and disability caused by abnormal posture and movement. Infants born with developmental disabilities are helped to learn movements they have never done before, with an emphasis on functional mobility for satisfying participation in family and community activities. Some problems, such as pain, may be addressed with treatments, including mobilization of soft tissues and joints, electrotherapy, and other physical agents.

New areas of practice are continually developing in the field of physical therapy. The scope of practice of a growing specialty in women’s health, for example, includes concerns such as incontinence, pelvic/vaginal pain, prenatal and postpartum musculosketelal pain, osteoporosis , rehabilitation following breast surgery , and lymphedema (accumulation of fluids in soft tissues). Females across the life span, from the young athlete to the childbearing, menopausal, or elderly woman, can benefit from physical therapy. Education for prevention, wellness , and exercise is another important area in addressing physical health for both men and women.

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PT School Personal Statement Examples: a Quick Guide

Table of Contents

Your statement is your chance to “sell” yourself to the admissions committee. We have great PT school personal statement examples to inspire you in crafting your statement.

We hope they provide a wealth of insights into the personal statement process and help you achieve admission to your dream PT school.

What Is a PT Personal Statement?

Personal statements for physiotherapy programs are creative writing assignments required for the UCAS application. It helps the admissions committee decide if you’re a good fit for their class and institution .

When applying to an undergraduate or graduate program, you’ll need to highlight your talents, achievements, and goals in your statement.

If you’re anything like most applicants, the mere thought of writing a personal statement makes you break out in a cold sweat. However, we have made it easy by detailing what to include in a PT personal statement.

How to Write an Outstanding PT Personal Statement

Writing a PT personal statement can be nerve-wracking. However, these steps will help you write an impressive personal statement that brings it all together in one successful, polished piece.

• Begin with a few phrases on an experience that ignited your interest in the field.
• Highlight your interest in physiotherapy by discussing pertinent aspects of your work experience, reading, hobbies, or anything else you find interesting.
• Share what you’ve learned about physiotherapy and what you find most interesting about the field. Tutors in charge of admissions want to see that you have done your homework and are prepared for the program’s challenges.
• You’ll need great people skills, the ability to work well in a team, and patience to succeed as a physiotherapist. Keep these talents in mind while you write the rest of your statement.

PT School Personal Statement Examples

Remember, your statement is only a small part of the application process and should be manageable. These INK examples detail what to write and how to write it, so it impacts the admission board.

I have always been passionate about the art of physical therapy. I also have a long-standing interest in human anatomy and kinesiology that was further stoked during my undergraduate studies. In particular, I found myself captivated by musculoskeletal injury prevention and management. I want to explore novel ways to enhance biomechanical efficiency through various stretching and movement exercises. My curiosity quickly translated into tangible accomplishments, such as designing several clinical interventions for athletes suffering from injuries or chronic conditions.

I believe PT school will provide me with the necessary skill set to embark on a meaningful career in helping people. As such, I am eager to hone my knowledge and develop effective strategies to rehabilitate clients. By utilizing evidence-based practices, I aspire to use my creativity to find innovative solutions tailored to each individual’s needs. Additionally, providing compassionate care is critical in helping patients reach their goals and regaining quality of life.

Pursuing physical therapy would allow me to make a lasting difference in the lives of those around me. With this in mind, I look forward to combining my enthusiasm and expertise with the invaluable experience offered by your esteemed program. It will help me become a highly competent practitioner and leader in this field.

I have long aspired to attend physical therapy school to hone my natural talents and knowledge of the human body. I possess a unique combination of practical skills and expertise that will make me an asset at any educational institution.

I’ve always had a passion for health and wellness, honed through years of recreational and professional experience. As a volunteer ambulance driver with a rural hospital, I regularly saw firsthand how physical therapy could dramatically improve lives. Further, my work as a strength trainer has provided me with invaluable insight into effective patient rehabilitation and injury prevention. In short, I am intimately familiar with therapeutic techniques designed to restore mobility, correct alignment issues, and reduce pain.

