An online PTA Information Session is available at the PTA Advising website. Additionally, an on-campus PTA admissions information session option is offered approximately every three weeks during the quarter and those dates are on the advising site.
The PTA program begins one cohort a year annually in Fall quarter.
The PTA program requires a special application for admission. It is available on the PTA homepage along with the Supporting Information document which provides selection criteria, prerequisites and other important admission information. Admission to the PTA program is selective.
Interested students are encouraged to either attend an on-campus information session for PTA or complete one online. Information about both of these options is available at PTA Advising. After having completed one of these options, you are qualified to register for pre-allied health advising ("Allied Health GPS"). This is comprehensive, individualized advising in a small-group format. You must pre-register at Pre-Allied Health Advising.
Check the Physical Therapist Assistant homepage for deadline information.
See Estimated PTA Program Costs.
Prerequisite courses for application to the PTA program:
The PTA program application will list the details of all application requirements. Some requirements include:
The program is a full-time, daytime program with both morning and afternoon courses held Monday - Friday. Clinical affiliation courses require 40 hour/week rotations off-campus in community facilities.
Lecture and laboratory courses are held on the Kirkland campus of Lake Washington Institute of Technology. Clinical affiliations occur in a variety of off-campus settings and can range from Tacoma to Bellingham. Students are expected to provide their own reliable transportation to attend clinical affiliations and other off-campus experiences.
Physical Therapist Assistants (PTAs), provide physical therapy treatments under the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapist (PT). PTAs help people of all ages who have health-related conditions which limit their ability to move and perform functional activities in daily life. You can learn more by checking out the Career Path for Physical Therapist Assistants.
The PTA program prepares students to provide entry-level, skilled patient care in a variety of settings. Some of these settings may include hospitals, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, sports medicine clinics, and school-based systems. You can learn more by checking out the Career Path for Physical Therapist Assistants.
The PTA program teaches students how to provide physical therapy treatment interventions and associated data collection skills under the direction and supervision of a licensed physical therapist.
The PTA program teaches physical therapy treatments for patients with problems of the musculoskeletal (bones, muscles, ligaments), neurologic (nerves, brain, spinal cord), cardiac (heart), pulmonary (lungs), and/or integumentary (skin) systems.
The PTA program also teaches skills which support physical therapy treatments and a career as a physical therapist assistant including:
All programs at LWTech aim to provide students with workplace skills that include Communication, Critical Thinking, Intercultural Appreciation, Teamwork, and Technical and Information Literacy. Each program includes coursework which teaches and assesses student performance in these global outcomes.
Not directly. PTA programs are not designed to prepare individuals to continue directly into a degree as a Physical Therapist (PT). PT programs are graduate (doctoral) level programs which require a Bachelor's degree and multiple prerequisites to apply. The American Physical Therapy Association has resources which can help you explore different careers in the field of physical therapy (American Physical Therapy Association) and (PTA to PT: A Career Change).
Graduates of the LWTech PTA program are eligible to take the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE) for the Physical Therapist Assistant and to apply for state licensure. Licensure is required in the state of Washington and in most states in the United States.
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Avg. WA State Salary $61,526/yr |
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People Employed in WA 1,579 |
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Avg. Wage in King County $30.88/hr |
To be eligible for employment, graduates must also take and pass the National Physical Therapy Exam (NPTE).
Business Hours
Mon-Fri, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Campus Hours
Mon-Thurs, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday, Closed to the public
Sat-Sun, Closed