Moreover, I understand the emotional component of healing. Having endured numerous sports injuries myself, I relate deeply to those struggling with their conditions. This empathy allows me to create personalized treatment plans tailored to meet each client’s individual needs. My goal is not just to treat ailments but also to alleviate suffering, providing holistic care and gentle guidance every step of the way.

My diverse skill set and compassionate nature would be a perfect fit for physical therapy school. Therefore, I request that you consider me as an applicant.

Yours truly,

Final Words

These PT school personal statement examples above outline how to present your skills clearly and set yourself apart from competitors . It uses specific details to convey unique qualities.

Review these sample personal statements to learn more about what makes a persuasive personal statement. They also make great comparison points when building your PT school personal statement.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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Physical Therapy Essay | Why To Choose Physical Therapy Profession? Importance and Benefits

August 27, 2021 by Prasanna

Physical Therapy Essay: Physical therapy is a profession that will consistently be required all through society; it assists the human body with reconstructing actual capacity in individuals that have been harmed, have birth abandons, or some other reasons. Individuals who have been in mishaps or have handicapping conditions like low-back torment, joint inflammation, coronary illness, breaks, head wounds and cerebral paralysis go to a Physical therapist, normally called PTs, for help. These medical care experts utilize a collection of strategies, called modalities, to restore work, further develop development, soothe torment and stay away from or limit enduring actual handicaps in their patients.

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Sample Essay on Physical Therapy

A physical therapist is medical care expert that offers restorative types of assistance to their patients who have transitory or constant states of being that were caused by injury or illness. The actual specialist additionally offered remedial types of assistance to patients after they have gone through a medical procedure to assist them with recovering versatility and deal with their aggravation. They can likewise work in preventive consideration by advancing sound ways of life and training singular patients or gatherings on forestalling injury by utilizing practices that stretch and fortify muscles. To help their patients attempt to recuperate they use rub strategies, wellbeing plans, and various kinds of hardware.

At the point when a physical therapist sees a patient for the absolute first time they should do an assessment, assessment, conclusion, and afterward set up an actual intercession to begin the recovery interaction. They additionally fill in collectively with other medical services experts to assist with their patient’s needs. A physical therapist can truly have an effect on their patient’s lives by offering restorative types of assistance as well as empowering and rousing them so they can improve. The fundamental objectives of Physical therapists are to assist their patients in withholding or restore lost actual portability, take out or decrease torment, increment usefulness and assist with advancing a sound way of life so patients can have the superior personal satisfaction and become more autonomous.

The calling of Physical therapy interests me mostly on the grounds that non-intrusive treatment emphatically affects my life and I need to have the option to decidedly affect others. Throughout the long term, I have had something reasonable of wounds and have been lucky enough to have a physical therapist work on me. The way that my physical therapist had the option to limit my aggravation and facilitate my therapy made me amazingly energetic about the calling. Non-intrusive treatment is a fundamental piece of games, which is an enormous piece of my life, and extraordinarily helps the games world.

Without a Physical therapist, wounds would be considerably more adverse and would in this way decline the appeal of contending in a game. Also, I couldn’t imagine anything better than to work in an expert field relating to sports since they to a great extent affect my life and have formed who I am today.

Physical therapy has many advantages outside of sports also, including general active work.

I lead an exceptionally dynamic way of life and can’t envision existence without actual work because of a physical issue, sickness or ailment. By giving rehabilitative consideration to people of all movement levels Physical therapists permit them the opportunity to be truly dynamic. I accept that to make every second count, your body should have the option to take you anyplace you need to go. I can’t think about a preferable calling over valuably affecting others day to day routines and assisting them with partaking in their lives.

Notwithstanding these individual reasons, there are outside factors that additionally make the Physical therapy calling engaging. When you start working, your professional stability increments significantly on the grounds that wounds, ailments and sicknesses will consistently be common in the public eye.

This is exceptionally consoling to experience the harmony of the psyche that you will not be supplanted and it permits you to partake in your work more. Additionally, most Physical therapists work normal hours, which permits you to partake in your time off work and not be stressed over getting brought in. At last, I know numerous individuals that are either physical therapists, facility proprietors, or even still understudies that couldn’t be more joyful with the choice they made to work in the field of non-intrusive treatment.

The advantages of non-intrusive treatment on actual work are huge and crucial for individuals’ wellbeing. By and large, Physical therapy impacts the overall soundness of individuals endlessly. Without physical therapy and rehabilitative consideration, wounds, sicknesses and illnesses could be calamitous to an individual’s actual work level. physical therapists give care that permits people to perform fundamental day-by-day errands and complete activities that work on their personal satisfaction. Notwithstanding broad wellbeing and everyday action, Physical therapy extraordinarily helps sports.

On the off chance that competitors didn’t get care after a physical issue, their recuperating time would increment significantly. By giving particular consideration, physical therapists assist competitors with getting back to play. This, thus, keeps the games business running appropriately as the top competitors can perform and give diversion. Ultimately, non-intrusive treatment benefits active work showing an appropriate structure for movement, which forestalls future wounds. By giving individuals the information important to carry on with actual dynamic life, physical therapists extraordinarily advantage active work.

To have the option to add to the vocation of non-intrusive treatment, I need to first completely get what the calling involves. By social affair however much information as could reasonably be expected about physical therapy, I will have the devices should have been an extraordinary therapist and add to the profession. To emphatically affect physical therapy, I would initially have to rehearse expertly, which considers decidedly non-intrusive treatment in general. I trust it would be amazingly useful to competitors to learn legitimate strategies for proactive tasks. One commitment I would put forth a valiant effort to get going would give a camp to sports groups that teach youthful competitors on structure and injury counteraction.

Conclusion on Physical Therapy Essay

Physical therapists are individuals from a medical care group, uncommonly prepared to further develop development and function, soothe torment, and extend development potential. Through assessment and individualized treatment programs, Physical therapists can both treat existing issues and give preventive medical care to individuals with an assortment of necessities. Physical therapists are entirely learned and talented concerning the human body. Non-intrusive treatment is a complex, however remunerating field to seek after as a vocation. Specialization, working conditions, work viewpoint, compensations, and instruction necessities should be thought about while considering a vocation as a physical therapist.

FAQ’s on Physical Therapy Essay

Question 1. What is physical therapy?

Answer: Physical therapy is a medical treatment that helps you to relieve the pain and function your body parts smoothly. Physical therapy is given by actual specialists who advance, keep up with, or reestablish wellbeing through actual assessment, conclusion, visualization, patient training, actual mediation, restoration, sickness anticipation and wellbeing advancement.

Question 2. Why is physical therapy important?

Answer: Physical therapy will assist you with reinforcing the muscles related to your physical issue just as encompassing muscles. Frequently, strength lopsided characteristics lead to injury. Further, develop results: Physical treatment works on post-careful results, by tending to torment, scar tissue, strength, the scope of movement, and that’s just the beginning.

Question 3. What are the benefits of physical therapy?

Answer: The benefits of physical therapy are:

• Decrease or dispense with pain.
• Keep away from medical procedures.
• Further, develop portability.
• Recuperate from a stroke.
• Recuperate from or forestall a game’s injury.
• Work on your adjust and forestall falls.
• Oversee diabetes and vascular conditions.
• Oversee age-related issues
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Advice on writing PT school essays?

When writing essays for applying to PT school, is it better to only answer the prompt and focus strictly on physical therapy-related experiences and not derive from what it's asking you, or is it better to tell a story of who you are (i.e. your life experiences) and how you came to choose PT as a future profession? Just how much should I stay on topic when writing the essay?

Also: Is the PTCAS essay the same as the "personal statement essay"?

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Helping Others — Physical Therapy Personal Statement

Physical Therapy Personal Statement

• Categories: Helping Others

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Words: 793 |

Published: Aug 1, 2024

Words: 793 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

The importance of physical therapy, my journey in pursuing a career in physical therapy, pt school personal statement examples.

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